Perhaps being a Pittsburgh Steelers fan isn’t as sexy as we thought

Ever try dating in your late-40s? It’s not easy, and it presents challenges that people in their 20s and 30s simply don’t face. However. instead of giving up, I’ve decided to forge ahead and make myself as attractive as possible. That’s right, I spin, run, walk and lift— basically, any physical activity a guy my age must do if he wants to looks somewhat chubby. Also, despite my obvious charm, something which should make me a magnet in person, I even dabble in online or app dating. It’s not necessarily my cup of tea, but it is 2020, so when in Rome..........

Anyway, a big thing women love to see on your dating profile is your passion. What are you passionate about? What makes you feel alive? What makes you get out of bed every morning? For me, it’s simple: I love to write. Not only do I love to write, I love to write about the Pittsburgh Steelers, the greatest football team in this or any universe. The fact that I get to do that as a jobby, of sorts, well, that’s pretty darn cool.

Whenever I am interacting with a woman on (you’ll never know the names of these dating sites), after my actual job, the first thing she wants to know about is what I like to do for fun— this falls under the passion/hobby umbrella, of course. I talk about my spin classes, the running groups, the watching of streaming television and, of course, the writing. I always save the writing for last because chicks love artists.

Funny thing is, most women don’t seem to care all that much about spinning, running or watching streaming television, but they do hone in on the writing thing.

“So you love to write, huh? What do you write about?” I don’t hesitate. I say, “I write about the Steelers for a very popular site.” And since I started doing podcasts, I include that in my sales pitch, as well.

Sadly (and this might hurt you to know), once women find out that I write about the Steelers, they never contact me again. I do a lot of satire pieces, so you might think I’m kidding, but I assure you, I am not. This has happened about six times over the past two years, alone.

It happened again just the other day. I was messaging back and forth with a woman, and when it finally got to the “What do you like to write about?” portion of the conversation, she ghosted me after my black and gold answer.

About a month ago, on that app where the woman makes the first move (you can probably figure out which one), this young lady actually paid for more time just to talk to me. I don’t know how we got to this point, but she said, “SB Nation? I had to look that up. What kind of writing do you do for them?” When I told her, not only did she stop speaking to me, she deleted her account.

So what’s this all mean? Is the perception of Steelers fans— or at least the men who cheer for them— really that bad?

A few years ago, I dated two women over a period of about six months. These weren’t dating app girlfriends— just old acquaintances. Anyway, they both looked down on the Steelers and my writing about them. In fact, one seemed to be so bothered by it, when I revealed to her that I actually enjoyed writing about more than the Steelers, she was relieved in a “Oh, thank God, I can still change him!” kind of way.

I just don’t get it, I thought the Steelers had more female fans than any team in the NFL.

What gives? Do women see the behavior of fans on Twitter and Facebook and immediately think all Steelers dudes act that way?

Is it the vomiting? Is it the swearing? Is it the smashing of the flat-screen TVs?

Do women hear “Steelers fan” and immediately think “meathead” or “neanderthal”?

My female friends are always talking about how hot they think Pittsburgh’s own Joe Manganiello is. He’s a Steelers fan, a BIG Steelers fan. In fact, his level of Steelers fandom is like Mach 5 Yinzer.

What’s the difference between him and me?

A good friend of mine suggested I simply say I’m a sports writer and leave it at that. That might be a good idea. That could add intrigue, mystery. “Maybe he writes about polo, cricket or synchronized swimming!”

I don’t know, maybe I’m going after the wrong women. I was at the 7/11 on Poplar Street in the Greentree/Crafton area a number of years ago, and the woman waiting on me was complaining because her boss made her change her shirt that read, “If you ain’t a Steelers fan, you ain’t s***!”

I should go look her up.