Super Bowl: With steel industry long gone from Pittsburgh, should Steelers still be the ... Steelers?

Above: Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger wears a helmet during a preseason game that features a hospital patient undergoing a CAT Scan. Health care, not steel, has become the dominant sector of the economy in Pittsburgh.

Dallas, TX--Pittsburgh and its surrounding counties, many western Pennsylvanians will argue, built this country. More steel was produced in this region than any place in the world and, with eastern Pennsylvania not far behind, the state as a whole was, in essence, the entire industry.

The city, long known for its three, flowing rivers and Primanti Brothers sandwiches, however, identified and unified around this more pervasive symbol: steel. Everything was steel. The sidewalks were steel. The wooden roller coasters of Kennywood amusement park were steel. The erasers on the ends of pencils sold in the city were steel. Most t-shirts were made from steel. Beverage straws in fast food restaurants were steel. Even the city's seemingly endless number of bridges were made of steel.

"When the city finally secured an NFL organization in 1933 the team was named the Pittsburgh Three Rivers," said Harvey Williams, 95, a current fan and former general manager. "Fans shortened it to Three Rivs and eventually to Thrivs, which was uncomfortably close to Thrifts--the owner hated this--and so a change was needed. This change came in the early 40's."

In 1933, the city used an online poll (the mayor hung a giant clothesline downtown from a pole for residents to attach their votes to) to determine the name of the new football team. Three Rivers won, but a close second was Steelers, which was chosen as the new name in 1942.

"I don't know why we voted Three Rivers the first time around," added Williams, wearing an old black and teal Three Rivs jersey signed by the team's all-star 1939 punter Frank 'Eight Fingers' Grednavicz. "Three Rivers was a bunch of hogwash. We were the Steel City at heart."

And the team took its new name to heart. Through most of the organization's history, Steelers' players were required to pass a written test on the process of and history of making steel. It was a team tradition that was taken very seriously and well-paid professional athletes could find themselves on the bench if facts about iron and steel were not understood inside and out. Players were also required to spend two days working in a steel mill during the season and injuries sustained during this time were considered "football injuries."

"It was serious stuff. All those guys up through about 1982 knew everything about steel, including the Bessemer steel process. It was their job to know," said Darren Rooney, official Steelers' historian. "Terry Bradshaw, Mean Joe Green and Jack Lambert knew that the process was based on molten pig iron. They'd be riding the pine if they didn't."

"The principle involved is that of oxidation of the impurities in the iron by the oxygen of air that is blown through the molten iron; the heat of oxidation raises the temperature of the mass and keeps it molten during operation," said FOXSports NFL analyst and Steelers' legendary quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who is in the Metroplex this week for Super Bowl festivities. "I can't believe I still know that."

Then came the 1980's and the struggling steel mills began to close down, the once spewing smokestacks fell dormant as if large nicorette gum pieces were dropped inside from hovering helicopters. At its high point, Pittsburgh boasted 38 mills and was home to such industry icons as U.S. Steel, Laughlin-Schmidt Steel and Three Guys Steel.

Now, the region's largest industry is health care, where UMPC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) employs nearly 50,000 locals and where technology and education makeup a sizable portion of the "new" economy.

This past August during a preseason game, the Steelers recognized the city's changed economy by donning helmets that featured a heath care worker assisting a patient during a CAT Scan. The helmet was well-received by the fans, but the front office decided against using the headgear during the regular season.

"Steel making may never return the to this region as a prominent employer," said Dan Rooney, former president of the franchise and current U.S. ambassador to Ireland. "We have to accept that. And while naming the team Steelers is a tribute to our past, we have risen like a phoenix, resurrected, adapted and created a new Pittsburgh. Should we still be the Steelers? That's a great question."