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The More You Know: Random facts about your Pittsburgh Steelers

Time to learn more about your favorite NFL team, and some trivia as well!

By Bryan Anthony Davis
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It’s the offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers and there are so many topics to talk and write about. Free agents, the coordinator conundrum, the next quarterback, the NFL Draft and breaking news will all be covered here at BTSC. But who’s going to give you little-known-facts out of the 500 Level?

Luckily, your one-stop, and non-stop, shop for everything Steelers employs a Steelers fan that was allegedly dropped on his head as a one-year-old during the Immaculate Reception. Useless and somewhat fascinating facts are his forte. So, here we are with off-the-wall thoughts from the dark side of a black-and-gold brain that nobody asked for. But the joke’s on you. you’ll be telling your peeps something you read here later.

412 Forever

While he was never from the Burgh, Seth Meyers grew up in New Hampshire and is quite vociferous regarding his membership in Steeler Nation. The “Late Night” host is a die hard Steelers fan due to his dad being from East Liberty and refusing to raise Patriots fans. Larry Meyers impressed upon his sons the glory of the hypocycloids and they embraced it.

Rookie Rush to Glory

We all know that Najee Harris’ 2021 mark of 1,200 yards broke Franco Harris’ record among Steelers’ rookie running backs. But it has got to be noted that No. 32 achieved that mark in 14 games, opposed to No. 22 doing it in 17. Who are the ten-best rookie RBs in team history if you look at average yards-per-game?

  1. Franco Harris 75.4
  2. Najee Harris 70.6
  3. Bill Dudley (1942) 63.3
  4. Le’Veon Bell 66.2
  5. Byron “Bam” Morris 55.7
  6. Tim Worley 51.3
  7. Fran Rogel 34.8
  8. Bennie Snell Jr. 32.8
  9. Warren Williams 27.3
  10. Rich Erenberg 25.3
  11. Dick Hoak 21.6
  12. Jaylen Samuels 18.3
  13. George Jones 14.7
  14. Barry Foster 12.7

Position Preferences

With NFL Draft season getting underway, it’s not far-fetched to say that the Steelers have had great success since the start of the Super Bowl Era in selecting players from the College Entry Draft. Among the three legendary coaches of the Men of Steel, what position has each head man chosen the most in the first round?

From 1969-1991, Chuck Noll tabbed defensive lineman the most at six times (Joe Greene, Keith Gary, Gabriel Rivera, Darryl Sims, Aaron Jones, Huey Richardson) and linebackers only once (Robin Cole).

Unlike Noll, Bill Cowher wasn’t as high on filling up his defensive line with top-pick talent, he only did it one time. But it was a huge pick, both literally and figuratively, by taking Casey Hampton in 2001. The position that Bill ignored in the first round was linebacker and running back. Cowher went high four times each by selecting offensive linemen (Leon Searcy, Alan Faneca, Jamain Stephens and Kendall Simmons) and wide receivers (Charles Johnson, Troy Edwards, Plaxico Burress and Santonio Holmes) the most in Round 1 from 1992-2006.

While his predecessors only chose linebackers a combined once, it’s no surprise whatsoever that Mike Tomlin covets the position in the first round. Linebackers were given the hat and jersey first in six drafts (Lawrence Timmons, Jarvis Jones, Ryan Shazier, Alvin “Bud” Dupree, T.J. Watt and Devin Bush Jr). Despite being a receiver in college, Coach T has never selected a WR in the first round, even though Chase Claypool, the top pick in 2020, was a second rounder. Mike Tomlin has also refrained from grabbing a tight end or a quarterback, but the latter could come in 2022.

Middle Name Madness

We love citing the second name of members of the Men of Steel here at Behind the Steel Curtain. The “More You Know Middle Name of the Week” belongs to the Steelers third-round pick out of Tennessee in the 2017 NFL Draft. Looks like Sutton is not just a mere cornerback.

Cameron Amir Sutton

Chargers Steelers at SoFi Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

This Week’s Birthdays of Steel

2/7 Javon Hargrave - 29, Chris Gardocki - 52, Ted Petersen - 67, Markus Wheaton - 31

2/8 Najeh Davenport - 43

2/9 Jim Miller - 51

2/10 R.J. Bowers - 47, Hubie Bryant - 76, Wayne Gandy - 51, Howard Jones - 32, Quincy Roche - 24

2/11 Ryan Mundy 37,

2/12 Bud Dupree - 29, Ray Fisher - 88, Brent Jones - 59, Paxton Lynch - 28,

Hypocycloids going Hollywood

Can you believe that it has been 13 years since the Steelers last hoisted the “sticky Lombardi”? We all remember the heroics of Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes with 38 seconds left to play, but the comeback would have never been possible without James Harrison’s 100-yard interception at the end of the first half of play. We would be remiss not to include that play, but you’ve seen it a million times. We really feel compelled to remember the SNL sketch featuring the aforementioned Seth Meyers and Kenan Thompson portraying an exhausted Deebo. Legend has it that No. 92 wasn’t amused with Kenan’s performance.

Steelers Jeopardy

So, there you have it. Anybody can spout out stat after stat, but not everybody can embrace the colorful and personal side of the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, the more you know, the more you can stupefy your friends, family and neighbors with your big, black-and-gold brain. By the way, “What is Ohio State?” (Santonio Holmes - 2006, Cameron Heyward - 2011 and Ryan Shazier - 2014) is the correct response to the Jeopardy answer.

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