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10 Things You Need To Know About The Steelers

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By ANWAR S. RICHARDSON

arichardson@tampatrib.com

Published: January 25, 2009

You might not know the difference between Ben Roethlisberger and a bacon burger, but Steelers fans will descend upon Tampa Bay this week, leaving you with two options - hide or learn. Here are 10 things you need to know about the Pittsburgh Steelers.

THOSE YELLOW TOWELS HAVE A NAME

Every diehard Steelers fan carries a Terrible Towel, and it's not for washing the car. From the team's official Web site: "THE TOWEL is a positive force that lifts the Steelers to magnificent heights - and poses mysterious difficulties for the Steelers' opponents only if need be." Let's just be honest and say what it really is - an adult binky.

TOMLIN KNOWS WAY AROUND TAMPA

Do not bother trying to impress Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin by offering to bring him a sandwich from your favorite deli. Tomlin was a defensive backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2001-05. Save the restaurant references for the equipment manager.

FELL OFF DUNGY COACHING TREE

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is a product of Tony Dungy's coaching tree. Dungy hired Tomlin, who previously coached defensive backs at the University of Cincinnati, for the Bucs staff. Tomlin will be the second Dungy protege to coach in the Super Bowl in three years. The other was Chicago coach Lovie Smith, who lost to his mentor in Super Bowl XLI in 2007.

A LONG HISTORY

The Steelers are the fifth-oldest franchise, started in 1933 by Art Rooney. Since those humble beginnings, Pittsburgh has won five Super Bowls.

THEY LOVE THEIR KETCHUP

The Steelers play home games at Heinz Field. Yes, the makers of Heinz ketchup and Heinz 57 sauce. There are two enormous ketchup bottles in the stadium, each of which would hold 1,664,000 ounces of ketchup. That's more than enough to give each of the stadium's 65,050 fans a 14-ounce bottle of ketchup to take home.

BEN BOUNCES BACK

Ben Roethlisberger might be the classic example of the saying, "If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all." He was involved in a serious motorcycle accident in the 2006 offseason, suffering facial fractures that required surgery. He had an emergency appendectomy in the 2006 preseason. And in December, in Pittsburgh's season finale against Cleveland, Roethlisberger sustained a concussion and lay on the field for 15 minutes before being carted off on a stretcher. Through all three incidents, he missed one regular-season game.

MOCKING THE DRAFT

Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison went against the NFL's draft system this season. He was not drafted out of Kent State and was cut four times before making an NFL roster. After 101 tackles and 16 sacks this season, Harrison was named the Associated Press' Defensive Player of the Year in his second season as a starter.

NO ORDINARY LOGO

Most logos are easy to understand - Buccaneers, Panthers, Chargers or Bears - but Pittsburgh's is different. What are those three colored diamonds? Apparently, the logo is based on the Steelmark logo belonging to the American Iron and Steel Institute. It was created by the U.S. Steel Corp., now known as USX Corp., and contains three shapes called "hypocycloids."

PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

Willie Colon...(Cologne)

Trai Essex... (TRAY)

Keyaron Fox...(KEY-aaron)

Brett Keisel...(KEE-sull)

Chris Kemoeatu...(kay-moy-AH-too)

Travis Kirschke...(KERSH-key)

Jeremy Parquet...(Par-ket)

Troy Polamalu...(Pole-uh-MAH-lu)

Ben Roethlisberger...(ROTH-lis-ber-ger)

Matt Spaeth...(SPAYTH)

Limas Sweed...(LIE-mas)

LaMarr Woodley...(la-MARR)

FANS OF STEEL

Few of us will ever understand the desire to overturn a car or set the local grocery store on fire after our team wins a championship. However, some of Pittsburgh's fans celebrated that way after the Super Bowl XL victory in 2006.

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