History of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Bell's Eagles went to Pittsburgh, where they became the Steelers, while Thompson's Iron Men moved to Philadelphia, where they took on the Eagles moniker. This was described at the time as "one of the most unusual swaps in sports history". In fact, though the Pittsburgh team played as the Steelers, they operated under the name the "Philadelphia Eagles Football Club, Inc." for the next several years. Because the entire strange turn of events all took place during the off-season and the Steelers never actually missed a game in Pittsburgh, the NFL considers the Rooney reign unbroken. The transaction, which
2009 East Carolina Pirates football team against the Houston Cougars in Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium. The Pirates were invited to their second consecutive Liberty Bowl where they were defeated by Arkansas 20–17 in overtime. The annual Purple/Gold Spring Game was held in the spring during the PirateFest and Pigskin Pigout weekend activities on April 18 in downtown Greenville, NC and put the "Pirates" team led by Redshirt Freshman Quarterback Josh Jordan against the "ECU" team led by Senior Quarterback Patrick Pinkney. The ECU team defeated the Pirates team 31-10. The Pirates renewed their rivalry with their former Southern Conference opponent for the first time since 1979. The Mountaineers