Pittsburgh Steelers fans love their Super Bowl champions.
They snap up Steelers merchandise, flock to Heinz Field for games and wave their Terrible Towels from Tampa to Tempe with a fervor rarely seen in other football towns.
But some women in the 'Burgh are either not paying attention to the players, or they're so eager to align themselves with a celebrity Steelers player that they believe a Brentwood, Allegheny County, car salesman when he says he's tight end Jerame Tuman.
Or quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Or Roethlisberger's former backup Brian St. Pierre.
Brian Jackson, 32, was charged Aug. 16 for the third time in 13 months for impersonating a Steelers player to date women. This time he's also accused of scamming his victim out of $3,200.
"Everyone loves the Steelers right now," said Kerry Ferris, an assistant professor of sociology at Northern Illinois University who studies celebrity impersonators.
"This is the most desirable moment to pretend you're a Pittsburgh Steeler, because their celebrity is at an apex. He's likely trying to capitalize on that status, and the women are probably drawn to the attraction of believing they're being hit on by a Steeler. But notice he's not trying to fool men. Maybe these women don't watch football."
Jackson was arraigned Wednesday night in Pittsburgh Municipal Court on two felony counts of theft by deception and released on his own recognizance. He doesn't have a listed phone number and didn't have an attorney listed in court papers.
Jackson met the woman through a friend in March and he told her he was Tuman, according to the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office. The two began talking on the phone and dated, but decided they would be friends, according to a criminal complaint.
In April, the woman gave Jackson $200 after he told her he misplaced his wallet and needed money to go with Steelers teammates to a West Virginia racetrack and casino. The next month, he sent the woman a text message asking her for $1,800 because his bank accounts were frozen due to a child support dispute, according to the complaint.
In late April, he borrowed $1,200 from the woman for new rims for his car, telling her he thought he "deserved a treat" for what he was going through with the supposed child support issue.
The woman called Jackson several times in the following months, and he agreed to repay the money he borrowed but never did. She wrote a letter to Tuman at Steelers headquarters on the South Side, and Tuman turned the matter over to Steelers security, who told the woman to look at Tuman's photo on the team's Web site.
A team official helped the woman find a news article on the Internet about Jackson's past arrests for impersonating Steelers players and she identified Jackson as the man who told her he was Tuman.
The charges he faces now are felonies punishable by up to seven years in prison.
"He's in some serious trouble this time," said Mike Manko, a spokesman for the district attorney.
In July 2005, Jackson was charged with impersonating Roethlisberger and St. Pierre. He dated two women using those adopted personas, signed footballs and jerseys and posed for photographs with children and other fans.
Jackson bears no physical resemblance to Roethlisberger, St. Pierre or Tuman.
He was ordered to undergo psychological counseling and sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct.
Ferris said that given the notoriety of the Steelers players after clinching a Super Bowl victory in Detroit in February, she's surprised the women believed his impersonations.
"On one hand, you'd think their profiles would be so high right now that he couldn't get away with that," Ferris said. "But then again, football players in general are less recognizable than other celebrities, like Brad Pitt. They're hidden by huge helmets and pads and they pretty much all look the same on the television. If you think about it, it's almost the perfect scheme."
