The Life of a Steelers' Fan in New England

With the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots going head to head this week, here’s an inside look at what it is like being a Steelers fan in the depths of Patriots’ territory.

For as long as I became a full-fledged football fan, the Pittsburgh Steelers were my team. My mother had grown up in Pittsburgh and passed on her yinzer pride to my older brother, Charlie. On the other side, my father had grown up in Massachusetts and has been a massive Patriots fan since even the dark ages before Tom Terrific came around.

Once I fell in love with football, I had a very important decision to make. There was something about the Steelers that drew me in more than the New England Patriots. It might have been the influence of my older brother, who I looked up to like many younger siblings tend to do. But something about the black and gold, the tradition, and the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers made me want to be a part of Steeler Nation.

Of course, having just moved to Massachusetts from New Jersey, the decision might have seemed peculiar. I was living in the core of New England, just an hour or so away from Foxborough where the Patriots played. The one thing to know about Massachusetts is that everyone is a Patriots fan. Unlike many other states that might have multiple teams or just a wide variety of fans, about 99 percent of people living in Massachusetts are diehard Patriots fans. It’s an environment that you simply cannot escape.

The one thing to know about Massachusetts is that everyone is a Patriots fan. Unlike many other states that might have multiple teams or just a wide variety of fans, about 99 percent of people living in Massachusetts are diehard Patriots fans. It’s an environment that you simply cannot escape.

Being a high school student, I am surrounded by people who can’t recall a time before Tom Brady. It’s hard arguing or debating with a group of people that were never alive during a time where their team wasn’t the best, and they won’t have to come to terms with that until Tom Brady retires in 47 years or so.

Every time I open the doors to my school, I am flooded with everything you would expect from a school in New England. Brady, Gronkowski, and Edelman jerseys, discussions about how Roger Goodell is out to get them and how they’ve never done anything remotely wrong. My favorite is probably every year where they unbiasedly predict that their team will win the Super Bowl despite having to face more adversity than any team in history.

Despite being surrounded by Patriot fanatics, I’ve never been afraid to represent my team. I’d say almost every single day, I walk into that school wearing something Steelers. Whether it be my Ben Roethlisberger or Le’Veon Bell jersey, or one of my many Steeler-themed shirts, or even my Pittsburgh Steelers socks, I have to be wearing something to let them know that I’m proud of being part of Steeler Nation.

Let me make something clear. I really really really don’t like the New England Patriots. While everyone in my school might argue that I “hate them because I ain’t them”, I’ve adopted this hatred for the team from living here and having to endure the attitude that comes with being the best football team in the 21st century.

The picture perfect team with all the picture perfect beautiful players that have never done anything wrong but seemingly always get in trouble because everyone is out to get them but they overcome all that adversity to be the best every single year. That is the New England Patriots in the eye of their fans.

It was just a couple weeks ago that I was having a debate with a kid about whether or not Brady knew about the deflated footballs or not when I heard someone say “Tom Brady just threw 6 touchdowns in two weeks with no interceptions, that’s got to be a record.” I simply could not resist and swiftly chimed in with “Well actually, Ben Roethlisberger just threw 9 touchdowns in two weeks with no interceptions, and it wasn’t long ago that he threw 12 touchdowns in two games with no interceptions…which is actually the record.”

I simply could not resist and swiftly chimed in with “Well actually, Ben Roethlisberger just threw 9 touchdowns in two weeks with no interceptions, and it wasn’t long ago that he threw 12 touchdowns in two games with no interceptions…which is actually the record.” The conversation quickly turned into the “too bad Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t have four rings” that I have had the great fortune to hear about a thousand times.

Over the years, I have adapted to the many things Patriots fans will ridicule the Steelers for and have built a well-oiled defense system. Since the fact that the Steelers six Super Bowl rings are “too dusty” to really count, always remember that the Steelers and Patriots have actually won the same number of Super Bowls in the last decade.

Whenever the two teams go head to head, it instantly becomes the most important game of the year to me. It’s always a fun matchup to watch, and while aggravating considering the Steelers have lost almost every matchup the teams have had in the last few years, it’s still very entertaining to talk with all my Patriots fan friends and watch the game with my Patriots fan father.

So when I heard Landry Jones was making the start this weekend, I was less than enthused. Tom Brady versus Landry Jones was not exactly the matchup I was excited for. All I know is that if Landry Jones somehow pull out a victory against New England, I will have endless ammunition to use against oncoming New Englanders for some time.

On a final note, I have to say, I respect the New England Patriots. In fact, there might not be a team I respect more than the Patriots. I may really dislike them, and I may really get tired of hearing about their excellence every day of my life, but I respect them.

They have managed to maintain a level of excellence over the last two decades throughout turmoil and a carousel of new players and new challenges that all Steelers fans should respect coming from a fan group that takes pride in a level of consistency maintained for years.

For as long as I live, I will forever be a Steelers fan, but I will also be a New Englander. Two things that are a part of who I am, and two things that I am proud to be.