This story from the Post-Gazette archives was first published on January 22, 1979.

MIAMI ---- Light up the skies. Beat the drums. Let the words ring out.

The Pittsburgh Steelers carved their niche in the pro football history books yesterday by becoming the first team to win three Super Bowls.

Before 78,656 fans in the Orange Bowl - many of them Steeler partisans waving their "Terrible Towels"- the Steelers whipped the Dallas Cowboys XIII in a game that wasn't as close as the score sounded.

Putting a football in Terry Bradshaw's hands in like handling Picasso a brush or Hemingway a pen. He riddled the Cowboys for 318 yards and four touchdowns in the best day of his pro career.

That enabled the Steelers to become the "team of the '70s" by winning their third championship in five years. Only the Green Bay Packers, who won five titles in seven years in the '60s (three of them before the Super Bowl was founded) have surpasses the Steelers.

But that was a different era and the Steelers feel they have established themselves as the best football team ever to play the game.

"We'd hae Ray Nitschke (the celebrated Green Bay middle linebacker) and those guys for lunch," boasted Dwight White.

Jack Ham, a man not given to extravagant claims, said simply. "This is the best football team I've ever seen."

The way the Steelers rolled through the playoffs was awe-inspiring. They got one point better in each game.

They beat Denver 33-10, Houston 34-5, and had a 35-17 lead on Dallas in the fourth period before the Cowboys scored two late touchdowns to make it close.

The Steelers finished pro football's longest season with a 17-2 record for a percentage topped in modern times only by Miami's 17-0 mark in 1972 and Green Bay's 14-1 mark in 1962.

Dallas, becoming the second team to lose three Super Bowls (Minnesota has lost four), finished at 14-5.

Although Bradshaw overcame an interception and two fumbles to win the MVP award, it wasn't a one-man show.

The Steelers, who have 22 veterans from their first Super Bowl team, showed they're champions for a lot of reasons.

They're champions because they have a pair an offensive line that neutralized the vaunted Dallas defensive line.

They're champions because they have a pair of receivers named Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, who burned the Dallas cornerbacks time and time again.

They're champions because they have a defense that can still make the big play and dominate a game.

They're the champions because they have a blocking back named Rocky Bleier, who plays in the shadow but can come up with a crucial touchdown catch.

They're champions because Franco Harris can be bottled up for much of the game and then break a critical play.

But it all comes back to Bradshaw. It is not enough to say he's the best quarterback playing the game. You have to look back to people like Unitas and Starr and Layne and Graham when you talk about him.

"I told Bradshaw he had a hell of a game," Dallas' Cliff Harris said. "You don't psyche him."

There was a lot of talking during the week and Bradshaw did none of it. He just did the playing. He fell behind 14-7 in the second period after Mike Hegman pulled a ball from his arms and ran 37 yards for a Dallas touchdown.

A lesser quarterback might have (could not read hard copy). Not Terry Bradshaw. "It's the mark of the maturity of the man Joe Greene marveled.

Bradshaw put two more touchdowns on the board in the first half for a 21-14 lead. When Dallas cut the lead to 21-17 and Pittsburgh was held to one first down in the third quarter, a lesser quarterback might have been rattled again. But not Bradshaw. He drove the team 85 yards in the fourth quarter for the touchdown that broke the Cowboys' back.

When the Steeler offense took the field with 12:08 left in the game, the situation looked critical. The Steelers were ahead 21-17, but they had the lead only because Jackie Smith had dropped a sure touchdown pass in the end zone. The Cowboys settled for a field goal.

The Steelers had not moved the ball in the second half. "In the huddle, guys were saying, 'We's got to go 85 (yards)... we've got to go 85," Jon Kolb noted.

They went 85.

"Chuck (Noll) wasn't conservative," Bradshaw said explaining the third quarter leg. "We knew they'd change their coverages. I wanted to take my time."

Time was running out, Kolb said. "We knew we couldn't treat water with Dallas. We were conscious of the fact that if we didn't make something happen, Dallas would. If we had one fault all year, it was that when we got ahead, we didn't knock teams out."

The Steelers went for the knockout. Bradshaw hit Randy Grossman for nine yards. He hit Lynn Swann for 13. Franco Harris went for five yards. Then Benny Barnes was called for tripping Swann producing a 33-yard penalty. Barnes protested the most controversial call of the game.

Four plays later, Bradshaw faced a third-and-nine on the Dallas 22. The Cowboys were looking for the pass. Bradshaw called a tackle trap play. "We caught'em blitzing and there was really a nice hole," Franco said.

The run was poetic justice. On the previous play, Harris jawed with Thomas Henderson. Henderson tackled Bradshaw after the whistle had blown when the Steelers were called for too much time.

"I wish we could say we planned it that way," Greene said.

With a 28-17 lead, the Steelers had a seemingly comfortable margin. Dirt Winston recovered a fumble on the ensuring kickoff and Bradshaw fired an 18-yard strike to Swann to wrap it up.

Dallas scored two touchdowns to make it closer and make the betters swear, but the game was decided.

It was close and exciting enough to leave Dallas with a lot of "what ifs?" What if Tom Landry had run Dorsett more? He got 38 yards on his first three carries and carried only 12 times the rest of the game. Landry's call for a reverse that turned into a fumble and killed the first drive also was puzzling. The tripping penalty on Barnes also caused much consternation in Dallas.

The Steelers were simply the better team. Three years ago, the same teams did the same thing and the Steelers won by four points, 21-17.

They were better then and they're better now. After two frustrating years, the Steelers are back on top.

"It's taken all year to prove we're the best team, " Loren Toews said.

They have proven it. Without a doubt.

They're the Super Steelers. Super Steelers III.

his story from the Post-Gazette archives was first published on Jan. 21, 1980.

PASADENA, Calif. -- It was a coronation as well as a super Super Bowl.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, the once and future champions of pro football, were crowned again yesterday before 103,985 fans in the Rose Bowl.

For the fourth time in the last six years, they are the reigning monarchs of Pete Rozell's kingdon.

They survived a few shaky, almost scary moments and came from behind in the final period to knock out the dogged Los Angeles Rams, 31-19, in Super Bowl XIV. It followed the Steeler trademark. They not only win, but they put on a good show. In their last three Super Bowl victories, the spotted the losers an early lead and then overcame it.

"We have to stop meeting like this," Rozelle grinned on national television as he handed Art Rooney, the founding father of the Steelers, a fourth gleaming Tiffany Trophy.

After he went off camera, Rozelle said, "With the price of silver these days, that trophy's probably worth more than what he started the franchise with in the old days."

It all began on a shoestring and $2,500 back in 1933, and now the Steelers own four Lombardy trophies. It is fitting that they are now non the threshold of matching the ultimate in pro football: Vince Lombardi's record of five championships in a seven-year span at Green Bay in the 1960s.

They've done just about everything else. They're the first team to win four Super Bowls, the first team to win back-to-back Super Bowls twice and the second team since the modern era began after World War II to do it four times is six years.

The Steelers, who are 14-4 in playoff games and 13-2 the last six years, are now on the verge of surpassing Lombardi's Green Bay team as the best of all time.

"The record speaks for itself," Dwight White said. "I'll be humble, but we keep getting beter and it's reasonable to say it's the best."

Lynn Swann said, "The best team of all time? I think so."

It followed the pattern of a year that wasn't easy, a year when they survived injuries and the fact that every team was shooting at them all year long. It was a game when they made a few mistakes and weren't at their best, but they came up with the big play when they needed it.

The two biggest were a pair of touchdown strikes by Most Valuable Player Terry Bradshaw to the touchdown twins ---- Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. They both made a showcase of their specialty in this showcase game. Swann made a leaping 47-yard touchdown catch in the end zone while Stallworth, noted for running with the football once he catches it, hauled in one at full stride at about the 30. He dashed into the end zone in the blink of an eyelash to complete a 73-yard play in the final quarter that put the Steelers ahead for good, 24-19.

A Jack Lambert interception, a 45-yard pass to Stallworth and a 21-yard pass interference call in the end zone set up a one-yard touchdown plunge by Franco Harris that completed the scoring with less than two minutes left.

That enabled the Steelers to win by 12 and cover the 11-point spread, but it was really closer than last year's 35-31 win over Dallas when they built up a 31-17 lead midway in the final period.

It was a game in which the Rams showed they deserved to be here. There could be no jokes about them. They were beaten, but they earned a lot of respect.

They held Harris to 46 yards in 20 carries and they intercepted three Bradshaw passes. And young Vince Ferragamo almost matched Bradshaw, completing 15 of 25 passes for 212 yards while Bradshaw won the MVP honors for the second straight Super Bowl while hitting on 14 of 21 passes for 309 yards. Wendell Tyler also distinguished himself as he ran 60 yards in 17 carries, including a 39-yard run.

It was a game in which the Steelers trailed, 13-10, at the half, and there were a few anxious moments at halftime.

"It was a test of the character and the maturity of the team," White said . "We were just a little excited at halftime. We knew we couldn't keep fooling around or we could blow it."

Bradshaw described the Steelers' first-half play as "fiddling around" and added, "If we had continued the same way, we would have lost the game."

Larry Anderson, who set a Super Bowl record by returning five kicks for 162 yards, returned the second-half kickoff 37 yards to set the Steelers up at the 39.

Swann's leaping touchdown catch capped a 61-yard drive and gave the Steelers a 17-13 lead. They seemed to be in control. It seemed to be time for the Steeler defense to take over.

But the Rams refused to fold. As Ray Malavasi, the Ram coach, said, "They didn't outplay us. We ran on them. We threw on them. We just didn't get the big plays."

But they got two on the next drive. On a third-down play, Ferragamo hit on a 50-yard pass to Billy Waddy, and Lawrence McCutcheon fooled the Steelers with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ron Smith. After Frank Corral missed the extra point, the Rams led, 19-17, with 10 minutes left in the third period.

On the Steelers' next two series, Bradshaw threw his second and third interceptions and there were a few tense moments on the Steeler sideline. The first one was a long one on third down that was almost like a short punt and really didn't hurt that much.

But on the next series, Bradshaw had a third-and-10 call on the Ram 16. With the Stelers needing a field goal to take the lead, it wasn't a time to make a mistake. But Bradshaw tried to force the ball to Stallworth. Dave Elmendorf knocked it in the air and Rod Perry intercepted it on the five.

The Steelers forced the Rams to punt, but Ken Clark booted a 59-yarder and the Steelers took over on their own 25 with 12:59 left in the game. It was time for the Steelers to put together a long drive. Franco Harris made only two yards on first down and Bradshaw misfired on a screen pass to Sydney Thornton, the Steelers faced a third-and-eight on their own 27. If Bradshaw didn't complete the next pass, the Steelers would have had to punt and the Rams would have had the lead and the ball in the final quarter.

It was also ominous that Swann had suffered a concusion in the third quarter and was sidelined the rest of the game.

But then came Bradshaw's 73-yard strike to Stallworth, and the Steelers were ahead for good. Stallworth had made a hook on the previous interception. This time, he faked the hook and went deep and Bradshaw put it right on the money.

Noting the three interceptions, Stallworth said, "This was a typical game for us. We've had a lot of turnovers all year. But we have the type of people who come back."

The Steelers also have the type of people who win Super Bowls.

"Just awesome," is what White called it.

The Steelers are now the Super Steelers XIV. Anyone for five?

This story from the Post-Gazette archives was first published on January 19, 1976.

It wasn't only that they did it, but it's the way they did it that will be remembered for years to come.

The Super Steelers, who strived and struggled for 42 long years to win their first championship, waited on 371 days to win their second one yesterday in what will go down as one of the most exciting games in pro football history.

Trailing 10-7 at the end of three quarters, the Steelers rallied for a safety, two field goals and a touchdown in the last quarter to edge the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 before 80,197 limp fans in the Orange Bowl and millions more on television.

"The Super Bowl has come of age," grinned Ray Mansfield moments after the Steelers had survived a late Dallas rally when Glen Edwards intercepted Roger Staubach's pass in the end zone on the final play of the game.

The Steelers, who beat the Minnesota Vikings, 16-6, last Jan. 12 in New Orleans in Super Bowl IX, now are the third team ever to win back-to-back Super Bowls, Green Bay won the first two and Miami won the seventh and eighth. No team has ever won three straight.

Reggie Harrison, a special teams player, started the comeback when he blocked a Mitch Hoopes punt out of the end zone with 11:28 left in the game for a safety to cut the deficit to 10-9.

Dallas then kicked off from the 20 and Mike Collier returned it 25 yards to Dallas 45 and the Steelers marched to the 20-yard line.

Roy Gereia, who painfully bruised his ribs making a tackle on the opening play of the game and had already missed two field goals, booted a 36-yarder to put the Steelers ahead to stay, 12-10, with 8:41 left.

A Mike Wagner interception set up an 18-yard field goal by Gereia that boosted the lead to 15-10 with 6:37 left. And the Steelers seemed to wrap it up when Lynn Swann who caught four passes for 161 yards, hauled in a 64-yard touchdown strike with only 3:02 remaining. Even though Bradshaw was dazed on the play when he was while releasing the ball and didn't know it went for a touchdown, the 21-10 lead seemed safe. Gereia's extra point attempt hit the crossbar, but nobody was concerned.

Dallas struck back with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Roger Staubach to Percy Howard when Mel Blount tripped to cut the deficit to 21-17.

There was still 1:48 left to play, the Steelers quarterback was out of the game and suddenly, the Cowboys were alive.

Art Rooney, the man who had suffered through the losing years for so long said "I was thinking of what they did to Minnesota." The Cowboys upset Minnesota in the first playoff game on a Staubach bomb to Drew Pearson in the last minute.

Gerry Mullins recovered the onside kick and with Terry Hanratty at quarterback, the Steelers ran three plays. On 4th-and-9 on the Dallas 41, Coach Chuck Knoll decided to run the ball rather than risk a blocked punt.

So, Dallas took over on its own 38 with 1:22 left and no time outs. The Cowboys had time for five plays, a scramble by Staubach and four passes. On the final one, they were on the Steeler 38 with three seconds left. Staubach fired it into the end zone, but Glen Edwards intercepted it.

It was over. All over. The Steelers are still world champions. Super Steelers II.