Pittsburgh Steelers second place in their division, or with a record better than .500 (). Pittsburgh did make history in by signing Byron White, a future Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, to what was at the time the biggest contract in NFL history, but he played only one year with the Pirates before signing with the Detroit Lions. Prior to the 1940 season, the Pirates renamed themselves the Steelers. During World War II, the Steelers experienced player shortages. They twice merged with other NFL franchises to field a team. During the 1943 season, they merged with the Philadelphia Eagles forming the
2018 Hampton Pirates football team schools agreeing to play them, forcing the Pirates to become an FCS independent for 2018 before joining the Big South in 2019. In their final season as a member of the MEAC, the Pirates finished the season 6–5, 5–3 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for fourth place. On November 20, 2017, head coach Connell Maynor resigned to become the head coach at Alabama A&M. He finished at Hampton with a four-year record of 20–25. 2018 Hampton Pirates football team The 2018 Hampton Pirates football team represents Hampton University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season.