Getty Steelers DE Cam Heyward looks onto the field from the sideline.
Steelers fans are all up in their feelings about Heinz Field’s new name. And understandably so. The stadium built to replace the iconic Three Rivers Stadium in 2001 has never been named anything else since. There’s a whole generation of Steelers fans who know nothing different.
But as good ol’ William Shakespeare penned centuries ago: “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Simply put, the names of things do not affect what they truly are — what matters is what something is on the inside.
And what happens on the inside of the Steelers stadium, now called Acrisure, is pretty incredible. That’ll never change, no matter who owns the naming rights.
On his inaugural July 13 Not Just Football podcast, Cam Heyward was vocal about this fact.
Perhaps Heyward — not William Shakespeare — said it best: “Heinz Field was made because of the memories. It was made because you got to watch Ben (Roethlisberger) to AB (Antonio Brown). The Immaculate Extension. It was made watching great plays like that. The memories and plays are what made Heinz Field. Not the actual Heinz Field.”
The stadium’s name may be different, and the team is transitioning, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are still the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“It’s not like we’re playing somewhere different,” Heyward said. “It’s still where you guys always go to watch a game. We’re going to still be thumping. You’re still going to hear ‘Renegade.’ You’re still going to get out of your seats and get excited in December, in January. Those things aren’t changing. It’s a name, guys.”
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Why are we acting like this is what happened to the stadium 😂😂😂 you can send your complaints to @NotJustFootball
The Bottles Come Down
With the sting of the heartbreak still fresh, the Heinz ketchup bottles perched atop the scoreboard were removed over two days.
It presented another opportunity for Cam Heyward to say his piece. “Man y’all better let it go,” he wrote on Twitter. “It’s a Heinz bottle. We’ve got bigger fish to fry! See y’all in Latrobe.”
@BleacherReport @brgridiron @ScottDanka Man y’all better let it go. It’s a Heinz bottle! We’ve got bigger fish to fry! See y’all in Latrobe ✌🏾
In a July 12 press conference announcing Acrisure had purchased the naming rights, Steelers president Art Rooney II offered a glimmer of hope that the Heinz ketchup bottles would remain. “We are optimistic and hopeful and hopeful we’ll continue to have a sponsorship relationship,” said Rooney. “Who knows? The ketchup bottles could be part of that. We’ll see.”
It’s not like Heyward doesn’t get it. He does.
“I understand, ‘Oh, it’d be really cool to (still) call it Heinz Field, and we’re going to miss the big ketchup bottles dumping down on a touchdown.’ But Acrisure better come with that fire, because we’re going to make sure we do our job as well,” Heyward said on his podcast.
@DejaJaws @NotJustFootball Been a fan all my life. I was raised as a Steeler fan. Steelers ain’t changing, the field is still, the seats are still there, the terrible towels are there as well. Your memories are valued and stay with you. Don’t let the change of a name and two big bottles make you sad.
Surely the Pittsburgh-born guy with the most Steelers tenure can get over his beloved stadium changing hands, so can we.
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