Brought your love of the Pittsburgh Steelers
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010Brought your love of the Pittsburgh Steelers
“A lot of us came here looking for a better opportunity in the 1980s, when something like 300,000 (steelmakers) got laid off,” said Derkas, who repairs auto bodies for Hampton Chevrolet. “We brought our love of the Pittsburgh Steelers with us.”
Others are like area native Clint Hall, who adopted the Steelers during their run to four NFL titles in the 1970s. Hall fell in love with the Steelers as a 6-year-old, the day he saw the famed television commercial that featured defensive end “Mean” Joe Greene tossing his jersey to the hero-worshiping little boy who handed him a Coke.
Surely, others are drawn to the Steelers because of a recent local addition, second-year head coach Mike Tomlin, a graduate of Denbigh and William and Mary. And even among longtime Steelers fans, Tomlin’s elevation to head coach in 2007 simply increased their pride in the Steelers.
“I ended up down here when the jobs went away,” cheap nfl jerseys can not only make you look more beautiful but Save your money.said Decker, staffing director at the shipyard. “This has become my hometown, and it adds a lot to have a hometown You will first want to try nfl jersey on in person before you make any purchases.guy coaching the Steelers.”
Whatever the reasons, it is indisputable that the Peninsula is a Pittsburgh Steelers hotbed. And if you go anywhere outside your living room on Sunday to view Super Bowl XLIII between Pittsburgh and the Arizona Cardinals, you’ll hear Steelers fans roar in numbers too big too ignore.
Area merchants Ron Johnson, Andy Jackson and Thomas Byrd say Steelers fans have a bigger impact on their businesses than any others. That includes the Washington Redskins.Sidney Rice jerseys have been some of the bestselling authentic jerseys across the league these days.
Byrd manages the Sports Fan, an apparel and shoe store in Patrick Henry Mall. He said Steelers items normally account for more than 25 percent of his NFL merchandise sales, with the Dallas Cowboys a close second and the Redskins far behind.
Since Pittsburgh clinched its Super Bowl berth on Jan. 18, Byrd There are a number of great styles of Ed Hardy Handbags available as well with the “LKS” design imprinted on them.says he’s sold 10 times more Pittsburgh merchandise than that of any other NFL team. He began last week with 24 replica Steelers jerseys, at $110 per item, and sold 21 within four days.
“A lot of these people are transplants whose fathers were Steelers fans,” said Byrd, whose wide variety of NFL inventory includes car flags, hats and mugs. “The Steelers tradition and mystique is almost unmatched. If I get 24 more Steelers jerseys in before Sunday’s game, I’ll sell them all.”
There’s no mistaking game-day at Derkas’ house, thanks to the 7-foot-tall inflatable Steelers player on his front Throwback jerseys make a return for the Colts jerseys season. This is the to pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of the AFL, the American Football Leaguelawn. Derkas will cook some kielbasa and stuffed cabbage and watch the Super Bowl in his living room.
Many among the legion of Pittsburgh Steelers fans on the Peninsula are like Mark Derkas or George Decker. They migrated to this shipbuilding hub from western Pennsylvania, where the shutdown of steel mills and factories killed jobs.