American football in Western Pennsylvania American football in Western Pennsylvania , featuring the city of Pittsburgh and surrounding areas , has had a long and storied history , dating back to the early days of the sport . All levels of football , including high school football and college football , are followed passionately , and the area ' s National Football League team , the Pittsburgh Steelers , is consistently one of the sport ' s most popular teams . Many of the NFL ' s top stars have come from the region as well , especially those that play quarterback , earning Western Pennsylvania the nickname " Cradle of Quarterbacks " . It is by far the most popular sport in the region . Early years . Professional . In the early 20th century , football began to catch on in the general population of the United States and was the subject of intense competition and rivalry , albeit of a localized nature . Although payments to players were considered unsporting and dishonorable at the time , a Pittsburgh area club , the Allegheny Athletic Association , of the unofficial western Pennsylvania football circuit , surreptitiously hired former Yale All - American guard William " Pudge " Heffelfinger . On November 12 , 1892 , Heffelfinger became the first known professional football player . He was paid $ 500 to play in a game against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club . Heffelfinger picked up a Pittsburgh fumble and ran 35 yards for a touchdown , winning the game 4 – 0 for Allegheny . Although observers held suspicions , the payment remained a secret for years . On September 3 , 1895 the first wholly professional game was played , in Latrobe , Pennsylvania , between the Latrobe Athletic Association and the Jeannette Athletic Club . Latrobe won the contest 12 – 0 . During this game , Latrobe ' s quarterback , John Brallier became the first player to openly admit to being paid to play football . He was paid $ 10 plus expenses to play . In 1897 , the Latrobe Athletic Association paid all of its players for the whole season , becoming the first fully professional football team . From 1890 until 1900 , nearby Greensburg , Pennsylvania was the home of the Greensburg Athletic Association . The team began as an amateur football club in 1890 and was composed primarily of locals before several paid players were added for 1895 . In 1894 it was discovered that the team had secretly paid formerly Indiana Normal ( now Indiana University of Pennsylvania ) player , Lawson Fiscus , to play football and retained his services on salary . The team was the chief rival of another early professional football team , the Latrobe Athletic Association . Aside from Fiscus , the Greensburg Athletic Association included several of the era ' s top players , such as : Charlie Atherton , George Barclay , Ross Fiscus , Jack Gass , Arthur McFarland , Charles Rinehart , Isaac Seneca and Adam Martin Wyant . Several of these players revolutionized the game during their playing careers . Charlie Atherton is credited with inventing the place kick , and George Barclay invented the first - ever football helmet . Meanwhile Isaac Seneca became the first Native - American to earn All - American honors and Adam Wyant was the first professional football player to become a United States Congress man . In 1898 , William Chase Temple took over the team payments for the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club , a professional football team based in Pittsburgh from 1895 until 1900 , becoming the first known individual football club owner . A year later in 1899 , the Morgan Athletic Club , on the South Side of Chicago , was founded . This team later became the Chicago Cardinals , and now is known as the Arizona Cardinals , making them the oldest continuously operating professional football team . The Cardinals would later merge with the Steelers for one season in 1944 due to player shortages as a result of World War II , with the two teams meeting in Super Bowl XLIII over six decades later . The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club would become the top pro team in the state in 1898 and 1899 . In 1898 Latrobe and two players from the Greensburg Athletic Association , formed the very first professional football all - star team for a game against the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club , to be played at Pittsburgh ' s Exposition Park . Duquesne went on to win the game 16 - 0 . On November 18 , 1905 , Latrobe defeated the Canton Bulldogs , which later became a founding member , and two - time champion , of the National Football League , 6 - 0 . Later the Homestead Library & Athletic Club , fielded the top pro team in the state in 1900 - 1901 . In 1902 the top players in the area , mainly from the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club line - up , formed the Pittsburgh Stars of the first National Football League . The Stars were suspected of being financed by Barney Dreyfuss and William Chase Temple , the owners of baseball ' s Pittsburgh Pirates , who were at the time the dominant team in the National League . The Stars featured baseball players in the line - up including Christy Mathewson , a future Hall of Fame pitcher with the New York Giants and Fred Crolius , and outfielder with Pirates . The team won the league ' s only championship in 1902 . In 1903 , Franklin , Pennsylvania was the home of the Franklin Athletic Club . That season , the team was unofficially recognized as the " US Football Champions " and later won the 1903 World Series of Football , held that December at Madison Square Garden . The team included several of the era ' s top players , such as : Herman Kerchoff , Arthur McFarland , Clark Schrontz , Paul Steinberg , Pop Sweet , Eddie Wood , and coach Blondy Wallace . Other early professional football teams from western Pennsylvania include ; the McKeesport Olympics , Oil City Athletic Club , Pitcairn Quakers and Glassport Odds . In 1933 , as the oldest of nine children Art Rooney , who had been raised on the North Side of Pittsburgh , founded the Pittsburgh Steelers . Originally nicknamed the Pirates , the team later changed their name to the Steelers , to represent the city ' s heritage of producing steel . The Steelers ' first season with a winning record came in 1942 . However , they lost their first playoff game in 1947 . Collegiate . Football at the collegiate level began in Western Pennsylvania began in the fall of 1889 at the University of Pittsburgh , then known as the Western University of Pennsylvania ( WUP ) and located in Allegheny City which is today the city of Pittsburgh ' s North Side . Bert Smyers , along with senior student John Scott , assembled a football team that year composed of only three players who had previously witnessed the sport . The team played in one informal game , a loss against Shady Side Academy . The first official game for the university was played on October 11 , 1890 , when the Allegheny Athletic Association ' s opponent , Shadyside Academy , failed to appear for its game at Exposition Park . Allegheny A . A . called Smyers who brought the WUP team as a replacement . In an inglorious start to Pitt football history , WUP was defeated 38 - 0 . WUP ' s second game was the first game and win for Washington & Jefferson , an early era college power located in Washington , Pennsylvania . These two schools would become heated rivals through the early twentieth century . Sustained success for Pitt football did not occur until 1903 , when Arthur St . Leger " Texas " Mosse was hired away from the University of Kansas to become the head coach of the WUP team , bringing several of his players with him . Other players were recruited from surrounding Western Pennsylvania colleges , including star half back Joseph H . Thompson . The 1903 season , the first under Mosse , was the university ' s first winless season at 0 - 9 - 1 . In perhaps one of the greatest turnarounds in college football history , Mosse led WUP to an undefeated 10 - 0 season , the school ' s first , in 1904 . The 1904 team surrendered only one touchdown on the way to collectively outscoring opponents 406 - 5 . That season also saw the school ' s first victory over Penn State , a 22 - 5 rout , as well as a 53 - 0 shutout of West Virginia . The success of this period can be partially attributed to actions taken by the university ' s administration , led by newly installed chancellor Samuel McCormick who took special interest in athletics at the university . Encouraged by university trustee George Hubberd Clapp , the administration more actively engaged in supporting the athletic program during this period in order to promote the university . A football association was formed , the school ' s first booster organization , whose largest initial contributor was Andrew W . Mellon . The university also obtained a lease of Exposition Park to give the football team a more stable and permanent home , and its first full season at the park began with the 1904 undefeated team . This undefeated 1904 season was followed by a 10 - 2 record under Mosse in 1905 , as well as six additional winning seasons . These Mosse coached squads featured team captain Joe Thompson , who was recruited from Geneva College to play for WUP from 1904 to 1906 . During Thompson ' s playing years , the team compiled a 26 - 6 record . Thompson graduated from the university in 1905 and continued on with post - graduate work in the School of Law completing his law degree . However , Thompson had long desired the head coaching position and finally obtained the job in 1909 , after successful coach John A . Moorehead , who helped facilitate the first known use of numbers on the uniforms of football players in 1908 , left coaching to pursue his family ' s business interests . That same year , the university changed its name from Western University of Pennsylvania to the University of Pittsburgh , and it soon became known as " Pitt " among fans and students . The following year , in 1909 , the school officially adopted the Panther as a mascot . Also in 1909 , the school moved to the Oakland section of Pittsburgh where it remains to this day , and the football team began playing games at Forbes Field , starting with the third game of the season against Bucknell on October 16 , 1909 . Thompson coached at Pitt until 1912 , the longest tenure of any coach to that point , and led the football team to a 22 - 11 - 2 record . The highlight of his coaching tenure was the 1910 season in which Pitt , led by star fullback Tex Richards , went undefeated for the second time in school history . Of even greater significance , the 1910 team was unscored upon , collectively outscoring its 9 opponents 282 - 0 , and is considered by many to be that season ' s national champion . Following his coaching stint , Thompson went on to become a highly decorated hero of World War I . Winning continued under coach Joseph Duff , including an 8 - 1 record in 1914 in which opponents were collectively outscored 207 - 38 , and the university was well on the way to establishing itself as a regional , if not yet national , power . In the first half of the 20th Century , Pitt , Washington & Jefferson , Duquesne University , and Carnegie Tech ( now called Carnegie Mellon University ) all fielded football squads that made " major " bowl game appearances from the 1920s through the 1930s . These appearances included Washington & Jefferson in the 1922 Rose Bowl , Duquesne in the 1933 and 1936 Orange Bowl , Carnegie Tech in the 1938 Sugar Bowl , and the University of Pittsburgh appearing in four Rose Bowls ( 1927 , 1929 , 1932 , 1936 ) as well as nearby Washington and Jefferson College in the 1922 Rose Bowl . Modern history . After Pitt fell onto some lean years after World War II and the Steelers struggled through the late 1960s , both teams — as well as baseball ' s Pirates — started having successful years in the 1970s as the rest of the city fell into a deep recession as a result of deindustrialization . In 1969 , the Steelers hired head coach Chuck Noll who strategically drafted players in order to improve the team . Three years later , in the first playoff game at Three Rivers Stadium Pittsburgh ' s rookie running back Franco Harris returned an errant pass that bounced off an opposing player for a game winning touchdown in a play that later became labeled the Immaculate Reception . In 1974 , the Steelers won their first Super Bowl in franchise history — a feat which they would repeat in 1975 , 1978 , and 1979 to become the first NFL franchise to win four Super Bowls . In 1992 , Noll was succeeded by Bill Cowher , who led the franchise to its fifth Super Bowl victory in 2005 . Mike Tomlin succeeded Cower and led the Steelers to an NFL record sixth Super Bowl victory in 2008 . As of 2009 , the Steelers have 18 members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame . In October 1964 , Ernie Stautner , who played on the Steelers from 1950 to 1963 , became the only Steelers ' player to have his number — " 70 " — retired . At Pitt , University Chancellor Wesley Posvar took action to revive the football program and hired Johnny Majors from Iowa State to resurrect the program in 1973 . Majors immediately upgraded the recruiting , most notably bringing in future Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett . Majors ' impact was immediate : in Pitt ' s first game with Majors as coach , the Panthers travelled to the University of Georgia where they tied Vince Dooley ' s Bulldogs 7 - 7 . The excitement in the city was palpable as the Panthers improved from one win in 1972 to a 6 - 5 - 1 record in 1973 . Their success earned the Panthers their first bowl bid since 1956 when they were invited to play Arizona State in the 1973 Fiesta Bowl , where they lost 28 - 7 . The next season saw further improvement with wins at Florida State and Georgia Tech to finish 7 - 4 . In 1975 , a Sun Bowl victory over Kansas capped an 8 - 4 record highlighted by wins at Georgia and Notre Dame . The stage was thus set for the 1976 edition of the Panthers to make a run for the National Championship . The 1976 season began with the Panthers ranked ninth in the AP preseason poll . The first game was at Notre Dame , where the Irish grew the grass long on the playing field in a failed attempt to slow down Dorsett , who had burned them for 303 rushing yards the year before . Their efforts were in vain as Dorsett ran for a 61 - yard touchdown on Pitt ' s first play from scrimmage on the way to a 31 - 10 win . The season continued with a 42 - 14 win at Georgia Tech and a 36 - 19 win over Miami . On October 23 , the Panthers travelled to Annapolis to face Navy during which Dorsett broke the NCAA career rushing record on a 32 - yard touchdown run in Pitt ' s 45 - 0 victory . Dorsett ' s achievement prompted a mid - game celebration in which even Navy saluted the feat with a cannon blast . Pitt next defeated eastern rival Syracuse 23 - 13 , and on November 6 , number two ranked Pitt easily handled Army while number one ranked Michigan lost to Purdue . For the first time since 1939 , the Pitt Panthers were the number one ranked team in the country . The following week , they successfully defended their top rating in a close Backyard Brawl against rival West Virginia . With a record of 10 - 0 , the Panthers headed into their regular season finale with only heated instate rival Penn State standing in the way of Pitt ' s national title aspirations . At a packed Three Rivers Stadium on the day after Thanksgiving , the Nittany Lions held Dorsett to 51 yards in the first half and had the game tied 7 - 7 . Majors adjusted for the second half by shifting Dorsett from tailback to fullback , enabling him to explode for an additional 173 yards as Pitt rolled to a 24 - 7 victory that capped an undefeated regular season . In December , Dorsett became the first Pitt Panther to win the Heisman Trophy as the nation ' s best college football player . Dorsett also won the Maxwell Award , the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award , and was named UPI Player of the Year . The 11 - 0 Panthers accepted an invitation to the 1977 Sugar Bowl to face second ranked Georgia . Pitt defeated the Bulldogs 27 - 3 and was voted number one in both the final Associated Press and Coaches polls , claiming their ninth national championship . This was Pitt ' s first undefeated national championship since 1937 . The American Football Coaches Association ( AFCA ) named Majors the 1976 Coach of the Year . Following this historic season , Majors returned to his alma mater , the University of Tennessee , to take the head coaching job . Jackie Sherrill , an assistant under Majors at Pitt and the head coach at Washington State , succeeded Majors as head coach at Pitt . Under Sherrill , the winning continued with a 9 - 2 - 1 record and Gator Bowl win in 1977 . An 8 - 4 record and Tangerine Bowl appearance followed in 1978 . Sherrill stockpiled future NFL talent including Pittsburgh ' s own quarterback Dan Marino , Hall of Fame inductee Russ Grimm , and Outland Trophy winner Mark May . Sherrill also molded a devastating defense that was anchored at the defensive end position manned by Hall of Fame inductee Rickey Jackson and Heisman Trophy runner - up Hugh Green , who had the highest finish in the Heisman voting by a defensive player until 1997 , when Michigan ' s cornerback Charles Woodson , who also played receiver , won the trophy . 1979 began a string of three straight seasons with 11 - 1 records . However , an early loss at North Carolina in 1979 , a midseason loss during a driving rainstorm at Florida State in 1980 , and a devastating season - ending defeat at the hands of rival Penn State in 1981 prevented those teams from clinching an AP or Coaches poll national championship . The 1981 loss to Penn State at Pitt Stadium was especially devastating , as the number one ranked Panthers had opened up a 14 - 0 first - quarter lead only to see an apparent Dan Marino touchdown pass intercepted in the endzone and returned for a touchdown . The Nittany Lions scored 48 unanswered points to end the Panthers ' dream of a second national championship in five years . In each of these three seasons , Pitt rebounded to win a bowl game : the Fiesta , Gator , and Sugar Bowls respectively . The 1981 Sugar Bowl was highlighted by one of the most dramatic plays in Pitt history as Dan Marino hit a streaking John Brown on fourth down in the last seconds of the game for the go - ahead score against a Georgia team that featured Herschel Walker . Sherrill ' s teams at Pitt are considered by some to be among the most talented in Pitt and college football history . The 1980 Pitt team alone featured seven first round draft picks , 23 players who went on to start in the NFL , seven others who played in the NFL , and one player each who played in the CFL and the USFL . Bobby Bowden , legendary coach of Florida State , is quoted as saying , " I ' ve said it many times , in all my years of coaching , that Pitt team was the best college football team I have ever seen . " Sherrill left Pitt in early 1982 for Texas A & M , signing a then record contract worth over $ 1 . 7 million . In five seasons , Sherrill ' s Panthers won fifty games , lost nine , and tied one ( 50 - 9 - 1 ) , which places his 0 . 842 winning percentage at the top of the list for all Pitt coaches , just ahead of Jock Sutherland . Today . The Steelers are of the NFL ' s most popular teams , with a fan base known as Steeler Nation . Despite the difference in high school and college football tastes , the team unites many , and is often one of the NFL ' s biggest ratings draws . Since the Dan Marino days at Pitt , the team hasn ' t competed for a national championship , but has appeared in major bowls and often appears in national polls . The Panthers maintain a rivalry with the West Virginia Mountaineers , and will soon resume a short two - game series with another traditional regional rival , the Penn State Nittany Lions . Pitt , Penn State , and West Virginia all maintain strong local followings within the Pittsburgh region . Outside of the NFL and college football , the city was represented by the Pittsburgh Americans of the second American Football League in 1936 and 1937 . It was also be briefly represented by the Pittsburgh Maulers of the United States Football League , in 1984 , and the Pittsburgh Gladiators ( now the Tampa Bay Storm ) , of the first Arena Football League from 1987 until 1990 . A new Arena Football League team , the Pittsburgh Power , started play in the Consol Energy Center in April 2011 . In addition , Pittsburgh is home to three women ' s full - contact football teams : the Pittsburgh Passion , the Pittsburgh Force and the Steel City Renegades . Founded in 2002 , as members of the National Women ' s Football Association and having played in the Independent Women ' s Football League , the Passion are currently members of the Women ' s Football Alliance . The team went 12 – 0 and won a national title in 2007 as members of the NWFA . A newer team , the Pittsburgh Force , were founded in 2008 and are members of the WFA . The Renegades , founded in 2009 , are members of the Women ' s Spring Football League . The " most established area minor - league football team " the Pittsburgh Colts are members of the North American Football League ' s Regional American Football League . High school football . High school football remains popular in the area , with high school games routinely drawing over 10 , 000 fans per game and receiving regular press coverage in the area . Schools such as Aliquippa , Beaver Falls , Central Catholic , Hopewell , North Hills , and Rochester have all been consistent contenders for PIAA championships , and all have sent former star players onto the NFL . Aliquippa alone has sent Mike Ditka , Sean Gilbert , Ty Law , and Darrelle Revis onto successful NFL careers , with Ditka now being a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame . The PIAA ' s Western Pennsylvania region , officially known as District 7 but more commonly known by its older name as the WPIAL , has its annual high school football championships at Heinz Field . Cradle of Quarterbacks . The Pittsburgh region also has developed many notable athletes that have gone on to outstanding careers in professional sports . The region has produced a multitude of NFL quarterbacks , giving Western Pennsylvania the nickname " Cradle of Quarterbacks . " Dan Marino , Joe Montana , Joe Namath , Jim Kelly , Matt Schaub , Johnny Unitas , Bruce Gradkowski , Marc Bulger , George Blanda , Johnny Lujack , Jeff Hostetler , Gus Frerotte , Willie Thrower , Warren Heller , Johnny Gildea , Tyler Palko , Alex Van Pelt , Sandy Stephens , Terry Hanratty , Mike McMahon , Major Harris , Matt Cavanaugh , Chuck Fusina , Rod Rutherford , Ted Marchibroda , Babe Parilli , John Hufnagel , Tom Sherman , Richie Lucas , Boyd Brumbaugh , Scott Zolak , Anthony Morelli , Ed Matesic , Tom Clements , Coley McDonough , Charley Seabright and current Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch all hail from within a 50 mile radius of the city .