A giant, inflatable Santa Claus nursing a fake Yuengling beer bottle perched Wednesday morning above a sea of tailgaters on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
Scores of football fans wore red and white Santa Claus caps.
Others meandered through parking lots while donning holiday-themed pajamas.
And at least one man dressed up, head to toe, as the Grinch.
But, as Christians celebrated their savior’s birth Wednesday, many who turned out for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Christmas Day matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs religiously observed a different set of traditions: those of the Black and Gold.
As it turned out, it wasn’t the Grinch but the Chiefs who stole Christmas for Steelers fans, 29-10.
But before the game, Steelers fans were in a festive mood as they tailgated in parking lots on the North Side.
Heather Nordahl, a University of Pittsburgh alumna, flew with her teenage daughter, Logan, from their hometown of Los Angeles to celebrate Christmas at Acrisure Stadium. It was Logan’s first time seeing the Steelers play in-person.
“I said, ‘What else could you do for Christmas then fly into Pittsburgh and watch a Steelers game?’” said Nordahl, 49, as the mother and daughter waited in line to take a photo with Steelers mascot Steely McBeam. “And, no offense to Taylor Swift, but we’re rooting for a Steelers win.”
Some tailgaters gossiped about whether Swift, the chart-topping chanteuse dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, would turn up in Pittsburgh to rally for her boyfriend’s team.
Others, though, shared their holiday wish list for the game, whose outcome was to shape the Steelers’ postseason agenda.
“It’s gonna be about who’s tougher,” said Craig Brophy, 51, of Lehighton, Carbon County, who said he hasn’t missed a Steelers home game in 17 years.
“I want to see Pat Mahomes get wrecked,” another fan shouted, hours before Mahomes & Co. did the wrecking.
Marcus George explicitly blended the holiday festivities with his passion for the NFL.
The Wheeling, W.Va., man spray-painted his beard white and donned a red and white Santa Claus suit before the Christmas Day game. But he also sported the jersey of Steelers running back Najee Harris.
He said he was trying to keep his expectations about the game in check.
“I was just hoping it wasn’t 15 degrees and snowing,” said George, 33. “I was here a couple years ago and it was cold. I was not fine.”
George tailgated with nearly a dozen family members — some rooting for the Steelers, some for the Chiefs.
Among them was Chiefs super-fan Gene Fahey, who has seen the Chiefs play in-person about 20 times.
“I’ve gone to a few Steelers playoff games. But, if the Chiefs are within five hours of Wheeling, I go,” said Fahey, 61, of Wheeling, a funeral home director who has rooted for the Chiefs for 50 years.
Fahey, who warmed his hands over a fire pit filled with glass pebbles, came equipped for victory. He planned to open his Chiefs-themed bottle of 360 Vodka only if his team emerged victorious.
As for Christmas, Fahey admitted his family’s festivities were a bit unorthodox this year.
“We had our Christmas on Tuesday,” he laughed. “And today, we’re having the time of our lives.”