DUBLIN — For years, the owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Rooney Family, have pushed for a game to be played in the Republic of Ireland.
Late owner Dan Rooney constructed multiple Super Bowl in Pittsburgh, but always had his heart in Ireland. So much so, that President Barack Obama made him the Ambassador to Ireland at the start of his first team in office.
The Steelers played a preseason game in Dublin in 1997, but the league has not returned to the city since. This offseason, they got their wish, with the Steelers being the team picked to host the first ever game in the country.
It was a longtime coming for the family who hails for Newry, Northern Ireland. The Steelers’ international marketing rights not only give them the rights to market in Ireland, but Northern Ireland, too. The Rooneys are actually from Northern Ireland.
On Thursday, they hosted two events in Northern Ireland, one in Belfast and the other in Newry. In the Rooney’s hometown, the team donated $10,000 at St. Mary’s High School, Newry, and Newry High School.
It also established a scholarship with a grant from the Dan and Patricia Rooney No Mind Left Behind Scholarship. Those are only two of the gestures showcased the by the team since coming over.
However, the Steelers’ ownership group have always looked at Ireland as their home.
“This is our home,” team president Art Rooney II said of Ireland.
The late Dan Rooney always made an impact on the people in Ireland, and is continually remembered for doing so. For the team, the emigration from Ireland to Pittsburgh in the 1840s is symbolic of the team and their story.
That happened at a time just before the Irish Potato Famine. Meanwhile, Daniel Rooney came over to the United States in the large wave of immigration in the late 1800s and early 1900s. One of his sons, Arthur J. Rooney, would found the Steelers. ‘The Chief’ would take the Steelers from a small startup to the NFL, where they became the Steel Curtain and a dynasty in the 1970s.
The story of the Steelers feels like one of a blue-collar team that prides itself on toughness and hard work. That is how the team even became to be one of the NFL’s most recognizable franchises.
It makes the homecoming all the more sweet.
The late Dan Rooney championed Ireland and donated to causes routinely over his life. The donation in Newry reflects that commitment.
His grandson, Danny Rooney, is now the Vice President of Business Development and Strategy for the team and has headed much of their efforts in the international markets.
Nothing has changed now, as Danny was able to give away the $10,000 on behalf of his grandparents. He took a moment in a speech to the students to recognize the Ireland Funds, a program started by Dan Rooney in 1976, which he opportunity poured into over his life to help the island.
“He was determined to bring people together and make a difference. Long before he was even the ambassador, he had a diplomatic heart,” Danny said of his grandfather. “He built bridges through his work in football and through the Ireland Funds, which he founded nearly fifty years ago to rally support for Ireland and Irish communities.”
Head coach Mike Tomlin got emotional thinking about Dan Rooney during his press conference on Tuesday. Knowing him for as long as he did, Tomlin knew that Rooney would have loved to see the Steelers play a game in Ireland, and says that he will be ‘smiling down’ on the team this week.
“I think a lot about the late Ambassador (Dan) Rooney and how fired up he would be about this trip, and how important the development of this trip was for him,” Tomlin said. “And so I’ve been thinking a lot about it. I’m sure I’ll be thinking a lot about it this week, and I certainly will be thinking a lot about him when we’re there. Man, you talk about a guy who certainly had a lot of passion for Ireland, and obviously for the Steelers, and then serving as ambassador to Ireland. I’m sure he’s going to be smiling down at us this weekend.”
The Rooney family’s sentiments around this game do not need explaining around the locker room, either. Aaron Rodgers said Tomlin told the team many times about the late Ambassador Rooney and how much this meant to him, and now much it does meant to Steelers team president Art Rooney II.
Meanwhile, Steelers defensive captain Cam Heyward put the pressure on the team to win this game for the Rooney family, but especially Dan.
“Mr. Rooney [Art Rooney II] came and talked to us and just shared with a lot of the group about this being ancestral to his family. The history behind Croke Park, man, you just wanna get that W for him,” Heyward said Not Just Football. “So, for him, the Rooney family, old man Rooney, Dan was one of my favorites. I remember he called me from Ireland. He was already the ambassador there, and he was just calling to talk and congratulate me on being a Steeler when I got drafted. So, I have so many great memories of his family and him. I think we gotta show out for him this week.”
The Rooneys have a packed schedule throughout the week, and will be making appearances as they try to market the game. Art has been around the country, while Danny is consistently in meetings and traveling to get things done.
The team themselves arrive early on Friday morning as mandated by the league, but the Rooney Family has made it a note to let people know they are around.
One of those stops included the Steelers Pro Shop in Dublin, which opened a little over two weeks. The store manager, Martyn Barnett, met with Rooney after he came through the shop on Tuesday.
Barnett, with a beaming smile, talks of how much Rooney poured into his short visit to the shop, espousing how excited he was for Ireland.
“I got to meet the Rooney Family, and they are just wonderful people,” Barnett said. “He stayed here for as long as he could, signed so many autographs, and thanked everyone for his support. He talked about how much Ireland meant to him and you could tell just how excited he was for the game. Couldn’t say enough good things about him.”
When the Steelers head to Croke Park on Sunday to face the Vikings, it will be the culmination of a decades long push made by the team to have a game in the Emerald Isle.
Now that it is happening, it feels like a poetic end to the push, with a homecoming for the Rooney Family that goes beyond words.