Since the Steelers' thrilling victory in Super Bowl XLIII a week ago, I've been thinking about how wonderful it is to be a fan of the NFL's most successful franchise. It's awesome to cheer for a team that performs at such a consistently high level--every season is exciting, and even if it's a down year, I know that it won't be long before they are competing for another Super Bowl. You all probably know the stats listed below, but I wanted to post them as a reminder of how great the Pittsburgh Steelers have been during the 43 NFL seasons of the "Super Bowl era."

6 Super Bowl championships
7 Conference championships
19 Division championships (44% of the time!)
24 playoff appearances (56% of the time!)
31-18 record during the playoffs (.633 winning pct.)
28 winning seasons and only 13 losing seasons (but 6 of these were prior to 1972, meaning that in the last 37 years, the Steelers were just as likely to play in the Super Bowl as have a losing season!)

Wow. Now that is sustained excellence.