Now, I know what all of my fellow Northeast Ohio friends are thinking. "Luke, since you are a kid that was born, raised, and still living in the the good ol' city of Akron, Ohio, and have proven to have a love and passion for being a Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Indians fan, how could you possibly be a fan of one of the most hated teams by Ohioans and NFL fans in general, the Pittsburgh Steelers?" Well, before many of you get the feeling of wanting to trash-talk me, or pour beer on my head (as I would imagine many Browns fans would do to Steeler fans at First Energy Stadium), let me explain my reasoning of being a die-hard, loyal, and passionate fan for what is my favorite sports team.

First off, to be completely honest, I have not been a Steelers fan my entire life, as I was actually a fan of the Indianapolis Colts for a few seasons during my elementary and middle school years, which included the 2006 NFL season in which the Colts defeated the Chicago Bears to win Super Bowl XLI. It is a little hard for me to reveal this part of my past being a football fan since I have never told many of my friends about at being a fan of the Colts at one point in my young life.

However, the biggest reason why I was a Colts fan when I was younger was because I was first discovering sports like football, learning how it was played, and eventually finding a love for watching the game. In addition, legendary Colts quarterback Peyton Manning became my first, and still favorite, football player while watching NFL Football on Sundays. However, while Peyton Manning continued to be my favorite football player, I eventually parted ways with the Colts going into my high school years, and that is when I became a fan of "The Boys in the Black and Yellow" and was exposed to Steeler Nation.

I became a Steelers fans starting in their 2008 NFL season in which the franchise captured it's sixth Super Bowl Title with a tight last second touchdown win over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. Now, some of you might think that becoming a fan of the Steelers the year they won a Super Bowl made me a bandwagon fan, which I don't disagree with, but as I was still very young and didn't understand how to be a true fan of a team, who could blame me?

However, I eventually did my research of the Steelers' history and became familiar with the team owners, members of the front office, the coaching staff, and most importantly the players to become a true and loyal fan. But even by doing these various tasks, my friends still say I'm a bandwagon Steelers fan today, and that I only like them because they have won the most Super Bowls in NFL history. Be that as it may, I tell them that while the record of winning six Super Bowl titles is an accomplishment to acknowledge about the Steelers' franchise, saying that as the only reason I am fan of them couldn't be farther from the truth as I have many other legitimate reasons.

One reason I'm a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan is because they have always been known as a rough, tough, mean, dirty and gritty team whose players compete as hard as they can on the football field by fighting for every yard, and not taking any crap from anyone, whether it's opposing players or fans, as well as the coaches who do almost anything in their power for their players to both learn and win in whatever way possible. To me, this description of the Steelers play is what I love to see in a football team because it shows that while they might not be the friendliest bunch of players, people can tell how much they love the game of football by their work ethic and how that has led the team to it's success that they are known for. In addition, since the city of Pittsburgh has been known as a tough and blue-collar town known for it's successful steel factories and the employees who have worked the many gritty jobs in those steel mills, which is where the team got it's nickname from, the franchise seems to fit in with the feeling of the city and represents it well.

Players and coaches such as Jack Lambert, "Mean" Joe Greene, Mel Blount, Jack Ham, Terry Bradshaw, Kevin Greene, James Harrison, Ben Roethlisberger, Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin are just a few of the many who represented and currently represent what a Steeler is and how a Steeler plays, which is hard-nosed and playing down to the nitty-gritty each and every Sunday.

Another reason why I am a Steelers fan is because of how much of a class act the franchise is and has been since its existence. They are currently only one of three teams in the NFL, along with the Chicago Bears and New York Giants, that have been owned by the same family ever since they were founded by Art Rooney in 1933. Now, many of you are probably wondering why I never became a Cleveland Browns fan since I'm an Ohio kid. While the Browns have been in a "funk" since they came back in the NFL in 1999, and have only competed in one playoff game (which ironically was a loss against the Steelers) in their new-era existence, I never grew fond of the Browns simply because of the lack of responsibility and progress each Browns owner has been a victim of from their constant decisions to change coaches year after year, to the lack of talented players to provide the coaches with from picks they make in the NFL Draft every April.

The reason why I consider the Steelers to be a class act organization is because the Rooney family has something that the Browns owners seem to and possibly will never have, and that is patience. It seems that the Cleveland Browns owners and owners of the other teams in the NFL have this mentality every season of "win now or you'll be canned," which while sometimes successful, can put a lot of pressure on coaches to the point where they might not survive coaching in the NFL.

With the Rooney family, their beginning years of owning the Steelers was not pretty as they only made the playoffs once from 1933-1971. However, Art Rooney hired Chuck Noll as the new head coach in 1969 and gave him time to revitalize the franchise with help from the front office to select talented players to bring the team up from worst to first. Even though this didn't exactly work out for Noll in his first few seasons as head coach, including a 1-13 record in his first year, it payed off with the drafting of players like "Mean" Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Mike Webster, and Jack Lambert in the NFL Drafts from 1969-1974. As a result, these draft picks made Pittsburgh "A City of Champions" by winning four Super Bowls during the 1970s, and all of these players mentioned became Hall of Famers.

Also, I guess seeing that the Rooney family has only hired three Steeler head coaches since 1969 shows you how patient they are with not only their players, but with their coaches as well. That statistic alone is why I consider the Steelers to be a model franchise not just in the NFL, but in all professional sports.

My final reason why I'm a Steelers fan is because of the great Steeler Nation fan base and the excitement of being a part of such a huge following. Now this is just my opinion, but I believe that Steeler Nation is the most populated and biggest fan base in the NFL. If you somehow don't believe me, the next time you watch a Pittsburgh Steelers road game, listen for Steeler Nation in the stands because you can hear them in every NFL stadium across the country. That just goes to show how huge and connected the Steeler Nation fan base is, and I'm honored to be a member of it. Also, don't forget that were are the only fan base that has made an object a nationally known symbol with the "Terrible Towel," and if you opposing players and fans mess with the Towel, you will pay.

So, I hope this article gave you guys a little more understanding and detailed description as to why I'm a passionate and loyal fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and why I bleed black and yellow every Sunday. Whether if it's waving around my Terrible Towel while watching the their games on TV or just simply sporting my Steelers hats, I will support my team any way I can. However, if my friends still want to call me a bandwagon fan so be it, but I'll end with these words sung by Steeler Nation every NFL season, "Here We Go, Steelers, Here We Go, Pittsburgh's Going to the Super Bowl."