10 Decades of Steelers Football: 30's - 50's

On July 8th, 1933, a native Pennsylvania man by the name of Art Rooney founded a new team in the NFL by the name of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Ninety years later, the now Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the most successful franchises in league history. But it wasn't always this way. It's time for a history lesson, fellow Yinzers, and Yinzees! This multi-piece series will include a look back at each decade of Steelers' football. We will start with the early days..

Let's board the time machine and explore the Steelers from their Pirate days to their modern-day Steelers! 

The 30's: Pity the Pirates

Before the Steelers came the Pittsburgh Pirates! No really.. the football team. The Pirates started poorly, (stop me if you've heard this before) finishing in last place in their division with the Philadelphia Eagles, Boston Redskins, New York Giants, and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Their first game was against the New York Giants at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The Pirates would struggle and lose 23-2. By the end of the season, the Pirates final record would be 3-6-2. With the first season out of the way, would the Pirates be able to set sail on the franchise and be one of the great early teams? In a word, no. The Pirates wouldn't have one winning season throughout the 30s and have a record of 22-55-3. Their best season was a 6-6 finish, but they still didn't make a single playoff appearance throughout the 30s—rough start. Could the 40s put the Pirates on the map?

The 40s: Debut of the Steel ft. Philly & Chicago

The Pirates would be renamed the Steelers to prevent confusion with the baseball team, also named the Pittsburgh Pirates, to kick off the 1940 season. The first season under the Steelers moniker would result in repeated mediocrity with a 2-7-2 record to kick off the decade -- and still somehow didn't finish in last place, with the Eagles going 1-10. The rest of the decade would only give two winning seasons to the new franchise, with only one playoff appearance. They were shut out in a loss to Philadelphia.

The Steelers name would stick except for the 1943 and 1944 seasons. In 1943, the Steelers would merge with their other Pennsylvania city in Philadelphia to accommodate many players joining the military due to World War II. They would combine to become the "Steagles." Funny enough, it would be Philadelphia's first winning season in franchise history as the team went 5-4-1.

The merger gods weren't done with Pittsburgh yet, as the team would also merge with the Chicago Cardinals and become "Card-Pitt." The Cardinals and Steelers combining would prove to be a disaster as these two future Super Bowl opponents would lose every game, going 0-10, and for the Cardinals, their second 0-10 season in a row. The Steelers overall would go 40-64-6, in the 40's, including the merged seasons. It was a better decade with the first winning season and playoff appearance, but that's not saying much.

The 50s: "Playoffs? You Kidding Me? Playoffs?"

The Steelers would debut the new decade with a 6-6 record despite starting 2-5. The rest of the decade would be a wrong time to be a Steelers fan, as they never made the playoffs and only had two seasons with winning records. The upside is the Steelers hired their first head coach with a winning record, Buddy Parker (pictured above), from 1957-1964. The 50s would be uneventful and disappointing for the Steelers as they went 54-63-3 in the decade.

But then things started to turn around...

Stay tuned for the next story as we count backwards the 60's and 70's!!