By Teresa Varley

Steelers.com

 

The best of all-time in Steelers history were gathered around, getting ready to take the group photo for the 75th Season All-Time Team.

In one end of the room, country music legend Hank Williams, Jr. looked on, decked out in his black and a cowboy hat, with a smile as big as can be and the look of a kid in a candy store.

Jerome Bettis came in, running a few minutes late, gave him a bear hug, and then it was picture time.

“This is just great,” said Williams. “Just great.”

Williams was there to sing the national anthem before the Steelers Monday night game against the Ravens, but it was more than that. He was there because he loves the Steelers.

“The Rooney’s are great,” said Williams. “They have done so many special things for me. They know that my love for the team comes from inside my heart. I’ve worn so many Steelers things in so many auditoriums in my life. It doesn’t matter what city I am in. They wrote in the Nashville paper about me walking out on stage in a Joey Porter jersey once.”

He has been a fan since the day he learned that the Steelers quarterback, Terry Bradshaw, was born in the same Louisiana hospital that he was, just a little over a year apart.

“He was an underdog and so was I so that’s when it started,” said Williams.”I kept saying we are from the same place, me and him. I have something in common with him. That’s how it started.”

And the love for the team has grown over the years. While he didn’t have the opportunity to get to know the players of the 70s at that time and was just like any other fan on the street, he has forged a relationship with many of them over recent years, especially Bradshaw.

“Terry and I laughed so much, talking about his brief recording career years ago,” said Williams. “We are cut from the same era. It’s been a fun thing. To have the Rooney’s invite me to Pittsburgh and to be a part of the celebration was great.”

Williams and former head coach Bill Cowher became friends over the years and that’s when he had the opportunity to meet some of the current Steelers players, including a visit to training camp before the 2005 season. He capped the year by going to Detroit to watch them win Super Bowl XL.



“I was down there in the stands with my own sign that I made,” said Williams. “I was watching Bill Cowher realize his dream along with guys like Ben Roethlisberger, Alan Faneca, Willie Parker, Jerome Bettis all of those guys. From camp all the way through I was there.

“That was just a very special and my most favorite time. There was no doubt in my mind. Detroit was like a home game. The whole place was black and gold. It was so exciting.”