The 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 42nd in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

(NFL). They improved to a 10–3–1 regular-season record, won the

AFC Central The American Football Conference – Northern Division or AFC North is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division was adopted after the restructuring of the 2002 NFL s ...

division title, sending them to the playoffs for the third consecutive season, and won a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

championship, the first league title in Steelers' history. This was the first of six consecutive AFC Central division titles for the Steelers, and the first of four Super Bowl championships in the same time period. On March 9, 2007,

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NFL ...

aired an episode of '' America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions'' that covered the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

, with team commentary from

Franco Harris Franco Harris (March 7, 1950 – December 20, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Pittsburgh Steelers. A nine-time Pro Bowl selection ...

Joe Greene Charles Edward Greene (born September 24, 1946), better known as "Mean" Joe Greene, is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to ...

, and Andy Russell, and narrated by

Ed Harris Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in ''Apollo 13'' (1995), ''The Truman Show'' (1998), ''Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Award n ...

Offseason

NFL Draft

During the

offseason In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

, the Steelers held their

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

in St. Vincent College in

Latrobe, Pennsylvania Latrobe is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in the United States and part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The city population was 8,338 as of the 2010 census (9,265 in 1990). It is located near Pennsylvania's scenic Chestnut Ri ...

. During the

1974 NFL Draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers to have h ...

, the Pittsburgh Steelers would draft WR

Lynn Swann Lynn Curtis Swann (born March 7, 1952) is an American former football player, broadcaster, politician, and athletic director, best known for his association with the University of Southern California and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He served on the ...

in Round 1, LB Jack Lambert in Round 2, WR

John Stallworth Johnny Lee Stallworth (born July 15, 1952) is a former American football wide receiver who played 14 seasons in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is considered to be one of the best wide receivers in NFL history. He pl ...

in Round 4, and C

Mike Webster Michael Lewis Webster (March 18, 1952September 24, 2002) was an American professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) from 1974 to 1990 with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs. He is a member ...

in Round 5, and they also signed S

Donnie Shell Donnie Shell (born August 26, 1952) is a former American Football strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League between 1974 and 1987. Shell was a member of the Steelers famed Steel Curtain defense in the 1970s. Shell ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

. All five would later be inducted into the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coac ...

. As of 2014, the 1974 Steelers are the only team in NFL history to select four Hall of Fame players in one single draft.

Preseason

In the 1974 preseason, the Steelers went 6–0 and were the only undefeated team in the NFL. However, most of the talk was centered around the NFL's first successful black quarterback,

Joe Gilliam Joseph Wiley Gilliam, Jr. (December 29, 1950December 25, 2000) was a professional football player, a quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. Primarily a backup, he started the first six ga ...

. Chuck Noll started Gilliam in the preseason and after it ended, Noll started him for the first few games of the regular season. Gilliam's stellar performance in the preseason sparked a quarterback controversy in Pittsburgh.

Regular season

Following playoff appearances in both of the two previous seasons, the Steelers appeared to be in great shape after finishing the preseason as the only undefeated team in the NFL. After the first two regular season games, the Steelers had scored a total of 65 points and were 1–0–1, but then lost to the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raid ...

at home. The play of the Steelers' starting quarterback at the time,

, continually deteriorated. By Week 7, the Steelers were 4–1–1 and Gilliam was benched for

Terry Bradshaw Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). Since 1994, he has been a television sports analyst and ...

during a win against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. Bradshaw won the next two games, but after a loss in Cincinnati, Noll benched Bradshaw again, this time in favor of

Terry Hanratty Terrence Hugh Hanratty (born January 19, 1948) is a former American football quarterback who played in college at Notre Dame and in the National Football League during the 1960s and 1970s. He earned two Super Bowl rings as the backup quarterbac ...

(who had been selected in the 1969 Draft). However, Hanratty played horribly in Cleveland. The offense was struggling, but the Steelers had won those tough games behind the still-maturing

Steel Curtain The Steel Curtain was the defensive line of the 1970s American football team Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). The line was the backbone of the Steelers dynasty, which won four Super Bowls ( IX, X, XIII, and XIV) in si ...

defense. When Bradshaw was brought back into the starting lineup, the Steelers beat the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

and the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

(in a game in which Bradshaw ran for more yards than he passed for). After a loss to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, the Steelers played the most important game of their regular season in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. A win over the Patriots would clinch the AFC Central division title for the Steelers and put them in the playoffs for the third straight year. The Steelers defeated the Patriots, then beat the Cincinnati Bengals, and awaited the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Playoffs

In the divisional round of the playoffs, the Steelers played the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. T ...

. ''Sports Illustrated''s

Dan Jenkins Daniel Thomas Jenkins (December 2, 1928 – March 7, 2019) was an American author and sportswriter who often wrote for ''Sports Illustrated''. He was also a high-standard amateur golfer who played college golf at Texas Christian University. Ear ...

wrote that Pittsburgh was "the only team to reach the playoffs without a quarterback". However, the Steelers dominated Buffalo and held its star running back

O. J. Simpson Orenthal James Simpson (born July 9, 1947), nicknamed "Juice", is an American former football running back, actor, and broadcaster who played for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Once a popular figure ...

to 49 yards rushing (it was Simpson's only playoff game appearance). In the 1974 AFC Championship game, the Steelers played an old foe, the

. Each year, their rivalry was escalating: they had met in the playoffs the previous two seasons. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, the Steelers won in Pittsburgh; in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, the Raiders returned the favor in Oakland. In this third playoff meeting, the Steelers were ready for anything the Raiders could throw at them. Using the new "Stunt

4–3 defense In American football, a 4–3 defense is a defensive alignment consisting of four down linemen and three linebackers. It is called a "base defense" because it is the default defensive alignment used on "base downs" (1st and 2nd downs). However, ...

" the Steelers held the Raiders to 29 yards rushing as the Steelers themselves ran for over 200 yards in Oakland. After a

touchdown run, the Steelers clinched their first Super Bowl appearance in club history (and their first league championship game appearance).

Super Bowl IX

The Steelers met the Minnesota Vikings in

Super Bowl IX Super Bowl IX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League (NFL) cha ...

. Both teams had a hard time in the rough weather conditions at old

Tulane Stadium Tulane Stadium was an outdoor football stadium that stood in New Orleans from 1926 to 1980. It was officially the Third Tulane Stadium and replaced the "Second Tulane Stadium", which was located where the Telephone Exchange Building is now. Th ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

on a bobbled handoff by Viking quarterback

Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at ...

. The score at the half was 2–0. The Steel Curtain continually dominated the Vikings. Vikings coach

Bud Grant Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. (born May 20, 1927) is a former head coach and player of American football, Canadian football, and a former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Grant served as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings ...

tried to run at the strength of the Steel Curtain, but they were shut down. The only points Minnesota scored came from a blocked punt that the Vikings recovered in the end zone for a touchdown; the subsequent extra point attempt was blocked. After the MVP performance by running back Franco Harris (34 carries for a then-Super Bowl-record 158 yards and a touchdown), the Steelers came away with a 16–6 victory. It was the first league title in Steelers history.

Personnel

Staff

Roster

1974 schedules

Preseason schedule

Regular season schedule

Postseason schedule

Standings

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday, September 15, 1974): vs.
Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

Point spread Spread betting is any of various types of wagering on the outcome of an event where the pay-off is based on the accuracy of the wager, rather than a simple "win or lose" outcome, such as fixed-odds (or money-line) betting or parimutuel betting. ...

: * Over/Under: * Time of Game: 0 hours, 0 minutes In Week 1, the Steelers started #17 Joe Gilliam as he completed 17 of his 31 passes for 257 yards, 2 TDs, and an interception. Gilliam became the first African-American quarterback in league history to play in a game as the designated opening-day starter. The defense held Baltimore to 166 total yards and forced 4 turnovers in the shutout win.

Week 2 (Sunday, September 22, 1974): at
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

: * Over/Under: * Time of Game: 3 hours, 7 minutes In Week 2, the Steelers were carried to a 35–35 OT tie with #32 Franco Harris' running game and #17 Joe Gilliam's 348 passing yards. It was the first regular season overtime game in NFL history. Denver coach John Ralston said of Gilliam that "it was possibly the finest performance I have ever seen by a quarterback."

Week 3 (Sunday, September 29, 1974): vs.
Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raid ...

Stats

Passing Rushing Receiving Kicking Punting Kick Return Punt Return Sacks Interceptions Fumbles Tackles Scoring Summary Team Quarter-by-quarter

Postseason summary

Divisional

AFC Championship Game (Sunday, December 29, 1974): at
Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raid ...

Awards, honors and records

* #75 Joe Greene,

National Football League Defensive Player of the Year Award Several organizations give out NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards that are listed in the ''NFL Record and Fact Book'' and ''Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League''. The Associated Press (AP) has been givi ...

* #32 Franco Harris, Super Bowl Most Valuable Player * Most

Hall of Famers A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

selected in one draft * #58 Jack Lambert,

NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

* #88 Lynn Swann leader in punt return yards (577)

References

External links

1974 Pittsburgh Steelers season
at Profootballreference.com
1974 Pittsburgh Steelers season
statistics at jt-sw.com {{DEFAULTSORT:1974 Pittsburgh Steelers Season

AFC Central championship seasons American Football Conference championship seasons Pittsburgh Steelers seasons Super Bowl champion seasons Pittsburgh Steel