Steelers fans give the black-and-gold professional football's biggest home field advantage, an advantage that continues when the team hits the road.

It's more than just passionate fans traveling to games, it's a phenomenon Pittsburghers call "Steeler Nation."

You hear the term all the time, but what does it really mean?

NFL films answers that question in 24 minutes, the length of their latest production, which tells the story of Steeler Nation and how displaced Pittsburghers are all over the country and world and aren't afraid to show their love and support for the defending Super Bowl champions.

Produced by Mount Lebanon native Keith Crossrow, the production allows Pittsburghers to tell the story of Steeler Nation, starting with near death of the city itself.

The team became the uniting symbol for thousands who were forced to relocate from the city during Pittsburgh's economically depressed state.

Dan Rooney knows the story well after living through the era. He said he enjoyed the film and is proud the Steelers have been the passion that has kept so many who live far away so close to Pittsburgh.

"It's a sad thing they are gone, but the fact they remember us as they got to a bar or something like that, every Sunday, to see us play, it's just great," Rooney says of Pittsburgh fans who have left the city.

The Steelers' fan support stretches from east coast to the west coast to the south to the mid-west and it seems everywhere you go, there is a fan club.

NFL Films' cameras follow Steeler Nation as it takes over Jacksonville before a September game, just one of many black-and-gold conquests.

In Raleigh, N.C., there are three Steelers bars. In Washington, there are five and 200 members in a black-and-gold club, and in Baltimore, one club has almost 4,000 members.

It seems you can always take people out of Pittsburgh, but you can't take Pittsburgh out of the people.

NFL Films also found that Steeler Nation knows no bounds or boundaries. Overseas, an apache helicopter had a Steelers logo on it.

"In some ways, you wish all those people could come back to Pittsburgh with us and be part of the city, but they are out there, and they have tremendously strong loyalty and leanings towards the city, so it is an emotional thing to see," said Rooney.

The film's about much more than football and also focuses on the generation of displaced residents, maintaining their hometown ties through their passion for the Steelers.

Currently, there are no plans for a DVD just yet, but you can see Steeler Nation on the NFL Network.

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