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| - I'd really been anticipating the official Heinz Field walking tour, and the couple hours my family and I spent touring the stadium on Monday sure were a great time!
For me the hands-down best aspects of the tour are the ability to witness the behind-the-scenes goings on of an NFL stadium as well as the opportunity to take near-empty (relatively speaking) stadium photographs one wouldn't be able to capture on game day. Of course, I enjoyed learning trivia such as the press box rules and why the digital pour of the Heinz ketchup bottles atop the scoreboard is rarely televised, but most of the facts communicated during the tour weren't breaking news to me.
All 6 Lombardi trophies are on display in the Great Hall...but not the real deals. The authentic trophies are housed at the team's Southside practice facility with the idea that the players are forced to walk past the trophies each practice day, a not-so-subtle reminder to the players that they're part of the Steelers family, a storied franchise, the only NFL team to earn 6 Lombardi trophies.
Also in the Great Hall--the lower level of the stadium that tour-goers as well as anyone holding a game day ticket can peruse--are tributes to players, coaches, Myron Cope, etc. Off to the side of the Great Hall is the Walk of Fame, and for me the highlight there is a line of old lockers from Three Rivers Stadium that have been filled by past players and/or the players' families with personal memorabilia.
A few points of criticism regarding the tour:
* Parking was confusing. The website directed us to park in a lot that, once at the stadium, we were told we could not park in. Later, inside, a staff member mentioned that there have been issues with tour parking all summer and fall. The situation was further complicated by No Parking fliers posted seemingly everywhere due to a blood drive occurring that day. (The blood drive was also the reason Monday's tour groups weren't permitted in the locker room.)
* We didn't get much time at all--definitely less than 5 minutes--on the field. Or off to the side of the field, I should say, since tour-goers aren't permitted on the bluegrass for obvious reason. Bummer!
* The tour groups were large. When we arrived at the stadium before the tour there were easily several hundred other tour-goers present. The people were roughly split into groups depending on the number of available tour guides. I loved our super-nice guide Francine, but there were too many people in our group to effectively stick together and to hear every bit of info Francine communicated via her microphone.
Lovebirds, if you're contemplating a Heinz Field proposal, know that a scoreboard message will set you back several thousand dollars. If you plan to propose at Heinz Field during a tour, then reconsider: stadium employees don't appreciate such proposals since they tend to attract attention and thus take away from the tour. I know because my boyfriend, bless his heart, looked into it.
I recommend this inexpensive cash-only ($4-$6.50 per person, depending on age) tour to anyone, Pittsburgh sports fan or not!
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