Their 73-year-old owner Art Rooney founded the Steelers as a 1933 NFL expansion team, but suffered through losing seasons for most of its 42-year history and had never made it to an NFL championship game or a Super Bowl.
Although the league later relaxed the rule from Super Bowl XIII onwards, the Vikings would've likely worn their purple jerseys anyway, given that they've worn their purple jerseys at home for much of their history aside from a few games in the 1960s, when the NFL was encouraging (but not requiring) teams to wear white at home.
But in 1969, Rooney hired Chuck Noll to be the team's head coach and its fortunes started to turn following a disastrous 1–13 first year under the future Hall of Fame coach. Noll rebuilt the Steelers through the NFL draft, selecting defensive tackle Joe Greene and defensive end L.
In 1970, Noll drafted quarterback Terry Bradshaw and cornerback Mel Blount.
This was the only one of the four Super Bowls the Steelers of the 1970s played in that the team wore their white jerseys, and the only Super Bowl the team would wear white at all until Super Bowl XL 31 years later. ===Game conditions=== When the NFL awarded Super Bowl IX to New Orleans on April 3, 1973, the game was originally scheduled to be played at the Louisiana Superdome.
In 1971, linebacker Jack Ham, defensive tackle Ernie Holmes, defensive end Dwight White, and safety Mike Wagner were selected by the team.
Fullback Franco Harris was drafted in 1972.
Harris, who ran for a Super Bowl record 158 yards (more than the entire Minnesota offense) and a touchdown, was named the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player. ==Background== The NFL awarded Super Bowl IX to New Orleans on April 3, 1973, at the owners' meetings held in Scottsdale, Arizona.
This was the only one of the four Super Bowls the Steelers of the 1970s played in that the team wore their white jerseys, and the only Super Bowl the team would wear white at all until Super Bowl XL 31 years later. ===Game conditions=== When the NFL awarded Super Bowl IX to New Orleans on April 3, 1973, the game was originally scheduled to be played at the Louisiana Superdome.
Super Bowl IX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1974 season.
And in 1974, the Steelers picked linebacker Jack Lambert, center Mike Webster and wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, and signed safety Donnie Shell as a free agent.
By July 1974, construction on the dome was not yet finished, and so the league reverted to Tulane Stadium, home field for Tulane University and the New Orleans Saints, and site of Super Bowls IV and VI.
The game was played on January 12, 1975, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana.
However, construction delays at the Superdome (which pushed its opening to August 1975) forced the league to move the game to Tulane Stadium, where the city's previous two Super Bowls were held.
Prior to the 1975 NFL season, NBC did not have a regular pregame show. The Mary Tyler Moore Show on CBS (which was set in Minneapolis) used this game as a plot line on the episode aired the night before the game.
Dolphins owner Joe Robbie lobbied the NFL to move Super Bowl IX to the Orange Bowl, already scheduled to host Super Bowl X, and give New Orleans the January 1976 game, but the proposal was rejected. This proved to be quite pivotal, because of the inclement conditions (low temperature and the field was slick from overnight rain).
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