This is sad news:
Joe Santoni, who named the Pittsburgh Steelers in a contest in 1940, died at 82.
Santoni died Friday of complications from heart surgery.
Santoni was an avid sports fan and in the 1930s followed an NFL team then known as the Pittsburgh Pirates. But the team wanted a new identity to differentiate it from the city’s baseball team.
Santoni, who worked in the mills for Pittsburgh Steel, submitted the name “Steelers” through a joint contest held by the team and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and founder/owner Art Rooney Sr. liked it.
It is a shame this was his last season.
greg
But did he suggest they be called “Steelers” or “Stillers” as my friends from Pittsburgh call them.
(and yes, I do see the irony in someone from Philly making fun of the way anyone else talks)