'MNF' Giants-Steelers matchup is a battle of the original 'America's Teams'

The late Dan Rooney, Art's son, confirmed the story in a 2014 interview with "The Talk of Fame" podcast.

"We didn't want that," he recalled. "We're Pittsburgh's team, we feel strongly about that."

New York, on the other side of the field, was founded in 1925 (the league's fourth-oldest franchise) and has won eight total NFL titles (four Super Bowls and four NFL championships).

Being in the nation's biggest market and having as much success as it has across so many years qualifies New York as a de facto "America's Team" for the era.

But it's the generation-through-generation friendship between New York and Pittsburgh's ownership that ties the strongest bond in the pseudo-rivalry.

Tim Mara, New York's original owner, and Art Rooney struck up a friendship that started with a horse racing bet, according to an account from the book "Ruanaidh" written by Rooney's son.

In fact, as a result of the encounter, another one of Rooney's sons, Tim, was named after Mara out of respect.

The two families are connected through marriage as well with current Giants owner John Mara's daughters being great-grandchildren of Rooney's.

New York leads the all-time series 44-31-3 but hasn't defeated Pittsburgh since 2008, losing four of the last five contests.