Having gone through my teen years in the 1970s, I had never been fortunate enough to venture into Three Rivers Stadium for a genuine look at the world's greatest football dynasty.

That didn't occur until opening day 1984, when I watched Jack Lambert limp off the field with a toe injury that signaled the beginning of the end for one great linebacker.

I did get to interview Lambert at Three Rivers Stadium. I had graduated from Pitt and began covering the Steelers in 1995. Five years later, I was working again as the greats came back for the final game played there. To interview Lambert, I went deep into the bowels of that bowl and found him with Greg Lloyd. They were chiding Terry Hanratty about something or other when I asked Jack for an interview. He obliged, over the objection of Lloyd, and told me — for that issue of Steelers Digest – about his relationship with the late Art Rooney Sr. Lambert told of feet up on the desk, cigars in mouths, and tales of Jim Thorpe, Johnny Blood, Billy Conn, and much more emanating from "The Chief."

I left that interview wondering what other secrets about the place I did not know.

And then Three Rivers Stadium was gone. In its place stood a gigantic steel stadium, or what looked to be steel jaws ready to clench an opponent tightly.

At least that's what the new structure that at the time was called Heinz Field, now Acrisure Stadium, looked like from the Fort Pitt Bridge. That struck me first, the menacing shape of the new stadium, but to see it I had to look past the bright glare of those seats.

I didn't pay it any mind. In fact, I actually liked the menacing design and bold color choice. To me, it said — no, screamed — Pittsburgh Steelers football.

Anyway, the look of the facility was the least of my concerns. I only wondered about my 'office space.' What would it be like for a football writer?

The answer was: Wow!

I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles.

Forgive my Roger Daltrey, but I'm not only talking about the gorgeous view.

No, this was not the nearby baseball stadium with seemingly the entire city as the backdrop. This is football. No one need look anywhere but down at the action in this league, and these were the most beautiful sightlines I'd ever seen at a football stadium.

The official opening was delayed because the originally scheduled opener on Sunday night, Sept. 16, against the Cleveland Browns, was postponed until Jan. 6 because of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

The Steelers entered the 2001 season as one of only six NFL teams to have missed the playoffs the previous three years. But this was a new season, with a defense that now had a staunch middle with Casey Hampton and Kendrell Bell, and an exciting new offense from first-year coordinator Mike Mularkey, who facilitated the return of exciting quarterback Kordell Stewart.

Stewart was symbolic of this fresh start. While he'd played a key role in two of the biggest games played in the late 1990s at the old stadium — the 1995 and 1997 AFC Championship Games (one as receiver, the other as quarterback) — his star had faded along with the cheers at the old place. By 2001, Stewart was ready for the fresh start the new stadium promised.

At this point, on Oct. 7, the Steelers were 1-1 and few could have foreseen another AFC Championship Game that season. But it happened, as Stewart played at a Pro Bowl level throughout a 13-3 record. Some of that had to be credited to this new stadium, or at least I could credit the stadium because I could see so vividly. These sightlines had not been part of Three Rivers Stadium, which also housed a baseball team.

No, this stadium was all about football. I did not care about the luxury suites, the plush and vast locker rooms, the larger press lounge, the closer proximity of the restrooms, easier press entrance, or, really, any of the finely tuned accoutrements of the new digs. No, I cared more about the sightlines, the massive scoreboard, and the green, green grass of home.

"The grass, it's beautiful," was the first quote I got, and it came from the great Jerome Bettis, who, in fact, went over the 10,000-yard plateau that day in a 16-7 win over the Bengals.

Bettis, with 153 yards, had his best game in four years, which he credited to an outstanding performance by an offensive line that was now coached by Russ Grimm and centered by Jeff Hartings. Hartings had joined the likes of Alan Faneca and Marvel Smith up front.

"The holes were there," said Faneca. "We were working hard and Jerome was running hard. If you look at the film, some of those guys didn't want to hit him at the end of the game because they were tired of him running them over."

Bettis added that "We've got to hope the fans come and really, really crank it up. It was a little quiet in there. I just hope they were doing the same thing, getting used to the stadium like we were."

And that — the remark about the noise level — was my concern. Say what you will about the bowl that was Three Rivers Stadium, but the encircled field and straight-up rise of the seats made it one of the noisiest sports arenas in the world. Or at least my experience of the sporting world. But the stadium had an open end.

Yes, great view of the fountain, but what about the noise that I recall bothered opposing QBs such as Bernie Kosar into repeated timeouts? And what about the section of rolled-out bleachers that fans used to bounce up and down in an intimidating fashion?

The new home was beautiful, but could it be used to win games in a way the previous stadium had?

"When you first walk in," linebacker Earl Holmes countered that day, "those fans in the lower-level seats are so close you want to do a 'Heinz Hop' or something like that. The fans are really close to you, and you appreciate that as a player, and it really makes a difference."

Similar sentiments have been voiced since then as the Steelers rolled through the decade with five AFC Championship Game and three Super Bowl appearances. The winning did not stop, but my concern over the noise level did.

That day, 25 years ago, Oct. 7, 2001, brought about the fresh start the new stadium promised. It delivered perhaps not the same level of championship play, but it came very close. And I've got to believe that was more about the men on the field rather than the field itself. But at least I could see it all so very clearly.