Expert: Aaron Smith - 9/25/2008

Question
i have been a steeler fan my whole life.ihave some videos of their history..i have several books on them or written by them(a steeler odyssey my favorite by andy russell).my all time favorite player is rocky bleier.because of everything he went through on and off the field .a real american hero.back to the question.i dont remember if i read this somewhere or heard from another old steeler...was the name "Americas Team" originally offered to the steelers?the way i recall it was that the Chief declined it to then nfl commisioner.stating that the Steelers were Pittsburgh's team.i have tried numerous different sites and experts never recieving a response.this troubles me.feel free to edit or make corrections if you print this.you have no idea what it would mean to me to be free of this doubt whether true or not the steelers will always be my and my family's team.also it may not be such officially ,but the S1teeler nation's growth has eclipsed anyones imagination!God bless the Rooney family right now in these trying times i hope eveything can be resolved

Answer
Hi Carlos...The nickname "America's Team" is not a official title given by the league to any team. NFL Films was putting the 1978 season highlights together of the Cowboys. Bob Ryan, the guy putting it together, was trying to think of a title for the film. He started thinking about how he always saw shirts and jerseys of the Cowboys in the stands no matter where they played and he noticed how they were on national TV a lot. After the highlight film came out, the name just stuck. Dallas fans loved it and just started saying it all the time.