Super Bowl Battle Of The CHEERLEADERS!

[matcom]

<snip>

Steelers first to have cheerleaders, but now don't see the need

PITTSBURGH (AP) - They wore knee-length skirts, bobby sox and hard hats, and couldn't fraternize with the players. Their pay? One ticket per game.

The Steelerettes were the first females of the gridiron, long before Seattle's Sea Gals, Oakland's Raiderettes and the Buffalo Jills. And get this: Pittsburgh had guy cheerleaders, too - the Ingots.

But the NFL's first rah-rah squad was far from a group of midriff-bearing dancers that root from the sidelines today, make public appearances and - like the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders - star in their own reality TV show.

The Steelerettes of the 1960s also didn't last long - just nine years.

"Other teams started bringing in cheerleaders and it was very different from the kind of wholesome group that we were," said Patricia Tanner, 58, of Ohio Township, who was a Steelerette from 1965-68. "It seemed like our era had passed and Pittsburgh's a very traditional town, so I don't think we would have gone that direction."

The Steelerettes were started for the 1961 season, a year after the Pirates won the World Series.

http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9199486

[Robeson]

1. I like the NFL's newer versions as demonstrated by the first picture....

...in fact, you could say I'm even "up" for that.....:-)

[RPM]

2. feh - the ones on top look like too much maintainence

the ones on the bottom look like much less maintenance.....