Steeler Nation Steelers Nation is the unofficial name of the fan base of the NFL ' s Pittsburgh Steelers , coined by NFL Films narrator John Facenda in " Blueprint for Victory , " the team ' s 1975 highlights film . Steelers Country is often used for the Pittsburgh area where the fan base originates or for areas with a large Steelers fan base . History . Early years . The Steelers have had a following in Western Pennsylvania since 1933 . That year , Pennsylvania relaxed its blue law s allowing sporting events in the commonwealth on Sundays , paving the way for the Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles to begin play for the 1933 NFL season . Previously , the state had teams in Pottsville and Frankford , but both had already folded , due to both the Great Depression and their inability to play on Sunday , when most NFL games took place . Much like the league itself in the early years , the Steelers had to compete with baseball and college football teams in the city , making the team third in the hierarchy to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pitt Panthers . Despite the team ' s early struggles , it had a small but loyal fan base in the city due to the popularity of American football at all levels , dating back to the 1800s , when Pittsburgh hosted the first wholly professional football game in 1895 . Rise of the Steelers . By the 1950s , the Steelers had gained some popularity in the city and were on par with Pitt , but they were still a distant second behind the Pirates in the city . In the early 1970s , the Steelers began to rise in popularity . 1969 saw the hiring of head coach Chuck Noll and the drafting of future Hall of Fame defensive tackle " Mean Joe " Greene . By 1972 , the Steelers were a playoff contender and began a sellout streak in Three Rivers Stadium that carried over to Heinz Field and still stands to this day . The team is second to the Washington Redskins for the longest active consecutive sellout streak in league history . The team ' s four Super Bowl victories in the 1970s coincided with a recession that struck the United States , and the city in particular , that would lead to the closure of several steel mills in the early 1980s . The team ' s success was credited with giving people in the city hope and leading to the increased fan base . Due to economic uncertainty in the area , many Steelers fans relocated to other areas but retained their identification with the Steelers as a reflection of their former hometown ' s steel industrial base . During the lead up to Super Bowl XIII between the Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys , Phil Musick contrasted the Dallas and Pittsburgh fans by saying that " Dallas is superfan Whistling Ray and a hat that sprays the unsuspecting with water ; Pittsburgh is a guy in a gorilla suit who ' ll stove five of your ribs if you laugh at him . " Player fan clubs . In the 1970s many fans organized fan clubs for their favorite players . Some of these fan clubs included Franco ' s Italian Army , Frenchy ' s Foreign Legion , Gerela ' s Gorillas , Bradshaw ' s Brigade , Lambert ' s Lunatics , Dobre Shunka ( Good Ham , for Jack Ham ) , Rocky and the Flying Squirrels , Shell ' s Bombers , and Russell ' s Raiders among others . Today . Since the 1970s , the Steelers have enjoyed a large fan base and have eclipsed the Pittsburgh Pirates as the most popular sports team in Pittsburgh . While the team ' s success gained it a large fan base nationally , many consider the collapse of the city ' s steel industry to have been a cause for the strong fan base in other cities , demonstrated when teams whose home turnout would otherwise require a local blackout on television end up selling out when hosting the Steelers . An instance of the team ' s large fan base was at Super Bowl XL , where an ESPN . com columnist suggested that Steelers fans outnumbered Seattle Seahawks fans more than 25 to 1 . In November 2007 , a study by Turnkey Sports found that the Steelers brand was the strongest in its local market of any team in the NHL , NBA , MLB or NFL . Comparison to other NFL fan bases . Attempts at quantifying the loyalty of Steeler Nation relative to other NFL fan bases have shown mixed results . A 2006 study by the American City Business Journals placed the team ' s fans 21st out of 32 teams in the league , behind all three of its division rivals in the AFC North . The study found that although the team had been selling out games for years , some fans were not actually attending the games , and Pittsburgh ' s weekly turnout percentage for home games was 16th in the league . That ranking was down seven slots from the publication ' s survey conducted in 1997 , which ranked Steelers Nation 14th out of 30 teams , partly due to fans leaving nearly 10 percent of the seats in the stadium empty . Conversely , a 2008 study from Forbes . com ranked Steelers fans 8th overall , citing amongst other things a long season - ticket waiting list . A 2008 article for ESPN . com ranked Steelers fans as the best in the NFL , citing their " unbelievable " sellout streak of 299 consecutive games . Criticism . Like other large and vocal fan bases , such as the Cleveland Browns ' Dawg Pound , Steeler Nation has at times been presented in an unflattering light , especially by fans of other teams . They have occasionally been described in unflattering terms by sports journalists in other cities . For example , prior to Super Bowl XLIII , the " Phoenix New Times " warned readers that Steelers fans were the " grubbiest , loudest , and nastiest fan base in all of sports – as well as one of the largest " and that as the only NFL fanbase in Appalachia , they were " white trash " and " hillbillies . " Steelers fans have also been singled out by newspapers in rival cities for inappropriate behavior during games – a common problem in the NFL . Anti – Steeler Nation sentiment has grown strong enough that in some cases , front office s for other teams have taken steps to keep Pittsburgh fans out of games in their cities . Instead of being permitted to buy tickets to a Chargers - Steelers game in San Diego , for instance , they were required to pay for tickets to two other games , as well . In other cases , teams refused to sell tickets to fans calling from Pittsburgh ' s 412 area code , and they encouraged fans who were selling their own tickets to do the same . Steelers President Art Rooney II complained to the NFL about the situation , but his grievance was not well received . Famous fans . Some notable members of Steeler Nation include actress January Jones , professional wrestler Kurt Angle , Saturday Night Live head writer Seth Meyers , PGA Tour golfer Jim Furyk , author John Grisham , actor Jake Gyllenhaal , NASCAR racer Jimmie Johnson , former CIA Director Michael Hayden , actor Michael Keaton , talk show host Rush Limbaugh , actor Burt Reynolds , actress Sharon Stone rapper Snoop Dogg , rapper Wiz Khalifa , Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Diocese of Providence , World Series MVP pitcher Curt Schilling , Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson , actor Verne Troyer , country music legend Hank Williams , Jr . , Rock musician Bret Michaels , rapper Mac Miller , singer Christina Aguilera , Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson , New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams and Mike & Molly star Billy Gardell .