5 Reasons Steelers fans should root for either Philly or KC in the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is upon us, and unfortunately, this season, the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t be making an appearance.
However, as one of the most-watched sporting events in the entire world, fans will be tuning in to watch as the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs clash over the Lombardi Trophy.
Obviously, Steelers Nation has no horse in the race with either of the teams competing in this weekend’s game. But if Pittsburgh fans wanted to pull for one of those franchises, they may have some compelling reasons to do so.
Here are a few of them!
Javon Hargrave
Rooting for former Steelers may seem cliché, but current Steelers defensive captain Cameron Heyward noted on Sirius XM NFL Radio the other day that he still feels like some of these guys are teammates. He even went as far as saying “They’ll always be Steelers to me.” (Paraphrasing of course!)
That’s also true of fans, who support different players in different ways.
Hargrave, a third round pick of the Steelers in 2016, was a smaller college underdog selection who has blossomed into a menace on the gridiron. He became Pittsburgh’s first rookie to start on the defensive line in over 30 years and went on to have 52 starts with the team, amassing 14.5 sacks over that period of time. (Where he was primarily a nose tackle with limited playing time, until Heyward or Stephon Tuitt would be sidelined.)
Hargrave signed a healthy a three-year, $39 million contract with the Eagles back in 2020. Over the last three seasons he’s piled up 23 sacks, with 11 of those coming this year – but oddly, his Pro Bowl nod came last season where he broke out with a then career-high 7.5 sacks.
At age 30, he’ll be entering free agency again this offseason which may have some fans rooting for him to return to the Steel City. Regardless, Hargrave is one of the few free agents that the Steelers didn’t bring back, at the time, who went on to have a better career post-Pittsburgh.
If you’re a fan of defense, pulling for Hargrave will have you siding with the Eagle’s league-leading sack attack, as they led all teams with 70. (Coincidentally, the Chiefs were second with 55!)
JuJu Smith-Schuster
JuJu is the reason most, if not all, Steelers fans could be siding with Kansas City this Sunday.
Drafted as basically a kid when he came to Pittsburgh – he wasn’t 21-years-old yet and didn’t drive – fell into positive favor with the city. After five years in the “The Burgh”, JuJu signed with the Chiefs this offseason.
Fun-loving and always smiling, JuJu’s enthusiasm for football is infectious. Many fans probably own his Steelers jersey and that could be the difference for who they root for Sunday. JuJu always gave it his all for Pittsburgh, even returning from Injured Reserve to play in the postseason last year.
While he hasn’t been able to match his 2018 Pro Bowl and team MVP numbers, JuJu came close, with his second-most receiving yards in his career (933). His three touchdowns was still a paltry number, but this year’s league MVP, QB Patrick Mahomes, has plenty of mouths to feed in the Chiefs’ offense.
Would you be happy or upset if JuJu scores a touchdown in the Super Bowl? The answer could be your deciding factor as to who to root for!
Andy Reid
This may seem like a weird flex with no real ties to the Steelers. However, if you believe in pulling for coaches like Mike Tomlin, then Reid is also your guy.
Incidentally, Reid is facing his old team, who canned him after his final four seasons in Philadelphia failed to yield a playoff win. Reid would go another five in KC, with only one postseason victory.
That’s nine consecutive seasons with only a single playoff win: does that sound familiar to you?
If you feel up to believing good coaches are good coaches, or just want to see Reid stick it to his former team, then you’ll want to back the Chiefs. (Mind you, Reid is part of the Eagles’ 75th Anniversary Team and I don’t believe there’s any publicly known bad blood between he and the franchise!)
Also, particularly petty Steelers fans may even pull for the Chiefs simply because they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship game!
Patrick Mahomes
Either you love him or you hate him. (Or his wife! Or his brother!)
The latter are an annoying social media duo. The former, well, you may pull for his gutsy play on a bum ankle.
That should be all of the information you need to make an informed decision: one way or another!
It’s Philadelphia
There’s no love lost between Western and Eastern Pennsylvania.
While the Eagles are far from a real rival with the Steelers (they’ve played each other only seven times this century) Pittsburgh fans are generally not a fan of Philadelphia sports.
Look no further than the Penguins and the Flyers for justification to dislike Philly sports and their fanbase.
Regardless, that’s hockey and this is football. Perhaps, that can be set aside if PA natives want to root for an in-state competitor?
