Origins of a Steelers Fan: My Earliest Black and Gold Memories

The 2025 NFL offseason is officially upon us with Philadelphia taking home their second Lombardi trophy against Kansas City this past weekend. With the 2025 NFL offseason comes a long football draught, which is never fun for fans of the game. It also comes with lots of talk regarding the NFL draft, free agency moves, and what teams will look like in the coming year.

While there is plenty of content already released and more to come regarding the above topics, I thought I would take some time this offseason to talk about the origins of my Steelers fandom and share some of my most memorable moments. All football fans have their own story regarding how they came to love the game, and I hope that this series of articles can spark some conversation about the game that we all as fans love. Each fan has their own unique story, but our love for football is what brings us all together.

My black and gold story began back in 2004. I was 7 years old, and my parents had the Steelers on TV. It was Ben Roethlisberger’s rookie season. I remember watching the majority of games on TV that year, learning about the game of football as I went. A physical Steelers defensive unit with stars like Joey Porter and Troy Polamalu was my introduction to Pittsburgh’s long-standing tradition of defensive excellence. Offensively, Roethlisberger having early success and a strong running game headed by Jerome Bettis was electric. While I don’t have strong memories of any certain regular season game that year, I do remember absolutely falling in love with the game of football and with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I recall the AFC championship game against the New England Patriots that year vividly. I remember how much I wanted Pittsburgh to win that one and for The Bus to get a title before his retirement. That 41-27 loss to the eventual Super Bowl champions was crushing to my then 8-year old self.

The 2005 season, I was completely locked in as a fan. My parents had helped me to paint my bedroom Steelers colors, I began to start collecting Steelers memorabilia, and a family friend even took me along to Steelers Fan Blitz that April at Heinz Field. With my Ben Roethlisberger jersey and Terrible Towel in tow, I faithfully watched every game that year. “Fast” Willie Parker and Heath Miller were additions that I really enjoyed watching, and I loved watching the linebacking corps of Clark Haggans, Larry Foote, Joey Porter, and James Farrior. There was a time where the season was in question of course, with the Steelers dropping to 7-5. The image of Jerome Bettis running over Brian Urlacher on the goal line against the Chicago Bears, the win that sparked a winning streak all the way to Super Bowl XL, will forever be ingrained in my memory.

For the wild card game against the Cincinnati Bengals, my family and I went to my uncle’s house to watch. Sitting in their basement, I still can recall the announcer yelling “Touchdowwnnn Rudi!!!!” as Rudi Johnson scored to extend the Bengals’ early lead 14-0. As we all know, the Steelers found a way to win that game and advance to the divisional round against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.

Pittsburgh took a whooping in regular season primetime that year against Indianapolis, and Manning led a very talented and high-powered offense that could score quickly. Coming into the RCA Dome, the Steelers played well enough to have a narrow lead late in the 4th quarter and were running the clock down with Jerome Bettis in the red zone. Another play that will never leave my mind, as is likely true for many other fans reading this, is Bettis fumbling on the goal line and Ben Roethlisberger making a shoestring tackle to save a touchdown return. There was a missed field goal as time expired, punching Pittsburgh’s ticket to Denver the following weekend. I watched that divisional game on a snowy day in central Pennsylvania, packed into a small trailer with my parents, my sister, and some family friends with their kids. What a rollercoaster of emotions that game was.

During the AFC championship game against the Denver Broncos, we watched the game at my parent’s house with family and friends, and it was all smiles. Cruising right on to the Super Bowl in Detroit.

The night of Super Bowl XL, we watched it at my house with the same family friends we had watched the divisional round with. We all wore our Steelers gear, of course, and we added black and gold lei necklaces for the occasion. What a special game and special time that was, from the 3rd and 27 conversion in the first half to Willie Parker’s 75-yard touchdown run, which broke a Super Bowl record. Of course, there was Ben’s quarterback sneak on the goal line for a touchdown, and there was the trick play touchdown pass from Antwaan Randle El to Hines Ward. The speech Jerome Bettis gave about The Bus having his last stop in Detroit was truly special. What a way to end a career by winning the Super Bowl in your hometown. Tragically, my mom’s friend passed away shortly after in a car accident, and so this Super Bowl is a little more special to my entire family because of that. The pictures and memories of that night with my mom’s friend are truly special, and we think of her every Super Bowl.

I know I didn’t grow up in the ’70s to see the first Steelers dynasty, but I was so incredibly blessed to find football at the beginning of the Ben Roethlisberger era. To watch such great teams as a young child cemented my allegiance to the black and gold for life, and the memories I have of that time are so well defined and not something I will ever forget.

Stay tuned for more tales of my black and gold fandom! In the meantime, where were you for Super Bowl XL? What was your favorite moment from the 2005 season? Feel free to share your favorite moments from that time period below!