Allen: Why we hate the Steelers – a primer

I was chatting with a local football reporter last week, and the topic came up about how this Super Bowl could be made to appeal to Patriots fans. We tossed around some easy topics, Sean Morey - local kid and former Patriot now going to the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl in the same season, the interesting matchup of Arizona's coaching staff (former Pittsburgh coaches) going up against their former team. Even Kurt Warner getting back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the Patriots shocked his Rams.

But one topic stood out to me as above all the others. In my mind, New England fans are really only interested in seeing one thing in this Super Bowl - the Steelers losing.

I think we can make the case that the Steelers are really the team that Patriots fans dislike the most and respect the least. To do that, let's run down some of the history between these two teams this decade, and I think you'll agree that we should want nothing more than to see the Cardinals shock the world and upset the Steelers this Sunday.

AFC Championship Game, January 27th, 2002 - If you recall prior to this game, the Steelers players were all talking already about New Orleans and getting to play in the Super Bowl. Coach Bill Cowher even gave his players time to make arrangements and get their affairs in order for the Super Bowl. One of my most vivid memories from that week is Lawyer Milloy, seething during the press conference leading up to the game, because most of the questions were about how the Patriots had no chance.

During the game, the Patriots scored two special teams touchdowns which really were the difference in the game, a 24-17 Patriots victory. In the aftermath of the game, comments from the Steelers locker room such as "the best team doesn't always win" from Kordell Stewart, and other  quotes diminishing the special teams touchdowns as flukes were commonplace.

Opening Night, 2002 Season - The Steelers' sour grapes continued all summer long, as the Patriots and Steelers were scheduled to open the 2002 regular season at the brand new Gillette Stadium. The Steelers talked the entire offseason about how they were the better team, Hines Ward talked about "unfinished business" with Ty Law and the Patriots. Talk, talk talk. Then the Patriots went out waxed the Steelers 30-14 in front of a national audience. The game wasn't even that close.

October 31, 2004 - The Patriots had a Halloween nightmare in Pittsburgh, as a myriad injuries created the perfect storm in a 34-20 Steelers victory, which ended the Patriots 21 game winning streak. The Steelers of course talked about vindication and thoroughly enjoyed their regular season triumph over the Patriots.

AFC Championship game, 2005 - The Steelers finished that season 15-1, and had home field advantage in the playoffs. The Patriots headed into Pittsburgh once again for the AFC title game. This paragraph from Michael Silver in Sports Illustrated tells you all you need to know about the Steelers attitude heading into this one:
Heading into the hotly anticipated rematch, the Steelers were confident that they could repeat the beating. "We're going to pound the s--- out of them," running back Jerome (the Bus) Bettis predicted last Friday. "Everyone is wondering how we're going to stop them, but how are they going to stop us?" Though impressed by the Patriots' stuffing of the league's top-ranked passing offense in a 20--3 divisional-round victory over the Indianapolis Colts the previous Sunday, Joey Porter, Pittsburgh's Pro Bowl outside linebacker, scoffed, "They're not made for overpowering a team like us. That's the difference between us and Indy--we won't be scared."

The Patriots rolled, 41-27 again silencing the mouthy Steelers and headed to their third Super Bowl in four years.

In the 2005 regular season, the Steelers did all they could to downplay their matchup with the Patriots, swore that they had learned their lesson, and still lost on an Adam Vinatieri field goal.

In 2007, with the Spygate frothing at full foment, new Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, having just coached his first NFL games, waded into the sea of those commenting on the scandal, stating that the rumors about the Patriots videotaping had been around and "where there is smoke, there's fire." Hines Ward talked about how the Patriots knew their plays. Deshea Townsend claimed that the Steelers should get a Super Bowl ring for the titles stolen from them. Other Steelers made similar comments. Talk like that came from around the league, but it was especially loud from Pittsburgh.

On December 9th, 2007, the Steelers came into Gillette once again, this time with safety Anthony Smith furnishing a guarantee that the Steelers would knock off the undefeated Patriots. The Patriots stomped all over the Steelers that day, 34-13, with the Patriots appearing to target Smith during the game. The Steelers once again did plenty of talking prior to this season's regular season victory at Gillette. Don't they ever shut up?

All of these incidents don't even touch on all the talking Joey Porter did during his time with the team, or the insufferable online Steelers fan contingent. (Note that I said "online" - I'm sure there are plenty of down-to-earth, decent folks rooting for the Steelers) One look at the comment section of a recent column by John Molori calling out the Steelers for a series of cheap shots should tell you all you need to know about this group.

Sure, the Cardinals came to Foxboro and disgracefully laid down in late December, but they're still much easier to root for than the entry from the Steel city. If you had any doubts about which team to root for on Sunday night, hopefully this little review has put them to rest.

Bruce Allen is the creator of Boston Sports Media Watch, which has recently been recognized by SI.com as one of the best non-corporate sports web site's on the Internet.