The duel between two of the franchises with the most followers in Mexico takes center stage in Week 5
DALLAS — Steelers contra Cowboys, Pittsburgh y dallas… The bitter rivalry of professional American football among fans south of the American border.
The two winningest teams in the 1970s that faced each other in that decade twice in Super Bowlwhen a rivalry began to brew between two generations of NFL fans.
“I started going to the Steelers because my dad was super fond of Jeans and when I saw that they were playing in the Super Bowllos Steelers always won,” recalled Andrés Rodríguez, a fan of Pittsburgh 52 years old. “It was like a rivalry that started at home and me wanting to beat my dad.”
The Dallas Cowboys face the Pittsburgh Steelers for the first time since 2020 to revive a rivalry between two of the franchises with the most fans in Mexico. Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
Yes, the Steelers they won Super Bowls X and XIII to the Cowboyswhich had quickly become the most popular NFL team in Mexico, thanks to the great work they had done with the introduction of their open radio and television games.
“They were the team of that generation that began watching American football on television,” said Roberto Espinoza, 61, a former American football player in Mexico. “Every week you saw the Cowboys. It was when they were winning their division, those of coach Tom Landry and quarterback Roger Staubach, the Doomsday Defense… They were one of the first to show cheerleaders. People wanted to see the Cowboys“.
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Los Cowboys They began to dominate the Eastern Division of the National Conference under coach Landry in the 1970s, when the union of the then American and National Leagues (AFL and NFL) emerged.
dallas made the playoffs in 16 of 17 seasons from 1966 to 1983. From 1970 to 1979, the Cowboys won 105 regular season games, more than any other team in the NFL, 13 division titles under Landry and went to the Super Bowl five times, of which they won two.
It also helped the popularity of Cowboys the presence of Mexican kickers Efrén Herrera and Rafael Septién, who established themselves among the best in the NFL.
“Los Cowboys They became Mexico’s team because all their games were broadcast on television and because it was the time when the team was beginning to be a power in the league,” former American football writer Fernando Von Rossum told The Dallas Morning News.
Meanwhile, the Steelers They were growing, accumulating victories in the newly baptized American Conference and, more importantly, championships of Super Bowl.
They became the team of the 1970s with four NFL championships, including two wins against the Cowboys in Super Bowl.
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“Those were the days of the Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Franco Harris, Rocky Blair, Mike Webster offense,” said Luis Gaspar, 57, a fan of the Steelers. “On defense you had to follow Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, Joe Green, LC Greenwood, Donnie Shell, Terry Blount… they were the Iron Curtain, the toughest in the NFL, the ones who hit and punished. How could you not start following them? when one also started playing American football? We all wanted to be them.
Players from both teams began traveling to Mexico in the mid-1970s for various promotional activities through independent efforts of promoters or personnel. In 1982, for example, Mexican kicker Rafael Septién invited his teammates John ‘Golden’ Richards and Glenn Carano to the opening of the Pop Warner League season at the Ciudad de los Deportes stadium in Mexico City.
Former Hall of Fame runner Franco Harris, for his part, never stopped traveling to Mexican territory for promotion or even on vacation.
“It was incredible the knowledge they had about us, about the NFL, about the game, the number of kids who played football,” said the former Los Angeles receiver. Cowboys and Hall of Famer Drew Pearson. “The rivalry between our fans and the fans was impressive. Steelers of all ages, complete families”.
On the playing field it is a rivalry that is only faced every four years due to the rotation of games between divisions of both NFL conferences.
In the postseason, they can only be found in the Super Bowlas happened again in January 1996, when finally dallas defeated Pittsburgh; the last time they were crowned in the NFL.
dallas leads the regular season series between both teams 16-14, although the last time they met, the Steelers they won 29-19 in 2020, and in the most recent game in Pittsburghlos Cowboys They took the win 35-30 in 2016.
“For us Mexicans who have grown up watching American football for many years, the match between the Jeans and the Steelers is perhaps more important than Super Bowl“, said Andrés Rodríguez. “This is the classic with which the Super Bowl in Mexico.”
“This Sunday is ours Super Bowl“, he added. “We have to enjoy because we won’t see them face each other again for four years in dallas“.
