{"id":2066,"date":"2013-02-11T11:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-11T11:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=2066"},"modified":"2015-01-08T17:37:30","modified_gmt":"2015-01-08T22:37:30","slug":"steelers-fans-high-on-their-football-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/02\/11\/steelers-fans-high-on-their-football-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers fans high on their football team"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"April <\/a>
April 26, 1980: Photo by Al Herman, Jr. <\/div> <\/div>
\"Jan. <\/a>
Jan. 9, 1975: Pittsburgh Press Photo by Michael Chikiris <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"January <\/a>
January 10, 1983: Pittsburgh Press Photo by Robert Pavuchak <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Sept <\/a>
Sept 8, 1980: Pittsburgh Press Photo by Lynn Johnson <\/div> <\/div>
\"Dec. <\/a>
Dec. 23 1972: Pittsburgh Press Photo by Michael Chikiris <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

1970s, 1980s<\/strong> \u2014 <\/em>Steelers fans always have been a colorful bunch.<\/p>\n

In 1980, Jerry McNeely, the executive producer of\u00a0\u201dFighting Back,\u201d\u00a0a made-for-TV movie about Rocky Bleier of the Steelers, admired the passion and zeal of Steelers fans saying, \u201cThese people\u2026 well, their enthusiasm is something to behold.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Hollywood wardrobe department would have been hard-pressed to recreate the variety of black and gold costumes, tassel caps, scarves, jackets, T-shirts, banners, and the hand-lettered Terrible Towel, as shown in these\u00a0photographs\u00a0from the Post-Gazette\u2019s archives\u00a0from the \u201970s and \u201980s.<\/p>\n

They wore Franco\u2019s Italian Army helmets, wrote \u2018Steelers #1\u2019 on their cars and organized fan clubs: Bradshaw\u2019s Brigade, Lambert\u2019s Lunatics, Gerela\u2019s Gorillas and Shell\u2019s Bombers.\u00a0They were the first generation of the \u00a0Steeler Nation (the name coined in 1975 to refer to the Steelers fan base).<\/p>\n

In January 1975, Steelers fan Pat Savage and six of his pals (second photo on the right) followed\u00a0the team to New Orleans for Super Bowl IX. They didn\u2019t have tickets. Their conveyance was\u00a0a converted black and gold \u201861 Conestoga. They called themselves \u2018The Savage Crew.\u2019<\/p>\n

“The van was a moving testament to their heroes. Insignia of helmets, hails and numbers (Bradshaw\u2019s \u00a0No. 12 was up front) tattooed the black and gold shell. Inside were curtains, converted seats from a Corvair and Chevy pickup, bedrolls, blankets, mattresses, pretzels, chips and liquid refreshment,” The Pittsburgh Press reported.<\/p>\n

In the article Pat Savage confessed: \u201cI\u2019m a fanatic and I admit it. There is no way they\u2019ll lose on Sunday.\u201d And they didn\u2019t. The Steelers won their first Super Bowl defeating the Minnesota Vikings, 16-6.<\/p>\n

And although the Steelers didn\u2019t make it to the Super Bowl in 2013, Steelermania lives on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steelers fans always have been a colorful bunch.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesSteelers fans high on their football team<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[944],"tags":[963,964,976,993,1013,1016,1030,1033],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/tumblr_mi18pbiHaX1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C962&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2236,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/12\/03\/jack-fleming-and-myron-cope-call-a-steelers-game-at-three-rivers-stadium\/","url_meta":{"origin":2066,"position":0},"title":"Jack Fleming and Myron Cope call a Steelers game at Three Rivers Stadium","date":"December 3, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Jack Fleming and Myron Cope would seemingly be an odd mix in a radio booth.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/tumblr_me9k095nIJ1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C794&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":427,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/07\/25\/franco-harris-autograph-remains-intact\/","url_meta":{"origin":2066,"position":1},"title":"Franco Harris\u2019 autograph remains intact","date":"July 25, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The picture was taken 40 years ago. 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