Pittsburgh Steelers Training Camp: When No One Watched

Finding a parking space to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp when Coach Chuck Knoll first took over was easy. Cars were never lined up exiting off Route 30 and driving to the large, empty student lots at St. Vincent College meant it was a snap to park and walk to the rope-lined field and catch a close-up view of the players.

I can still remember my grandfather driving me to a training camp on a drizzly summer morning and watching a wide receiver leap for a pass only to miss it and flop into the mud.

The 1968 Steelers, coached by Bill Austin, finished 2-11-1.

In 1969, the Steelers went 1-13 under Coach Knoll.

The steel town of 10,000 or so residents went on about its business while the Pittsburgh team arrived in the humidity of mid-July.

But by the time I graduated high school at the end of the '70s, all that had changed.

Improved winning records for the next few years and then an Immaculate Reception by Franco Harris against the hated Oakland Raiders created a spark in the fan base and ushered in an era of legendary excellence on the field.

On game day, our priest moved efficiently through liturgy and his sermons were always concise. The city was proud of its winning teams: the Steelers and the Pirates.

By the late 70s, parking was no longer easy at St. Vincent College and fans had to usually watch practice from the slopes of the hills surrounding the practice fields.

I can still remember a giddy middle-age woman screaming with delight as the players ran from their dorm-locker rooms and onto the field. Quite a change from the dreary day with my grandfather.

While I haven't made a Steelers practice since then, many others have. I've read about Steeler fans traveling from as far away as Texas, yeah Texas, to make the drive. I happened to see video on SBnation.com of a series of downs. The Steelers held an intra-squad scrimmage at Latrobe High School in front of packed stands. The video was taken by someone from Richmond, VA who makes it to training camp each year.

The plays weren't necessarily impressive but the team is maintaining a new tradition of scrimmages at the high school field in downtown Latrobe, close to the rolling mills and not far from the Latrobe Brewery.

Otherwise, they practice at St. Vincent . . . University - not college.

Regardless of the Steeler's season this year or next, I hope they continue to maintain their training camps in Latrobe. When I see the byline in the paper or on the Internet, and I hear about the crowds at camp, it lets me remain connected with a season that has passed.