1999 Steelers

Harv Aronson joins us to discuss and interesting yet disappointing season for Pittsburgh but yet one so full of hope and building to a brighter future. The Steelers of 1999.

The 1999 Steelers team was not memorable for being one of the better teams in Pittsburgh History. They finished with a disappointing 6-10 record, and failed to make the playoffs after starting off the season by winning 5 of their first 8 games. Ultimately losing seven of the remaining eight. It was their worst record under Head Coach Bill Cowher. So why do we want to remember this season? The players and the potential that they had.

The 1999 Draft haul for Pittsburgh seemed promising enough. With the round 1 selection, the 13th overall, Pittsburgh chose Troy Edwards, a wide receiver out of Louisiana Tech. They followed that selection up in round 2 with a bit of a reach in Safety Scott Shields from Weber State. The mid-rounds are where the Steelers started to hit on some contributors. The third round saw multiple selections with Linebacker Joey Porter of Colorado State, Kris Farris, a Tackle from UCLA, and West Virginia Swiss army knife RB Amos Zereoué. They may have chosen the best overall value in Defensive End in the fourth, Aaron Smith, who hailed from Northern Colorado. Other notables were Michigan Tight end Jerame Tuman and Nebraska Kicker Kris Brown. The undrafted signings of Long Snapper Matt Schneck, South Carolina QB Anthony Wright, and Tulane TE Cory Geason all looked solid, filling positions of need. 

Some returning offensive pieces were RB Jerome Bettis, Left Guard alan Faneca, QB Kordell Stewart, and the elevation of a young receiver in 23-year-old Hines Ward. The offense was comlimented with veteran QB backup Mike Tomczak, and new offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. 

The defense was a solid unit under DC Jim Haslett, but it lacked any stars but they did have core players in Jason Gildon and Carlos Emmons, along with strong safety Lee Flowers, returning.

The team game out of the gate hot dispatching Cleveland and Cincy quite handily before coming back to reality suffering consecutive losses to Seattle, Jacksonville, and Buffalo. Next things looked up again as the Steelers rattled off three straigh "Ws" over the Bengals, Fallcons, and Niners; only to crumble into dispair as the team dropped 7 games of their final eight in a second hald of the season collapse.

Sometimes after you hit rock bottom, thankfull only 6-10 was the bottom, the team improved in 2000 and were back in the playoffs by 2001.

Here is a look at the full roster of players for the 1999 Pittsburgh Steelers.

We thank Harv Aronson for once again joining us to talk about some football history than concerns our mutual favorite team.

Harv Aronson and his book

Harv Aronson the talented and knowledgable Sports
Historian and writer was born and raised in Pittsburgh but now lives in Florida. Harv graduated from North Hills High School in Pittsburgh and Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania where he earned a degree in Communications with a minor in Journalism.

He authored the book "Pro Football's Most Passionate Fans" in 2012. Harv has the distinction of being named Visa's 2001 "Hall of Fans Award." As an award honoree, a plaque was presented to him at Heinz Field and placed in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Mr. Aronson is aregular contributing writer to Gridiron Greats Magazine , has managed and hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers site 'Steelers Hotline", and puts out some great sports history videos on his Sports History Remembered Channel

More Information

Harv Aronson bio on Abstract Sports

Bio of Author Harv Aronson

More Information

The poor showing in 1999 and again in 2000 gave the team and its young roster some experience, and set them up with great draft picks of future stars that propelled them to become one of the best teasts in football for the next decade.

Here is the ball in my collection of facsimile signings of the 1999 Pittsburgh Steelers that inspired this post and interview with Harv Aronson.

Here are some more Steelers related posts and podcasts that we have that you may find interesting. Enjoy yourself in the history!!

Art Rooney Sr ‣ Steelers Origin

The story of Art Rooney Sr. is synonymous with the origin and early history of the franchise he founded, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steelers origin story

More Information

---