Life with the Pittsburgh Steelers hasn't always been how it is now.

We all know that, of course, but the point was driven home to me recently when I was handed a program from a 1950 game against the Chicago Cardinals.

The program itself was 35 pages. An NFLgame program today is like a small book.

Trace back 50-plus years and Steelers Country sure looked different.

The Steelers drew 158,134 fans to Forbes Field in 1950 — an average of 26,356 per game. Last year, the team drew 507,434 fans to Heinz Field — an average of 63,429 per game.

The price of tickets couldn't have been much of a factor. Today, fans need to buy a personal seat license just for the right to buy a season ticket, which spirals the overall cost into four-figure territory.

The most expensive Steelers season ticket plan in 1950 was $31.20. A down payment of 10 bucks and monthly payments of $3 gave you the best seat in the house for every home game.

The Steelers promoted their season tickets as great Christmas gifts. They even offered to provide the Yuletide envelope to the gift-giver at no extra charge.

The official airlines of the Steelers and the NFL was Capital Airlines.

Bill Cowher call it quits on a 15-year career as Steelers coach Friday, but the organization hasn't always been that stable.

From 1944-59, for example, the Steelers went through six head coaches: Walt Kiesling, Jim Leonard, Jock Sutherland, John Michelosen, Joe Bach and Buddy Parker.

Michelosen coached the 1950 squad to a 4-7-1 record and was 18-27-3 in four years overall. He had four assistant coaches on his staff. Cowher had 16 assistant coaches in 2006.

The roster limit was 32 in 1950 and the biggest Steeler was Carl Samuelson, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound right tackle from Nebraska. The 2006 Steeler roster listed 18 players taller than 6-4 and 37 players who weighed more than 245 pounds.

Max Starks was the biggest Steeler this year at 6-8, 337 pounds.

The smallest Steeler in 1950 was halfback Bobby Gage at 5-11, 175 pounds. Kicker Jeff Reed weighed 225 pounds and punter Chris Gardocki was 6-1, 192.

Player responsibilities were a bit different as well. Joe Geri was the Steelers quarterback in 1950 and ranked third in the NFLwith 766 passing yards, third in the league with 627 rushing yards, 10th in the league with 54 points scored and sixth in punting with a 40.7-yard average.

Art Rooney penned a letter to the Steelers faithful in that 1950 program calling that year's team "as great as any team we ever had. The boys got away to a slow start and became one of the most feared clubs in the league.

"Next year, we will make an attempt to field an even better team."

The Steelers did not produce a winning season until eight years later and did not win a playoff game for another 22 years.

Appreciate what you have now. It wasn't always here.