Steel Dynasty: The Team That Changed the NFL

by Bill Chastain

Long-time sports writer Bill Chastain examines every details about the beginning, heyday and end of the Steelers mid-1970s run of winning four Super Bowls in six years, a feat that many writers say will not be broken. Former Steeler Rocky Bleier not only wrote the foreword but will be handing all the extensive media.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1572437383
• ISBN13: 9781572437388
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Triumph Books (IL)
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Steel Dynasty

Pretty good just for a relatively few pages. Covers it fairly well, but what would you expect for this price and number of pages. Would be nice to mention the 80s, since had same coach, were generally competitive. but not a major factor. Overall, a very good job. A lot of people, especially pittsburgh fans didn't live this, so its hard to describe just what it was really like. This does a pretty good job. Maybe some of the movies out there will also be good - haven't reviewed yet. BUT ,THEY WERE REALLY SOMETHING, let me assure you.

Good as memory - but not fact

Steel Dynasty will help anyone a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers relive the glory days of the 1970s. But don't take any statement of fact in this book as - well, fact. Page 34 - "Three Rivers [Stadium] also sat on a Delaware Indian burial ground where General George Washington fought many battles while protecting nearby Fort Duquesne." I don't know anything about a Delaware burial ground, but I lived in Pittsburgh for over 30 years and never even head such a claim. George Washington passed by the forks of the Ohio once in 1758 when he was in his 20s. No fighting involved. Later, George Washington did fight one battle about 8 miles upriver, where the Turtle Creek empties in to the Monongahela. He was then Aide-de-Camp to General Braddock who was killed there. George Washington did not become a General until the American Revolutionary War which kept him far away from a fort of any kind in what was then the country's interior. If this isn't convincing enough, consider that no matter what war or skirmish he was involved in, he never would have defended Fort Duquesne. Fort Duquesne was a French fort, and George Washington of Virginia, as an English subject, or an American, would have fought to protect Fort Pitt. Page 34 is pretty early in the book. The book one just paid for and wants so badly to read - so one keeps on. Then comes some commentary on the pass that Lynn Swann caught in Super Bowl X. The one that everybody remembers, not only because it was a fantastic play, but because it's been immortalized by NFL Films, just like author Chastain says. Except that he's describing a different catch. He discusses also that very acrobatic, indelible catch, but speaks of it like just another play. The remainder of the book is therefore suspect in its credibility. It becomes a nostalgia of the four Super Bowl seasons without enough on the league's rule changes to merit the subtitle: The Team That Changed the NFL. Bill Chastain is not too bad of a writer, and somewhat hard working, but not hard enough. This book should be written by a Pittsburgher.

Super Steelers!

I am a lifelong Steelers fan and enjoyed reminiscing and reliving my 1970's Steelers experience through this book. It is well-written, utilizing interviews from players (Steelers and opponents), coaches, and front office personnel, to create an candid first-hand impression. Along the way, I learned lots of things I did not before know or understand about the game of football, the history of the "Stillers", and the Super Steelers of the 1970's. Great read and highly recommended!

Steelers

I loved this book. I have been a die hard Steeler fan for 40 years, so I remember all the bad times & good times. This book was very well written, & I even learned a few things I did not know. I would refer this book to all my friends I relatives. Susan Pritt

classic Steelers

Big Ben: 27-4 as a starter (2004-2005 seasons)---only losses (3 of which were injury-related): Patriots, 2004 AFC Championship game (if Plax holds on to sure TD pass, we are only down 7 with about 7+ minutes to go in that game; Ben did some good things and was battling thumb and toe injuries) and also in 2005 (if Randle El doesn't get `cute' and lateral that pass to Ward, we probably win; again, Ben did some good things), as well as the Bengals in 2005 (Ben has beaten Carson Palmer's Bengals 3 times: twice in 2004 and big-time in the AFC Wild-Card game in 2005; Ben had 3 TD passes in this lone defeat and was battling a thumb injury) and Indy in 2005 (as we know, he got revenge in the AFC Divisional Playoff game; Ben threw a TD pass to Ward in this Monday night defeat and was coming off an injury-induced layoff). Ben's FIRST NFL game: 2004 Pre-season at Ford Field vs. the Lions...last game of 2005 season: 2/5/06 at FORD FIELD, SUPER BOWL XL VICTORY!!! So Ben didn't play a superb game in Super Bowl XL and there was some controversy... --Super Bowl IX, 1/12/75: Steelers win 16-6 over the Vikings---Future Hall-of-Famer Terry Bradshaw is only 9 for 14 for 96 yards...BEN WAS 9 FOR 21 FOR 123 YARDS...Bradshaw threw a lone TD...BEN RAN FOR A LONE TD... Future Hall-of-Famer Fran Tarkenton's numbers were putrid: 11 for 26 for 102 yards, 3 interceptions, NO TD's! We were only winning 2-0 going into the third quarter (on a safety); a boring game. The Steelers wore their white shirts and Terry had a beard (the other 3 Super Bowls: black-and-gold shirts, Terry clean shaven)...WE WORE OUR WHITE SHIRTS IN XL AND BEN HAD A BEARD...the game turned on a VERY controversial "fumble-that-wasn't" by the Steelers Larry Brown: the Steelers left the field dejected, the Vikings were in prime territory...then the officials ruled Brown was down before the ball came loose (no way!!!!!)...and the rest is history; --Super Bowl X, 1/18/76: Steelers win 21-17 over the Cowboys---Future Hall-of-Famer Roger Staubach almost pulled out another miracle comeback...Swann's great falling-to-the-ground acrobatic catch led to no points (!); --Super Bowl XIII, 1/21/79: Steelers win 35-31 over the Cowboys---the Cowboys' Jackie Smith drops a SURE TD pass that would have tied the game AND our go-ahead TD was aided by a very controversial tripping penalty that cost Dallas 33 yards: Lynn Swann fell over Benny Barnes's ankles and, as Bradshaw has admitted, it shouldn't have been a flag...we were ahead 35-17 at one point...Staubach almost brought them back (35-31); --GAME BEFORE SUPERBOWL XIV: AFC Championship game vs. the Oilers, 1/6/80: Steelers win 27-13---late in the third quarter, officials ruled that Oilers receiver Mike Renfro did not have possession of what appeared to be a game-tying TD (WRONG!!!! He was in bounds; bad, bad call)...and the rest is history... ---Super Bowl XIV, 1/20/80: Steelers win 31-19 over the Rams---Bradshaw threw 3 INTERCEPTIONS and we were losing for most of