Steelers To Break Out Bumblebees Against Bengals

For the fourth year in a row, the sexiest and/or ugliest throwback uniform in worldwide professional sports will again grace our television screens this season. The Pittsburgh Steelers have announced they will wear their striped 1933 heritage uniforms in a week 8 home game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Complete with a black-and-yellow striped jersey, matching striped socks, block numbers inside a plain white box, and abhorrent flesh-coloured tights, the kit has been polarising – to say the least – among NFL fans. One fanbase that hasn’t had a problem with the uniform is the Steelers themselves. Since debuting the ‘new’ look in 2012, the Steelers have gone 3-1 in their bumblebee ensemble; with their only loss being to divisional rivals Baltimore.

With the announcement comes debate over whether the Steelers will feature the kit twice in 2015. Earlier this offseason, it was reported that Pittsburgh would wear the uniform in week 9 at home against the Oakland Raiders. It’s fairly unlikely that the team would wear its throwbacks twice in a two-week span, so although there is no official word as of yet, it’s safe to say we’ll only be seeing the bees once this year.

But with the style having served as something of a good luck charm in recent seasons, superstitious members of Steeler Nation are up in arms. Pittsburgh may not need any extra help to down Cincy – the only division rival swept by the Steelers last year – but their habit of playing down to terrible teams like Oakland may rear its ugly head again, sans the divine intervention of some ugly uniforms to combat the curse.