With four teams in the conference finals, yet again, a former member of the Steelers will win the Super Bowl. The Seahawks, Rams, Broncos, and Patriots all have former Steelers players under contract, some of them significant. The only team with a weak connection is the Broncos. And Denver just lost franchise quarterback Bo Nix, which will severely hinder its championship hopes.
We have been tracking former Steelers in the mix to win the Super Bowl for years now. I don’t think there’s been a single time all that while in which there hasn’t been a connection to every team. Seattle doesn’t have anybody on the 53-man roster, but it does have WR Cody White on the Reserve/Injured list. The son of current front office personnel Sheldon White, he spent two seasons and parts of others with the Steelers.
The Patriots and Rams have more notable former Steelers who could secure their first Super Bowl rings. Los Angeles has Kevin Dotson in the starting lineup at guard. The Rams also have TE Nick Vannett, and CB Ahkello Witherspoon is on IR.
The Steelers could witness the Patriots break a tie with them for the most Super Bowl trophies, and if they do, Joshua Dobbs and Robert Spillane will be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy after spending most of their careers in Pittsburgh.
The Broncos’ connection is the least fragile, as S P.J. Locke was never on the Steelers’ 53-man roster nor their practice squad. He did, however, sign with the Steelers as a college free agent in 2019 following the draft and remained on the roster until August cutdowns. He has been with the Broncos since December that year and recorded an interception in Denver’s win over the Bills.
Last year, four former Steelers won the Super Bowl with the Eagles. That included former first-round QB Kenny Pickett—as the backup, of course. Other notable former Steelers to win a Super Bowl after leaving the team include WRs Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown. Amusingly, the other quarterback the Steelers drafted in 2022, Chris Oladokum, already has two Super Bowl rings with the Chiefs. But Kansas City didn’t even make the playoffs this year.
The last time anybody won the Super Bowl with the Steelers was…a while ago. The last time the sticky Lombardi was manhandled by the Black and Gold was back in 2008. That was Mike Tomlin’s second season, and he just resigned after 19 years, so do the math.
Even worse, quite frankly, than the Steelers not winning the Super Bowl since 2008 is the Steelers not winning a playoff game since 2016. Winning the Super Bowl is extremely difficult, and a handful of franchises still haven’t done it. But the Steelers have one of the longest active postseason-victory droughts in the entire NFL. They also have the second-most one-and-done postseasons in NFL history at 15, one behind the Vikings and tied with the Cowboys.
The Steelers’ last three head coach hires all won the Super Bowl, and they are hoping the next does as well. The timeline isn’t consistent, though. Bill Cowher took 14 seasons to win his lone Super Bowl, Mike Tomlin just two. Of course, Tomlin inherited a Cowher team two years removed from the previous Super Bowl win. And that’s the last time they won. But far from the last time former Steelers won without them.
Ahkello Witherspoon, Cody White, Denver Broncos, Joshua Dobbs, Kevin Dotson, Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, NickVannett, P.J. Locke, Pittsburgh Steelers, Robert Spillane, Seattle Seahawks, Trending
