Pittsburgh Steelers Rivalries
By Kim Myers
Cleveland Browns: This is another team that’s just still fun to beat no matter how pathetic their team is. With the cities just about 90 minutes apart, this rivalry has always been heated. Nowadays you can only feel bad when someone tells you they’re a Browns fan because they were unfortunately born into those circumstances. The Steelers have owned the Browns for about the past decade and it’s clearly not going to change anytime soon. It hardly seems fair to have such hate for a team that clearly can’t defend themselves, but I was raised this way and there’s no reason to change now.
Baltimore Ravens: This rivalry has certainly heated up over the past years with the
frequent playoff meetings and trash talking between the players. Of course, according to Steelers Safety Ryan Clark, there is no rivalry because the Ravens can’t seem to beat us when it counts so what’s there to rival? I couldn’t love him more for saying that.
The Ravens have built their team to closely mirror the Steelers style, with a tough defense, solid running game, and a tall quarterback. Fortunately for us though, that model has them falling short to us each year in the playoffs. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Baltimore’s QB Joe Flacco is going to try to put his big boy pants on this year since being called out by Steelers LB LaMarr Woodley. Woodley was
asked about Flacco’s chances of ever winning a Super Bowl, and Woodley replied
that it would never happen in his lifetime. What did they expect him to say, “Oh yeah he’s a nice guy, I sure hopehe beats us and wins himself a Super Bowl real soon.” Not likely. This year’s season kicks off with the two teams meeting in Baltimore, so that will mean that the last team to beat the Ravens last season will be the first team to beat the Ravens this season. Sounds about right. All the trash talking in the world doesn’t make a difference in rivalries if the games don’t live up to the hype, and the recent games between the Steelers and Ravens have not disappointed any fans at all. Well, maybe the Ravens fans.
So there’s my Steeler fans guide to hating on other teams. Remember to use your powers for good and not evil. Go Steelers!