SteelerNation Staff Gameday Rituals and Routines

[Steeler Nation]

Football fans are a special breed of people. More specifically, Pittsburgh Steelers fans live and die by the black and gold every week between August and (hopefully) February. Each fan has their own special routine or ritual every gameday. Whether it is the jersey that’s worn, the food eaten, the drinks consumed, or where you sit on the sofa, every fan does what they can to maintain the positive vibes on the way to a Steelers victory each week. So, I asked the staff here at SteelerNation.com to share their own gameday routines.

I’ll kick things off with my own. Personally, I am extremely superstitious about what I do and wear each gameday. The first thing I put on after waking up in the morning is a Steelers jersey. The jersey is dictated by what happened in the previous game the jersey was worn. If the Steelers won, I keep wearing that jersey. If they lost, I rotate to a different one until they win. Then after pouring some coffee, I turn on the typical NFL pre-game shows on ESPN until noontime when I flip to CBS, while finalizing my fantasy football lineup. Come kickoff, you can find me alone in my Steelers cave, standing, watching every play until the final whistle is blown. Depending on the flow of the game, I may switch out jerseys to channel positive energy to will the team to victory. If things get dire, I rub my Steelers replica helmet for good luck.






Justin McGonigle focuses more on his gameday meal prep:

“I really don’t have any rituals. I just have to wear a Steelers jersey and it has to be on before the game. If I get some type of food for away games (always watch from my house for away games) if they win, I will keep getting it. Can’t change until there is a loss. I had a ton of pizza last year,” McGonigle explained.

Sean McGeown has his routine down to a science:

“My gameday ritual is always listening to a gameday playlist while I shower and get dressed that includes Renegade and Black and Yellow always as the first two. Then usually me and my cousin always watch together. We have a bar that we go to pretty routinely (aside from this year due to Covid) called Rollin Greens. We have our own little section that everyone knows is the Steeler section. If we can’t watch there, we try to meet up and if not, together we are usually calling each-other every 3-4 plays throughout. We watch, cheer and scream throughout the game, and one thing we always do in high pressure situations is put our hands on either mine or my uncle’s heads for good luck due to us being bald. It is a superstition that works roughly 8-9/10 times. We always save it for dyer situations that way we don’t waste the good JuJu (pun intended). Other people join us often, our girlfriends, family, friends etc. But we always try to watch as many as we can together.” McGeown went on to explain, “Pittsburgh Steeler Football was always a huge part of our family growing up and we have kept it up as best we can into our young adult years!” McGeown then concluded with, “I meant to add when I get dressed, one of my jerseys and my Terrible Towel is always part of the outfit.”

G. Stryker sees his gameday routine as a more formal affair:

“I have to put on black and gold first thing out of bed, including my Terrible Towel. On gamedays, when the weather is cool, I like to wear my Terrible Gentleman suit with Terrible towel tie, yellow dress shoes and a black and gold fedora,” Stryker described. “I only break out my Myron Cope commemorative towel for the playoffs.”

Like McGonigle, Jobe Morrison’s routine revolves around the food spread and his staple jersey:

Morrison explained, “Gameday tradition wise… I always have my three Terrible Towels on me and my [Ben} Roethlisberger jersey. Food wise, dad and I lean towards Zaxby’s or chicken wings in afternoon (pizza if mom isn’t cooking), otherwise my favorite gameday dinner mom cooks is a big pot of chili. And of course, I can’t go without my Coca-Cola!”

Matt Papiernik is like me, in that his jersey is the deciding factor of the game’s outcome:

“My only ritual is that I rotate through my Steelers jerseys throughout the season. I continue to wear the same one each week until they lose. I wore Ryan Shazier for 11 straight weeks last season as they started 11-0,” he explained. “I also text a group chat full of Cleveland Browns fans that are all my close friends from college throughout the game every week. They usually get annoyed because of all my positive texts about the Steelers,” Papiernik lightly added.

Bill Washinski looks to the past Steelers to help his gamedays:

“While I don’t have a ritual that I do before a game, I am superstitious about watching old games (especially in playoffs) and getting overhyped. In 1994, I assumed we were going to Super Bowl and I had recordings of 1978 & 1979 teams I watched all week with as I KNEW we were winning. That game vs. the San Diego Chargers was so deflating I swore I’d not do that again,” Washinski said. “I felt like I went all-in on Texas hold-em with a Full House only to get see someone with a 4 of a Kind.” He concluded with, “Basically, the bigger the game, the more I leave myself some escape from reality…. Just in case.”

Parker Abate is also very weary of the jersey he wears for each game:

“I am more so a superstitious guy. Sounds weird, but I have several different Steelers jerseys. Last year, I wore a James Harrison jersey Week 1 and wore it every week until the first loss of the season and went on to change the jersey after the loss to the Washington Football Team,” Abate stated. “In terms of routine, I fire up multiple TVs and watch ESPN, FOX and CBS pregame shows beginning at 10am EST.”

Brandon J. Wallace is more of a similar fan in his approach to gamedays:

“That question really made me realize I don’t have any concrete traditions. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. If I’m at the game, I just need to have my favorite jersey on (whoever my favorite player is at that time), and if I’m at home, phone is OFF,” Wallace described.

What do your gameday routines and rituals include? Let us know in the comment section below!

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[slashsteel]

If at home we put our plethora of terrible towels everywhere throughout the living room. Whatever jersey I wear has to match if we are home black or away white.

 

[stillwright]

Ahhh....I remember those days....anymore not so much. Goodell changed the game and took so much from the die heart fan. Hey though.....he has the casual fan and fantasy football peeps on board bringing in the $$$$ for the league.

 

[MTC]

No rituals here. Used to have to wear certain jersey back in the day. Now? I just enjoy as is

 

[Badcat]

No rituals anymore but back in the day I'd wear my Dirt Dawson Jersey and my wife would wear her Bettis/Polamalu jersey. I'd throw my original terrible towel from the 80's over my right shoulder and it stayed there until the game was over. My wife and I would plan a nice spread of snacks with meats and cheeses, and plan taco salad, wings, typical game day food for dinner. I had these two Steeler dolls, complete with a cloth helmet, that you could tear apart. Head, legs and arms were velcro'd to the torso and by the end of the game, they were usually scattered all over the living room floor. frigg'n REFS!! lol

 

[TDX27]

No rituals here other than wearing a Steelers shirt or jersey and getting my wife out of the way so I can see the TV. That or I head to the Steelers bar here in Sarasota.

 

[Confluence]

No rituals anymore but back in the day I'd wear my Dirt Dawson Jersey and my wife would wear her Bettis/Polamalu jersey. I'd throw my original terrible towel from the 80's over my right shoulder and it stayed there until the game was over. My wife and I would plan a nice spread of snacks with meats and cheeses, and plan taco salad, wings, typical game day food for dinner. I had these two Steeler dolls, complete with a cloth helmet, that you could tear apart. Head, legs and arms were velcro'd to the torso and by the end of the game, they were usually scattered all over the living room floor. frigg'n REFS!! lol

That looks like a "Whiff Johnson missed the block, again, and Spinthenfall got trucked and fumbled in the SB" doll

 

[steel dino]

Well...

The first thing I do is put on my Terrible Towel mask...

 

[BLITZ]

For 20years or so I cook food based on who we play. As in we play Philly I make cheese steaks. Buffalo-hot wings. Etc.

 

[Stryker]

I have that doll too @Badcat

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I make hot wings for every game or if I'm out I order them. I either deep fry or bake and cook them the same way until they lose and then I switch.
That started in 2005. I had always baked but they had a losing streak so before the Bears game I bought a big tub of Crisco, deep fried the wings in a wok, Bettis runs over Erlacher in the snow, and they never lose another game all the way to the Super Bowl. I figured I was onto something and kept doing it.