Steelers-Raiders: Real Fans Experience!!!

My wife and I had seats in section 134…. Behind the Steelers bench on the 45 yd line. There were two young white guys to our left, locals who had won the tickets and we had a great time high fiving and talking Steelers football.
Directly in front of us was a dad and mom with two teenage kids, boy and girl, and they were from Los Angeles and this was their first game. I thought they might have been Hispanic but my wife believes they were probably Mediterranean. Mom was Super attentive over the kids trying to keep them warm. They must have spent 1000$ at the pro shop because they had a ton of new Steelers gear they were donning pre-game. The son new every players name by number, we were all high fiving and having a great time. When the game ended we all hugged, slapped hands, jumped up and down in cheers. The dad thanked me and the guys to our left for making their first game experience great. We were like, it’s not us, but the Steelers who made it great and he replied yes, but you all shared it with us making it even better.
They guy beside my wife, to our right was a black guy, huge, probably 6’-7” and kinda quiet. Throughout the game he yelled maybe twice but did wave the terrible towel a lot . He was quite reserved and laid back UNTIL the that Last interception when we all were going crazy!!! After I high 5’ed the guys to my left and in front of me I turned to my right to hug my wife. I could barely see her because she was buried in a Bear Hug from that huge black guy, they were locked in an embrace as if they were long lost family members just reunited. He looked at me with a tear in his eye and held up his hand for me to high five. I jumped with all this 60 yr old body had to make that high five and yes, I made it, 3 second hang time, not slapped his hand but grabbed it and pulled it down and was joined in that huge bear hug.
Directly behind him was a raider fan, with a raiders jersey who brought his son to his first game. His son was a small white kid, 10 yrs old and glasses and looked the kind of kid that would be picked on in school. He was a Steelers fan and was decked out in gear. The dad said he tried to raise his son as a raiders fan BUT the son choose to follow moms lead and be a Steelers fan. That kid was so cool, he knew the players, had his terrible towel and foam finger and yelled and hollered the whole game. Every time the raiders made a play the dad would yell “Raiders” and then the son replied “Suck”!!! It was so funny, all game. The dad went and bought the kid a Steelers tub full of popcorn. This kid stood in the seat holding tightly to this tub cheering, the dad would reach to get a handful of popcorn and kid would say NO, this is for Steelers fans only. He tried to get his dad to say Go Steelers but he wouldn’t . This dad was raising his kid with the freedom to become who he wanted to be and it was great. When the game was over I turned back towards the kid and held up my hand and the dad grabbed his son, held him up closer to me so we could high five!!!! Great job dad.
Two rows back was a raiders fan and his lady, who was a Steelers fan. He was loud, and throughout the first half proudly and loudly cheered his team and booed anything the Steelers did. My wife was getting irritated by him and kept her cool. In the Third Qtr Fitz made a key interception, I was high fiving the guys to my left, family in front of me and since I heard my wife hollering like I have NEVER heard her holler before I turned to her and she was turned completely around, staring down that loud raiders fan, waving her towel and yelling to the top of her lungs, letting him have it. I looked back and up to him and he was laughing at my wife so hard he was holding his belly. His Steelers fan lady friend was laughing so hard she had tears coming out of her eyes…… It was great.
The halftime tribute to Franco was great, there were fans, grown men, wiping tears from their eyes with their towels. We shouted Franco loudly and we know his wife and son felt the love.

Franco was from a black father and Italian mom and the fans from all colors and cultures loved him. On that important day fifty years later, fans from different cultures and races came together in love and fandom and cheered for this team in Unity, and for a few hours there was no racism, no jealousies, no political postures, no cultural biases !!! It was one people together, FANS, and this One People did something, show love to a perennial losing teams Savior, Franco . RIP Franco Harris and thank you for being a better human than the great player you were. I’m encouraged, that despite what the media promotes that this nation is filled with racism and will soon collapse, that instead this nation is filled with people from many many different cultures and races and together we’re Stronger Because of those differences. So, embrace who you are, learn from those that’s different, and remember LOVE conquers Evil!

Go Steelers

Cajun

 

Great post, cajun! That’s why I love football. It’s the ultimate team sport and for awhile we can forget about all of the political crap and other garbage that the media likes to shove down our throats and come together for a common cause. When you’re part of a team or a fan base, race, color, ethnicity and political persuasion doesn’t matter for those three hours between the lines. That’s why those trying to politicize the NFL and other sports infuriate me!

 

I'm just concerned he no longer has testicles since they may have froze off

 

Can't click two things on here so I liked it but some of it gave me a god laugh.

 

And SDOT had something better to do

 

That's what sports is all about. I was at the HOF in Canton this summer and was wearing my 1976 Jack Lambert jersey. A young black man probably at least 40 years younger than me came up to me wearing a new Najee Harris jersey. We started talking about the upcoming Steelers season and he seemed really interested in talking with a Steeler fan who watched the 70's teams. That's what being a Steeler fan does, it brings people together who otherwise would have nothing in common.

 

Not the coldest temps I’ve been in but definitely the coldest game. The wife and I were totally warm….. except our toes, by halftime they were numb. We even had warmers in our boots but the cold devil is a tough one to beat!

Cajun

 

Dude, we were laughing, cheering, crying, the whole game. We were emotionally spent when we return to the Hotel.

Cajun

 

Twas truly a great experience. Totally blown away how loud it was without a packed house.

good times and great post Cajun

 

That’s how Society grows, finding common ground. That’s what Franco did his entire life, found common ground and shared the love. Franco showed up to Najee very first charitable event he had for his foundation. He was a surprise guest, someone who had heard about it and wanted to help anyway he could . The act of a Total Class Act!!

Cajun

 

Love reading stories like this... good man Cajun...

When you go to a lot of games and have season ticketss.. you often lose sight of what is a big deal for people to just come to one game a year or maybe just one time ever.

 

In my humble opinion, this is the post of the year. Very happy you had such a wonderful experience, Cajun. Makes me proud as ever to be a member of Steeler Nation.

I think we all have a decent understanding of how Franco lived his life. I believe he would have loved this story because I believe that's how he wanted people to interact with one another.

 

That was a great story but it seemed to focus on race too much. I guess that was the point though. Politicians and the media perpetuate racism and people in this country fall right into the trap way too easily. JMHO.

Glad everyone had a great time.

 

64,761 Steeler fans showed up for the game

Just in case done knucklehead wants to tell us again that fans aren’t showing up

Considering it was the second coldest Steeler game and Christmas Eve, attendance was outstanding

 

Nice story cajun. I was in section 107, and there were a handful of raiders fans around and I only heard one raider fan heckling some guys behind me (maybe late 3rd or early 4th quarter). For the most part, I think the cold kept any attitudes in check. I did speak with an old timer Raiders fan who flew in with his kids from So Cal, we had a pleasant conversation and had an enjoyable game experience with our kids.

I believe I've now been to 4 of the top 10 coldest Steelers games in history. I didn't feel that the weather saturday was anything horrible, I was pretty happy that the 30-40mph winds from Friday subsided a bit.

 

I think one, the Cold, and two, the respect this game demanded kept the poor attitudes down to a minimum……. And yes, Thank you Lord for calming the winds. Friday was pretty tough!!!! Washer fluid in the Ram Truck even froze!!!!

Cajun

 

I disagree with this. I know the listed paid attendance is the number you listed but knowing the capacity for this stadium is 68,400 that means less than 4000 fans short of a full house. The house was no where near That full BUT the turnout was pretty high considering the temps, time, and being Christmas Eve.

Cajun

 

There's no way there were that many people at that game. Still a decent turnout considering the weather but there were more than 4,000 no shows.

 

Im sorry you feel I focused on Race. I wanted to tell about the great time me and my wife had and the more I went over it the more I realized how diverse the fans around us were and Story could not be truly told without acknowledging that.
So yes, I did bring the race and or culture of those around us in to the story on purpose, but I wanted it to bring a positive message just like the great time we all had together.
I’m sick and tired of reading or hearing about racial tensions and here was a diverse group having a great time together Loving their team together. This was the Best Christmas me and my wife could possibly of have had!!!!

Go Steelers!!

Cajun

 

That is the best post that I have ever read on this site and probably will be outside of.....

STEELERS WIN THE SUPERBOWL!!!

 

I completely get what you are saying and it makes me sick how so many people believe it's a huge problem when it simply is not as you just pointed out. I'm glad you and your wife had such a great time. Like I said, Politicians and the media drive these wedges on purpose but all of us can easily prove them wrong by getting along.

 

OK I think I did this right. Not on board a lot. I just wanted to say that we really enjoyed your story. One of the coolest attendance stories we have ever heard.

 

Awesome story

 

Absolutely. It’s not easy to always get along, we’ll never always agree with everyone, But we do have a choice on how we deal with or handle our differences. Finding common grounds like being a Steelers fan is always a good starting point and having grace and a forgiving heart helps.

Go Steelers

Cajun

 

Seriously? That’s cool but The cap is like 68k right? It was a far better turn out than I expected but I still saw quite a few sparse areas throughout.