Just like that, the record-setting Steelers crowd of 62,335 turned from black and gold to one wrapped in red, white and blue.
It happened on a brilliant autumn day during halftime of the first regular season home game at Heinz Field.
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A Steelers fan waves an American flag at Heinz Field yesterday after President Bush's address to the nation announced the start of attacks against Afghanistan. (Matt Freed/Post-Gazette) |
One minute, fans were headed to bathrooms, concession stands or out for a smoke as scores and highlights from around the league flashed on the Sony Jumbotron.
The next, there was President Bush on the big screen at the south end of the new stadium, telling Americans that missile attacks had been launched against military targets and Osama bin Laden's training camps inside Afghanistan.
A loud cheer erupted, then the crowd fell silent, all eyes on the screen as if a replay of the Immaculate Reception were showing once again, as Bush explained about "Operation Enduring Freedom" and a brisk wind stretched the Stars and Stripes on top of the scoreboard toward the Ohio River.
When the president said, "Now the Taliban will pay the price," the loudest cheer of the day erupted, louder even than when Steelers hall of famers were introduced on the field before the game or when Jerome Bettis ripped off a 48-yard run in the first quarter.
"It's what we needed to hear," said Jack Stephens, 30, of Weirton, W.Va., who was standing with his friend, Missy Riggs, 29, also of Weirton, along the rail of the circular east ramp.
There was some nit-picking, but by almost all accounts Heinz Field got high marks for doing the right thing on its delayed regular season "opening day."
There were some complaints about not being able to see the scoreboard in Sections 541, 504 and 505, about the cold wind whipping through the open south end zone, and about the steepness and length of the climbs to the uppermost seats. But the remark most often overheard while circulating through the crowd was that the new home of the Steelers "felt like a college stadium."
Most of those observations seemed prompted by the closeness of the seating compared to Three Rivers Stadium and the prime standing room vantage points at various locations around the field.
Stephens and Riggs said their "nosebleed seats" in Section 513 were OK, but they left them midway through the first quarter to set up along the east ramp railing, with a great view through the back right corner of the south end zone.
"This is great if you don't mind standing," Stephens said. "At Three Rivers you were stuck in your seats. But this is plush. Any better and it'd be carpeted."
John Livengood of Sarver, Butler County, ushering his second game at Heinz Field, was stationed up in Section 505 and confirmed that there's a bit of sway up there.
"I talked to a couple of engineer friends of mine and they said that the sway is part of the design," he said. "Nothing to worry about though."
More problematic, Livengood said, is the inability of the new stadium to hold sound.
"It seems like it's not as loud at Three Rivers," he said. "With the open end, the sound just seems to drift out."
Way up in Section 505, four rows from the top, Frank Augustine and eight of his friends from New Castle, Lawrence County, were wondering what video gods they had offended to get some of the relatively few seats without a view of the Jumbotron and scoreboard.
"There's more than 60,000 seats here. How could we be so unlucky to be among the few that can't see the scoreboard and replays," said Augustine, whose group has held season tickets for a decade. "The only advantage we have is that the escalator's right below us."
Yeah, down 94 steep steps.
"Yeah, we counted them," he said. "We make sure to go to the bathroom before coming up. And today I made it a point to stop my beer drinking by 11:30 a.m."
If you want to party, the patio behind the south end zone is the place to be, or at least it was on a day of perfect football weather.
There's a beverage kiosk right where a successful extra point ball would land if it wasn't for the net, and food and Steelers gear concessions off to the sides. The sound system is ear splitting and when music plays during television time-outs, there's dancing.
At the railing along the back of that end zone, fans stood four deep and faced the field to watch the game -- about as close as you can get without wearing shoulder pads and a helmet.
But behind those folks standing along the rail a curious thing happened. Hundreds of people were standing in the patio and facing away from the field. They were craning their necks to watch the game on the Jumbotron. Some even sat down.
"We were on our way out and this just caught our eye," said Mary Ann Risher, 32, of Stanton Heights, whose seats are high in Section 539. "This scene is cute, but our seats were better at Three Rivers. It's a pretty good steep walk up there, so once we came down we just stayed down."
Don Galla, 49, of Hagerstown, Md., wore a full Steelers uniform with Joey Porter's No. 55 jersey and had his face painted black and gold and sprinkled with glitter. His friend, Steve Spencer, 36, of Lancaster, was bare-chested, his face and ample torso painted black and gold. Both wore "Cowher Power" headbands and had fluorescent black and gold Styrofoam protuberances jutting at crazy angles from their heads.
They were celebrities among the Steelers faithful, and after the game were stopped dozens of times so people could have their pictures taken with them.
"We started doing this in 1996," said Spencer, who goes to all the games topless and admitted that his mother helps to paint his back. "With the way the wind whips through here, yeah it's going to be colder."
Galla, who said he once had a tryout with the Steelers, still misses Three Rivers, but said the new field has potential.
"It's not loud enough," he said. "It's going to take time to make it our home."
Tailgaters also seemed to adapt well to the new digs, as evidenced by the aromas of barbecued brats, frosty suds and hot stogies wafting through parking lots from PNC Park to Heinz Field.
In the lot at Mazeroski Way and West General Robinson Street, steam rose from the baked ziti on Duane Stein's paper plate as the 31-year-old Latrobe man savored forkfuls of the Italian comfort food, and his friends gathered around a collapsible red and black grill and washed down hot sausage with Rolling Rock.
Bob Nolan said the pre-game feast and festivities were a snap this year because of the collapsible Thermos grill, a $150 necessity for any serious tailgater.
The Thermos, which resembles a collapsible keyboard, features a propane-powered grill, hot plate and regular oven burner. It folds into your trunk.
"You need that compact stuff because you're always overloaded," Nolan said.
But Chris Solesky, who paid $8 for a pair of black gloves, would have preferred a bonfire to a spiffy grill.
"I'm not used to the cold weather. I work down in Florida," said Solesky, a 27-year-old assistant golf pro more accustomed to tropical breezes than the 45-degree weather.
Steelers fans settle in at new home, absorb war report 
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