Steely McBeam Pittsburgh Steelers

The fifth-oldest franchise in the NFL, the Steelers were founded as the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 8, 1933, by Art Rooney, taking their original name from Pittsburgh's baseball team, as was common practice for NFL teams to do at the time. The Steelers have used black and gold as their colors since the club's inception.

The ownership of the Steelers has remained within the Rooney family since its founding. The current owner is Art's son, Dan Rooney, who has given much control of the franchise to his son Art Rooney II.

Prior to the 2007 season, the Steelers introduced Steely McBeam as their official mascot, as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of the team. His name was selected from a pool of 70,000 suggestions submitted by fans of the team. Diane Roles of Middlesex, Pennsylvania submitted the winning name which was "meant to represent steel for Pittsburgh's industrial heritage, "Mc" for the Rooney family's Irish roots, and Beam for the steel beams produced in Pittsburgh. Steely McBeam is visible at all home games and participates in the team's charitable programs and other club-sponsored events.

Steely McBeam signing autographs for fans at Steelers training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania on August 2nd, 2007, just before his name was unveiled. Up to that point, he signed his autographs as "Mascot 07".

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TEXT CREDIT: Pittsburgh Steelers From Wikipedia