Pittsburgh Steelers A Legacy Forged in Black and GoldPittsburgh Steelers | July 8, 1933, then National Football League President Joe Carr announced via a newsletter that Art Rooney Sr. was approved to join the 10-team league in the fall of 1933 to fill a vacancy caused by the withdrawal of the Staten Island franchise. Rooney named his franchise the Pittsburgh Pirates in honor of the Steel City's Major League Baseball team. The team had to play early and nighttime weekday games until a new Pennsylvania law allowed them to play on Sundays.
Pittsburgh Steelers A Legacy Forged in Black and Gold
The Pirates that day lost their first game in the League 23-2 to the New York Football Giants at old Forbes Field. It would take the upstart team only a short time to find victory, though, as the very next week, the Pittsburgh Professional Football Club defeated the Chicago Cardinals 14-13 in the friendly confines of Forbes Field. In the early 1940s Rooney changed the team moniker to the Steelers. NFL Team origin
