Each NHL team’s most famous superfan
By Cody Rivera
Pittsburgh Penguins: Michael Keaton
Actor Michael Keaton has starred in a lot of movies over his very long career, but one of his most notable films is 1989’s Batman, in which he played the lead role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Keaton will always be one of my favorite actors because, as a kid who grew up watching superhero movies on a daily basis, Keaton’s Batman was one of the first superhero movies I ever saw.
When I was between the ages of 5 and 10, I probably watched that movie at least once a week, sometimes more than that. Sometimes it may have even happened multiple times in a day. I lived and breathed superhero movies, and Keaton’s Batman was one of my favorites as a child.
Eventually, I came to realize that Michael Keaton was more than just Batman. He’s a passionate sports fan too.
Keaton was the youngest of seven children, and he grew up near the city of Pittsburgh. With local teams to root for like the Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Pirates, it can be pretty easy to become addicted for life. And Keaton is definitely one of those fans.
His life as a sports fan has been fairly decent to him. He saw the Pirates win the World Series in 1960, 1971, and 1979, although they haven’t won again since. The Steelers, on the other hand, have won more Super Bowl championships than any other NFL franchise, winning all six of them within Keaton’s lifetime, and most recently in 2008.
But no team has brought Keaton as much joy in recent years as his beloved Penguins, who won back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017. In total, the Penguins have won five Stanley Cups, all in Keaton’s lifetime. Not too much for him to complain about.