The More You Know: Random facts about your Pittsburgh Steelers, Goin’ For Two edition

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.

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412 Forever

The subjects of “412 Forever” are not always from the Steel City, but this week’s definitely is and he makes no bones about loving the black and gold. Mount Lebanon High’s three sport captain in football, volleyball and basketball, Joe Manganiello, tore a ligament returning a kick and ended up in Oklahoma. No, it wasn’t the Sooner State, but the high school musical. From there, the future star of the Magic Mike franchise studied in the prestigious theatre program at Carnegie Mellon and then moved on to Hollywood. In 2007, In fact, the man who would be Big Dick Richie directed a short documentary entitled DieHardz about Steelers fans in Los Angeles who meet at bars over drinks and snacks to watch their heroes in hypocycloids play. Joe reps the Steelers louder and more feverishly than most celebs do their teams, and has led the Terrible Towel twirls at Heinz Field, welcomed draft picks with texts, defended his black and gold on social media and pushed his Steelers fandom on his wife, Sofia Vergara. If the hometown Steelers are playing, the True Blood actor channels his yinzer roots with the purest Pittsburgh passion.

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BTSC Steelers Jeopardy - A Multi-Sport Steeler

Many athletes are proficient in more than just one sport. Hall of Famer Dave Winfield was drafted by NFL, MLB and NBA franchises. John Elway could have been a New York Yankee and 1993 Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward never played football but shot hoops in the NBA Finals for the New York Knicks. There are a so many examples of this. What about the Steelers. There have been a few. Let’s take a look.

(Answer at bottom of article)

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Middle Name Madness

We love citing the second name of members of the Men of Steel here at Behind the Steel Curtain. We always cite Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger, Christopher Lynn Boswell and Trent Jordan Watt, but who else? Hence, the “More You Know Middle Name of the Week”. This week the honor belongs to a player that the Steeler thought so much about that they traded up to draft him. He’s an NFL legacy and he’s...

Devin Marquese Bush Jr.

Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images

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This Week’s Birthdays of Steel

3/7 Franco Harris - 72, Lynn Swann - 70

3/8 Hines Ward - 46

3/9 Najee Harris - 24, Mike Hilton - 28, Bobby Walden - 84

3/10 Mike Adams - 32, Justin Brown 31, Rod Woodson - 57

3/11 Marquis Cooper - 40, Joe Haeg - 29, Ryan Harris -37, Dan Kreider - 45, Kendall Simmons - 43, Rick Strom - 57

3/12 Dick Arndt - 78, John Hilton - 80, Kent Nix - 78

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Hypocycloids Gone Hollywood

This week’s subject of “Hypocycloids Gone Hollywood” is one I remembered way back from one of the greatest ensemble comedies in television history. Premiering on October, 29, 1981, a Season 4 episode of the three-time Primetime Emmy Award Winner, Taxi, featured a young Martin Short as a television executive riding in Reverend Jim Ignatowski’s (played by Christopher Lloyd) cab. Faced with the prospect of losing his job, Short’s character seeks out the cab driver’s advice on the primetime lineup. One of the shows is a musical/variety called “Pittsburgh Steelers in Marineland”, which becomes a hit. Of course it did, who wouldn’t want to see Mel Blount and Jack Lambert frolicking with a dolphin? Check out the audio clip below.

Taxi Jim Becomes A TV Executive sort of.mp3

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Bonus Babies

Photo by Jamie Mullen/NFLPhotoLibrary

The two-point conversion (2PC) first started to be used by NFL teams in 1994, and since that time the Steelers are third all-time with 47 scores for two from the two-yard line behind Minnesota (55) and Philadelphia (48). As far as individuals go, Marshall Faulk scored a total of seven of the 2PCs. Hines Ward is tied with a host of others with the third-most in history with five and is the all-time leader among the 32 Steelers in this category. Among current Steelers, not counting Eric Ebron (1) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (2) who are not currently under contract, no players have more than one. Diontae Johnson and Pat Freirmuth are the only current Steelers to have scored a two-point conversion.

All-Time Steelers Two-Point Conversion Leaders

Hines Ward - 5

Antonio Brown - 4

Heath Miller - 3

Charles Johnson - 3

JuJu Smith-Schuster - 2

James Conner - 2

Mewelde Moore -2

Markus Wheaton - 2

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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, “Who is Zach Banner?” is the correct clue in BTSC Steelers Jeopardy.

Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images

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We’ll see you right here next week. Until then keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the hypocycloids.