Steelers Turn To Power Of 'Renegade' To Fuel Defense

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If you have ever been to Heinz Field for a Steelers game, you have experienced it.

The first time, you might not have realized why everyone leaps up, and roars and looks toward the JumboTron when you hear a lone voice cut the silence of a TV timeout.

Channel 4 Action News anchor Sally Wiggin took a look at the mystique of the song "Renegade," which has become the anthem of the Steelers defense. It began around 2001, during the first year of the stadium.

At first, the rock hit from the '70s about a captured outlaw seems an odd motivational choice. But after almost a decade it has become part of Steeler superstition, national coverage and players' iPods.

The ritual belongs to the defense and begins, with linebacker LaMarr Woodley accompanied by the opening lines of the song.

"You look up at the JumboTron and watch?" Wiggin asked Woodley.

"Every home game, I turn around and watch," Woodley said, admitting that he knows "not one word" of the song. "Oh, momma, I'm in...' that's all I know."

"I know a little bit," nose tackle Chris Hoke said. Although he doesn't know what the song is about, he said, "the tune is great."

"I have it on my iPod," safety Ryan Clark said. "I got the intern last year in photography to print the words out for me, because once they start 'the jig is up' and all that talking real fast, I don't know what they're saying."

"I wrote it in the living room of my house in Michigan, all by myself on a dark winter night. It just amazes me to think that whole thing I wrote on a piano there is being sung in stadiums," said composer Tommy Shaw.

Fan Video Of "Renegade" At Heinz Field

Styx sang the national anthem at Heinz Field before the divisional championship game against San Diego last year. It was the first time the group had seen the "Renegade effect" in person.

"I guess it is because it is a solitary thought, or voice that explodes into a group," Shaw said.

That's just the reason a marketing staff member recommended the song to the JumboTron video team years ago. After a few games, it caught on, the players watched it, and the fans erupted.

When asked what the song means, Steelers fan Christopher Valore said the answer is simple: "Here comes the hangman, baby!"

Despite the lift the song seems to give to players and fans, some players admit they aren't fans of the tune.

"Mixed reviews about it," said linebacker James Farrior. "Some guys think it's bad luck and some guys love it, so we've just got to get everybody on the same page and everybody get to loving it, because it's great for the fans to get them involved and it's a big booster for us."

"You definitely feel the energy. The crowd loves it. When it gets the crowd hyped, that hypes us, so we love the song and keep rocking 'Renegade,'" said lineman Brett Keisel.

Nine out of 10 times last year, the defense kept the opposing team from scoring, forced them to punt, or had a turnover after the song was played.

Wide receiver Hines Ward is the only offensive player included in the "Renegade" JumboTron video.

While "Renegade" might be important for the Steelers, it's not the most often-played anthem. Queen -- another '70s group -- holds that distinction with "We Will Rock You."

Live Styx Performance Of "Renegade"

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