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
Hampton Pirates and Lady Pirates team competes as an independent. On November 16, 2017, Hampton announced they would be leaving the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference to join the Big South Conference. Hampton is one of two Division I HBCU (after Tennessee State University of the Ohio Valley Conference) to be a member of a conference other than the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference or Southwestern Athletic Conference. Hampton Pirates and Lady Pirates The Hampton Pirates and Lady Pirates refer to the sports teams representing Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia in intercollegiate athletics. The Pirates and Lady Pirates compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and