1988 Pittsburgh Steelers season

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The 1988 Pittsburgh Steelers began the season with the death of Hall of Fame team founder & owner Art Rooney at age 87 less than two weeks before the start of the season. The team would wear AJR patches on the left shoulder the entire season in memory of "The Chief".

The death of Rooney, combined with the team having several inexperienced players and aging veterans, saw the team stumble to a 5-11 season, their worst record since finishing an NFL-worst 1-13 in 1969. As of 2007, the 5-11 mark remains the team's worst record since 1969, and have only finished with ten losses twice since, in 1999 and 2003.

[edit] Offseason

The Steelers saw two of its last three remaining players who won all four Super Bowls retire in wide receiver John Stallworth and strong safety Donnie Shell, who were both from the team's famous Class of 1974 that saw four players go on to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (although Shell was undrafted, he was still from the same rookie class), and in the case of Stallworth, retired as the team's all-time leading receiver. (Stallworth's record was surpassed by Hines Ward in 2005.)

Mike Webster, who was also from the Class of 1974, entered the season as the sole remaining member of all four Super Bowl teams. However, change appeared to be imminent when the team drafted Kentucky guard Dermontti Dawson in the second round of the 1988 draft. Although Dawson would be playing guard his rookie season alongside Webster, it was apparent that Dawson was drafted to be groomed as Webster's eventual replacement at center. Webster would be released by the Steelers in the following offseason, officially ending the team's link to all four Super Bowl clubs.

To the delight of Steelers fans, and even most of the players, the Mark Malone era officially ended in the offseason as well. Malone, who had lost the starting quarterback job to Bubby Brister the previous year, was traded to the San Diego Chargers during the offseason. Malone had also become hugely unpopular with fans and teammates for blaming his mistakes on other players and acting as if he were the "heir" to the QB position after the retirement of Terry Bradshaw. At one point, a locker room fight between Malone and the rest of the team ensued before being broken up by veteran offensive tackle Tunch Ilkin.

[edit] Regular season

[edit] Schedule

[edit] Game Summaries

[edit] Week 1 (Sunday September 4, 1988): vs. Dallas Cowboys

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time: 1:00 PM EDT
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 56,813
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (CBS) Tim Brant (play by play), Hank Stram (color commentator)

[edit] Week 2 (Sunday September 11, 1988): at Washington Redskins

at RFK Stadium, Washington, DC

• Game time: 1:00 PM EDT
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 54,083
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (NBC) Curt Gowdy (play by play), Merlin Olsen (color commentator)

[edit] Week 3 (Sunday September 18, 1988): vs. Cincinnati Bengals

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time: 1:00 PM EDT
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 56,647
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (NBC) Jim Donovan (play by play), Reggie Rucker (color commentator)

[edit] Week 4 (Sunday September 25, 1988): at Buffalo Bills

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

• Game time: 1:00 PM EDT
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 78,735
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (NBC) Curt Gowdy (play by play), Al DeRogatis (color commentator)

[edit] Week 5 (Sunday October 2, 1988): vs. Cleveland Browns

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time: 1:00 PM EDT
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 56,410
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (NBC) Jim Donovan (play by play), Reggie Rucker (color commentator)

[edit] Week 6 (Sunday October 9, 1988): at Phoenix Cardinals

at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona

• Game time: 4:00 PM EDT
• Game weather: 94°F (Sunny)
• Game attendance: 53,278
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (NBC) Gary Gerould (play by play), Jon Morris (color commentator)

[edit] Week 7 (Sunday October 16, 1988): vs. Houston Oilers

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time: 1:00 PM EDT
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 52,229
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (NBC) Jay Randolph (play by play), Reggie Rucker (color commentator)

[edit] Week 8 (Sunday October 23, 1988): vs. Denver Broncos

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time: 1:00 PM EDT
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 49,811
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (NBC) Sam Nover (play by play), Dave Lapham (color commentator)

[edit] Week 9 (Sunday October 30, 1988): at New York Jets

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

• Game time: 1:00 PM EST
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 64,862
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (NBC) Marv Albert (play by play), Paul Maguire (color commentator)

[edit] Week 10 (Sunday November 6, 1988): at Cincinnati Bengals

at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

• Game time: 1:00 PM EST
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 56,403
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (NBC) Jim Donovan (play by play), Joe Namath (color commentator)

[edit] Week 11 (Sunday November 13, 1988): vs. Philadelphia Eagles

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time: 1:00 PM EST
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 46,026
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (CBS) Tim Ryan (play by play), Dan Jiggetts (color commentator)

[edit] Week 12 (Sunday November 20, 1988): at Cleveland Browns

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

• Game time: 1:00 PM EST
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 77,131
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (NBC) Sam Nover (play by play), Jon Morris (color commentator)

[edit] Week 13 (Sunday November 27, 1988): vs. Kansas City Chiefs

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time: 1:00 PM EST
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 42,057
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (NBC) Gary Gerould (play by play), Reggie Rucker (color commentator)

[edit] Week 14 (Sunday December 4, 1988): at Houston Oilers

at Astrodome, Houston, Texas

• Game time: 8:00 PM EST
• Game weather: Dome
• Game attendance: 47,791
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (ESPN) Mike Patrick (play by play), Joe Theismann (color commentator)

[edit] Week 15 (Sunday December 11, 1988): at San Diego Chargers

at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California

• Game time: 4:00 PM EST
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 33,816
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (NBC) Jay Randolph (play by play), Reggie Rucker (color commentator)

[edit] Week 16 (Sunday December 18, 1988): vs. Miami Dolphins

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time: 1:00 PM EST
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 36,051
• Referee:
• TV announcers: (NBC) Tom Hammond (play by play), Joe Namath (color commentator)

[edit] References

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