Pittsburgh Steelers: Who Steelers Fans Love to Hate
Something weird happened over the past few weeks. Amidst the NFL lockout without football talk to occupy my time I found myself watching something that I never spent more than a few moments of my time before: the NBA Playoffs.
Don’t get me wrong, I like basketball and do enjoy watching many of the players, but without an NBA team in Pittsburgh, I have never truly gotten into the pro game.
But this year something was different, something drew me into the playoff action. It was a force, an evil force that I could not resist but to root against: LeBron James.
I was never a fan of James but was rather indifferent to him when he was in Cleveland. That indifference changed on the night of “The Decision.”
How arrogant can you be to have your own special show to announce your intentions of leaving a city that worshipped you? It was everything that is wrong with sports today wrapped up into a sad self-promotion.
What does this have to do with football and the Steelers?
Not since the New York Giants-New England Patriots Super Bowl did I find myself rooting so hard against a team that I had no association with.
In the NBA Finals, I didn’t care that the Dallas Mavericks won. I was simply thrilled to see James lose.
But that did not even match up to the joy and excitement I felt when former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress reeled in the game-winning touchdown with only seconds to go to defeat the previously undefeated Tom Brady and his Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
That got me thinking, who in the NFL do Steelers fans absolutely loathe?
Tom Brady
1 of 10
Never before and maybe never again had I rooted against a team more than when the New England Patriots were going for an undefeated season in Super Bowl XLII against the New York Giants. Why? Two men: Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
Steelers fans root against Brady, in part, because he is just so good, especially when playing Pittsburgh.
Following the Patriots 39-26 win over the Steelers this past season, there was an (un)popular phrase going around Pittsburgh.
“The Rooney family doesn’t own the Steelers. Tom Brady does.”
As painful as it is to admit, Brady does own the Steelers.
In six career games against Pittsburgh, Brady holds a 5-1 record with his loan loss coming in 2004 when the Steelers ended New England’s NFL-record 21-game unbeaten streak.
Outside of that game, Brady has simply dominated Pittsburgh, including earning two AFC Championship victories at Heinz Field.
Brady doesn’t just beat the Steelers, he embarrasses them.
For his career, Brady has completed 67 percent of his passes for 1,658 yards, 11 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 97.9 passer rating.
On top of always dissecting Pittsburgh’s defense, Brady’s arrogance, brash style and sense of entitlement makes him one of the most hated players in the league for Steelers fans.
Bill Belichick
2 of 10
While on the Patriots, you cannot exclude the head coach Bill Belichick.
Belichick never takes the foot off of the gas pedal, having Brady sling the ball around late in the fourth quarter with a huge lead. Why does he do that when they could simply run out the clock? Because he can.
Since taking over the Patriots head coaching job, Belichick has pretty much owned the Steelers, twice defeating them at Heinz Field in AFC Championship games.
Pittsburgh fans can appreciate quality play and good coaching, but there is also the “Spygate” scandal associate with Belichick.
Though he did not blame the AFC Championship game losses on the Patriots cheating, Hines Ward acknowledged that something suspicious was going on.
“Oh, they knew…They were calling our stuff out. They knew, especially that first championship game (in 2002) here at Heinz Field. They knew a lot of our calls. There’s no question some of their players were calling out some of our stuff.”
History will never change, but Steelers wins will always associate an asterisk with Belichick and the Patriots Super Bowl championship teams.
John Harbaugh
3 of 10
For only having a 2-6 record against Pittsburgh, including two playoff losses, John Harbaugh sure likes to do a lot of talking.
At times it is out of line for a head coach, such as his response to Haloti Ngata breaking Ben Roethlisberger’s nose.
“He’s a tough guy. He had the broken nose. I was glad we broke his nose, and then I was very impressed that he played through it. Obviously, you can throw very effectively with a broken nose—he proved that.”
Real classly comment from a head coach.
But that doesn’t come anywhere near to the level of whining that Harbaugh does, particularly after losses to the Steelers, whether it is making excuses or about the officiating. In fact, he says that he never stops thinking about the Steelers.
“Every single day, in all honesty…I’ve said it before, and people in Pittsburgh got upset, but I feel like we gave them the game twice this year. We should have beaten them three times, and that’s on us. That’s our fault.”
Sorry John, you’re wrong. The Steelers were the better team, and they usually are. Whining is not going to help you beat Pittsburgh.
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Ray Lewis
4 of 10
Maybe at the top of the list of hated members of the NFL is Ray Lewis.
Like his head coach, Lewis likes to whine when he loses to the Steelers, just as he did following this year’s 31-24 playoff loss when his defense allowed Pittsburgh to score four touchdowns in five trips to the red zone.
“I tell you time and time again, the No. 1 thing you cannot do is turn the ball over in the red zone,” Lewis said. “That will never change in this business ever. We are good, but to overcome all of that is harsh on my defense, and I wouldn't put that much on my defense because we went out and played our hearts out.”
Granted, his defense couldn’t hold the Steelers to field goals.
The excuse making for losing is pretty pathetic for one of the all-time great linebackers. Never is his defense responsible for losing. Lewis takes the easy out and blames the officials, or his quarterback.
But beyond his whining, which seems to be a common theme amongst the Ravens – I could have put Derrick Mason on this list as well, Lewis is as arrogant as they come and that brings about a sense of entitlement. Ray, not everything can go your way.
The constant talk that comes from Lewis is annoying at best and since the Steelers usually beat up on Baltimore, particularly with Roethlisberger in the lineup, it can get downright old.
Beyond his mouth, Lewis has his stupid dance when he steps onto the field. Lewis piles on after the tackle has been made and still gets credit for making the stop. Lewis mocks Joey Porter’s “boot” sack celebration.
Bring on the heat from Steelers fans.
Philip Rivers
5 of 10
What quarterback in the league puts up great stats but has done nothing of consequence in the playoffs? That would be Philip Rivers.
Rivers gets a large amount of hate from the Steelers’ fan base despite not playing in their division and not ever defeating them in any game of consequence.
A lot of the hate, I believe, goes back to the 2004 NFL draft when Rivers was widely thought to be the Steelers target in the first round.
Fans hated his throwing motion and didn’t think that he could be successful in the NFL. They wanted no part of him and were thrilled beyond belief when he was taken early in the draft allowing Roethlisberger to fall to the 11th pick.
Since then, Rivers has proven himself to be a good quarterback but is consistently rated ahead of Roethlisberger in quarterback rankings despite having as many wins as Roethlisberger has Super Bowl appearances, three.
Beyond this, Rivers likes to do a lot of trash talking on the field, and that rubs many the wrong way.
Jerry Jones
6 of 10
Jerry Jones is the egocentric owner of the Dallas Cowboys. What more can you say?
This makes him the most hated owner in the league, edging out Robert Kraft of the Patriots, Dan Snyder of the Washington Redskins and Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders.
Jones and the Cowboys are right at the top of the NFL with the Steelers in terms of marketability and fan base but how the owners conduct themselves couldn’t be further apart.
The Rooney’s stay behind the scenes, have a family atmosphere in their organization and look out for the best interest of the league. The recent results: two Super Bowl championships in three appearances in the past six years.
Jones is a hands-on owner who likes to have more input that he should in roster decisions and looks out for himself. Just take a look at that monstrosity that he calls a football stadium.
Speaking of said stadium, the level of hatred towards Jones skyrocketed after many Steelers fans were left without seats because of poor planning for Super Bowl XLV, held in Dallas.
Thanks Jerry!
William Gay
7 of 10
It is not often that you see a member of the team on a “hated” list, but William Gay gets a ton of hate, more than he should.
Gay is not the most talented or physically gifted cornerback in the league, but he is adequate if he plays in the role where he should be: a nickel or dime back.
The problem, the Steelers defensive back situation is so bad that Gay is often asked to do more than what he should.
As a result, he gets burnt and becomes the target of fan attacks towards the defense.
Don’t blame Gay for the team not having enough quality depth at cornerback.
Rashard Mendenhall's Twitter Account
8 of 10
Rashard, you are entitled to your opinion, but think before you speak. That is all.
Roger Goodell
9 of 10
Where to start?
James Harrison fined for a solid tackle.
The NFL lockout.
Harrison fined for a tackle.
The concept of playing the Super Bowl in London, what?!
Harrison fined for yet another good tackle.
The 18-game schedule. Sorry Rog, fans do not want this.
Harrison fined…again.
Rules that appear to be focused against the Steelers.
Another fine…no wait, it is perfectly OK to make an illegal hit on Roethlisberger.
No Harm, No Foul
10 of 10
Other names such as Chad Ochocinco, Joe Flacco and Mike Holmgren came to mind. Quite simply, these figures have not done enough against the Steelers to warrant any hate. The same could be said for the harmless, but annoying, Cincinnati Bengals fan base.
T.J. Houshmanzadeh would have been on here a few years ago but is irrelevant now. In fact, he will be remembered for dropping a fourth-down pass in this year’s divisional matchup against the Ravens.
Names such as Terrell Owens or Randy Moss are missing because they are universally disliked across the league and haven’t done anything specific towards the Steelers.
A player that you may disagree with that I excluded was Terrell Suggs.
Suggs never hides his feelings for his dislike of the Steelers. He has even worn a shirt which said “Hey Pittsburgh” and had a Raven “flipping the bird” if you will.
But slowly, with his high level of play, Suggs has earned some respect amongst the Steelers faithful.
With that said, who is on your list? Please comment below.
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