keisel began growing "da beard" while on a summertime hunting trip with his father. keisel's facial hair gained fame during the end of the 2010 nfl season. many nfl players grow "rally beards" during the playoffs to bring them good luck. his beard has its own facebook page and twitter account and has been mentioned repeatedly in the media during the steelers' playoff run. in an interview on steelers.com, he explained that he had decided to grow out his beard after having a discussion about the lack of characters in the nfl. in another interview, though, to the "pittsburgh post-gazette", he said he wanted to change the team's luck, because it missed the playoffs the previous season. keisel refers to his beard as a "beautiful thing" and "the greatest beard of all time" and has encouraged other steelers to grow beards as well. after the super bowl several videos were made about keisel's beard, including one that portrayed him as a hasidic jew. on february 24, 2011, "da beard" was removed during a ceremony titled "shear the beard" in downtown pittsburgh. the event raised over $40,000 for the children's hospital of pittsburgh of upmc. keisel stated that "da beard" would most likely return for the upcoming season. "da beard will decide when the time is right to come back," he said, "and it will all of a sudden appear." keisel dubbed the 2011 season "da beard revenge tour." on february 9, 2012, keisel held "the second annual shear the beard event." just as in the previous year, proceeds raised went to the children's hospital of pittsburgh. it was announced on january 8, 2013, that "the third annual shear the beard event" would be held on february 7, 2013, at jergel's rhythm grille in warrendale, pa, with all proceeds benefiting the cancer program at children's hospital. it was announced on january 14, 2014, that "the fourth annual shear the beard event" would be held on february 5, 2014, at jergel's rhythm grille in warrendale, pa, with all proceeds benefiting the cancer program at children's hospital. shear da beard recently celebrated its eighth year, with phil bourque joining the event and shaving his beard. shavers such as ben roethlisberger, james harrison, heath miller, and arthur moats have taken part in the shaving of keisel's beard.