How Well Do You Know Your Steelers?
The Steelers lend themselves to trivia contests because of their rich history, and you can make them easy or harder than Cowher’s chin.
I split the difference, though leaning toward the more difficult side, with a 20-question quiz that is a template for trivia tests.
Here is the grading scale for the test in which there are 36 possible points: 0–10 right and you are obviously a Ravens spy; 11–20 and you need to do more homework; 21–25 and you pass; 26–30 and you are hard-core about your Steelers; 31–36 and congratulations, you get to manage Mike Tomlin’s timeouts and coaches’ challenges for an entire season.
Here is the test:
1. I led the Steelers with six interceptions in 1978 and went undrafted after playing quarterback in college. I won a historic Super Bowl as a head coach and gave Mike Tomlin one of his early breaks. Who am I?
2. Ben Roethlisberger threw his 213th career touchdown pass in a 2013 game, passing Terry Bradshaw for the most in franchise history. Who caught that touchdown pass?
3. The Steelers inaugurated a team MVP award in 1969. Since then four different players have won it three times, including Antonio Brown, the 2015 recipient of the award. Who are the three others who have been three-time Steelers MVPs?
4. The Steelers have allowed five 200-yard rushing games in franchise history. One player has two of those games and he is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Name him.
5. Match the Steelers player with the correct alma mater: Antonio Brown, Merril Hoge, Eric Green and Mel Blount.
6. I led the NFL in rushing both of the two full seasons I played for the Steelers and I played for two other NFL teams. I was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966. Who am I?
7. Four of the Steelers’ first five picks in the historic 1974 NFL draft eventually made the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Name the player who didn’t and the round he was drafted.
8. Troy Polamalu intercepted 32 passes during his career and had at least one pick against 17 different teams. A quarter of his interceptions, however, came against one team. Which team was that?
9. Two Steelers are tied for the longest service by a defensive player, 14 seasons. Who are those players?
10. Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin all won their head-coaching debuts. Name the team the Steelers beat for each of the three coaches’ first games.
11. Who are the two Steelers tight ends to catch a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl?
12. Rocky Bleier wrote a book that was turned into a TV movie. Who played Bleier in the movie? a) Ted Danson, b) Robert Urich, c) Steve Guttenberg d) Burt Reynolds.
13. I lead the Steelers with 827 career yards on interception returns and I am a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Who am I?
14. In 2014, after throwing for 360 yards in a 27–20 win at Atlanta, Ben Roethlisberger became one of just six quarterbacks in NFL history to beat at least 31 teams. Who are the other five quarterbacks?
15. Which defensive player was voted Steelers MVP in 1974, the season the team broke through and won its first Super Bowl?
16. What quarterback did the Steelers select in the fifth round of the 2000 NFL draft, 36 picks before the New England Patriots took Tom Brady?
17. Quarterbacks rank first and second on the Steelers’ all-time list for yards per carry players with a minimum of 1,500 rushing yards. Who are they?
18. What team has the Steelers beaten the most in the postseason?
19. The Steelers have won the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year Award six times since it started in 1971, the most of any organization. Who was the only one of the six who never won a Super Bowl while playing for the Steelers?
20. Three coaches who are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame were among Chuck Noll’s greatest influences. Name them.
Answers
1. Tony Dungy; 2. Emmanuel Sanders; 3. Rod Woodson, Jerome Bettis, Hines Ward; 4. O.J. Simpson; 5. Brown -- Central Michigan, Hoge – Idaho State, Green – Liberty University; Blount – Southern University); 6. Bill Dudley; 7. Jim Allen, fourth round out of UCLA; 8. Browns; 9. Ernie Stautner, Donnie Shell; 10. Noll – Lions, Cowher – Oilers, Tomlin – Browns; 11. Larry Brown, Randy Grossman; 12. b; 13. Jack Butler; 14. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Drew Brees, Kerry Collins; 15. Glen Edwards; 16. Tee Martin; 17. Kordell Stewart, Terry Bradshaw; 18. Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts; 19. Rod Woodson; 20. Paul Brown, Sid Gillman, Don Shula.