July 8, 1933

Greatness has to begin somewhere and in Pittsburgh, it all began on this day in 1933.

Today fans around the world are celebrating the Pittsburgh Steelers 91st Birthday, the day when it all began for the historic franchise.

Art Rooney Sr., known as 'The Chief' to his players, coaches, staff and fans, had the team's application for a National Football League franchise granted a few months prior on May 19, and the Pittsburgh Professional Football Club, Inc. joined the NFL in exchange for a fee of $2,500.

But it wasn't until July 8, 1933 that it all became official when Rooney, one of the great pioneers of the sports world, brought the NFL to his beloved Pittsburgh. At the time the Steelers joined the Eastern Division and were one of only 10 teams in the NFL.

So much has changed over the years and the Steelers grew to be one of the historic and most-beloved franchises in the NFL.

Little did Rooney know back in 1933, or during the first 40 years of the franchise when the team struggled, that the Steelers would one day be among the NFL elite.

The Steelers have since won six Super Bowls, tied for the most in the National Football League. Since 1969 the team has had only three head coaches, Hall of Famers Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher, and current Coach Mike Tomlin, who have all won Super Bowl Championships.

The Steelers have a remarkable 27 major contributors in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including players, coaches, owners and more. The team also introduced their own Hall of Honor, highlighting those who have been an integral part of the organization and are highlighted in the Hall of Honor Museum.

A look back: Below is an excerpt from the NFL Newsletter written by then league President Joe Carr making the announcement to the other teams in the NFL of the addition of a team in Pittsburgh.

"The application of the Pittsburgh Professional Football Club Inc., accompanied by a check for Twenty-Five Hundred ($2,500.00) Dollars is on file in the office of the President. I have already received the unanimous approval of the Executive Committee for this application that will come before the July meeting for ratification by the entire membership.

"The Pittsburgh group is headed by Mr. Arthur Rooney, 915 Western Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., who has had much experience in the promotion of sporting and athletic events. The club appears to be well financed. The sporting editors of all the Pittsburgh papers are very enthusiastic about this group as well as the outlook for a National League Franchise in that city. They propose to play some early games at night and after it is permissible, under the new Pennsylvania law, to play on Sunday. Games will be played at Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh National League Baseball Club."

**A bit of History

Super Bowl bling:** The Steelers won six Super Bowls, including XI, X, XIII, XIV, XL and XLIII and with each one the Super Bowl rings got more interesting, exciting, and of course, bigger.

All of the team's Super Bowl rings can be viewed in the gallery below.

Love the look: Through the 90 years the Steelers uniform has taken on different looks, from the original in 1933 to what it looks like today. In between the uniform grew to be something Steelers fans identify with, and have fallen in love with.

Below is a look through the years of the different uniforms the team has worn.

Squad goals: One of the highlights every year is players gathering for the annual team photo. As you can see from the gallery below, the squad has grown over the years from the first pictures early on until the most recent team photos. But one thing is true in all of them, everyone wearing that jersey wears it with pride.