Are you still thankful for the Steelers despite their struggles in 2022?

“I’ll be a Steelers fan until the day I die.”

I’m not so sure I can agree with the popular refrain of your average diehard Steelers fan. I’m pretty sure I won’t be a fan of much of anything on my last day on this planet—especially if I know it’s coming. But I do appreciate the sentiment.

How about this one: I’ll always be a Steelers fan, win or lose.

That level of fandom is a bit more appealing, even if the rate that the phrase suggests—a .500 record—has been far out of reach for Pittsburgh’s favorite football team in 2022.

Nope, instead, it’s been win, lose, lose, lose, lose, win, lose, lose, win, lose through 10 games.

That’s right, the Steelers are 3-7 and about as far away from playoff contention as they’ve been at this point of the regular season in almost a decade.

Are they still your team? Are you still invested? Do you still scan social media for the latest Steelers news? Do you still listen to talk radio and podcasts about your Steelers? Do you still have black-and-gold-themed parties every Sunday (or the occasional Monday night)? Do you still invite friends and/or family over to watch the game, and do they do the same in kind?

Do you still actually watch Steelers contests in spite of their insistence on only scoring 30 points in a game once a year?

That last part has been a bit harder for me this year (and last), but I’m still in the fight. I refuse to stop caring about the Steelers, even if they don’t care about winning. Actually, they do care about winning, but they’re just not very good at it these days.

Despite their transgressions on the field, I realized something this Thanksgiving season: The Steelers are still pretty awesome off the field, as evidenced by their willingness to get out in the community and give back in the form of serving families in need. If you click on the link provided which takes you straight to the Steelers' official website, you’ll see that Cam Heyward did his part. T.J. Watt. Chris Wormley. Heck, even Steelers players I failed to recognize without their names on the backs of their black-and-gold jerseys were out there serving the community.

In addition to the Steelers, members of the Pirates and Penguins joined in to help the Pittsburgh community and give back for Thanksgiving.

It’s certainly a reason to be thankful, not only for the professional sports teams I get to cheer for but the fact that they also employ wonderful human beings.

This season is perhaps a reminder that, in spite of what’s going on on the field with our Pittsburgh Steelers, life still must go on for the folks who support them. Oftentimes, life is hard for their fans. Do they still get joy out of seeing their favorite sports team(s) win? Do they get depressed after a loss? Sure. But neither of those emotions can put food on the table.

It’s nice to know that the Steelers—and Pirates and Penguins—are still there for their fans, even when times are tough on all sides.

The Steelers are an important part of the Pittsburgh community, and that’s something that will never change, win or lose.

I’m truly thankful for that.

Happy Thanksgiving!