for some reason, the broncos loss didn’t hurt as much. can’t explain why.

the chargers game was an edge of your seat type of game. we were heavily favored but just couldn’t seem to shake them. i was listening on the radio as i went back to philadelphia after christmas break my junior year of college and it was a very nervous game. a very disheartening loss. we had finally made it to the afc championship under cowher and couldn’t get it done. i remember feeling like we choked a little bit.

fortunately, the following year, the colts game was like deja vu and when harbaugh threw that last second pass into the end zone, it just seemed like steelers destiny that we were going to lose at the end again. there was a moment of uncertainty after the play and it looked like the colts might have caught the pass. i remember being surprised that they didn’t, because it just seemed like it wasn’t meant to be for us. but alas, we were going to the super bowl!

I voted for 94, but it was a tough one for me. The toughest part of the 97 loss was that the Steelers beat the Broncos during the regular season at Three Rivers. That was the game where they kept showing clips of the bleachers bouncing up and down. Somewhere an architect groaned. Anyways, this was when we Steeler fans still loved Kordell, before his huge flaws became exposed. Tough loss. 94 was the worst, though. I remember being a kid and watching the game with my father. I kept telling him, “There’s always next year, dad!” He’d roll his eyes and explain to me how tough it was to make it that far. I didn’t think much of it. Watched too many sports movies, I guess!