- Art Rooney
NFL PlayerCoach
Caption=The statue of Art Rooney outsideHeinz Field .
Color=black
fontcolor=yellow
DateOfBirth=birth date|1901|1|27|mf=y
DateOfDeath=August 25 ,1988 (age age|1901|1|27|1988|8|25)
Birthplace=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
PlaceOfDeath=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
College=Duquesne
Position=Founding Owner,Pittsburgh Steelers
Career Highlights=yes
Championships=1979AFC Championship
1978AFC Championship
1975AFC Championship
1974AFC Championship
SuperBowls=1979Super Bowl XIV
1978Super Bowl XIII
1975Super Bowl X
1974Super Bowl IX
coach=yes
coachingyears=1933-1988
coachingteams=Pittsburgh Steelers
HOF=183
HOFYear=1964Arthur Joseph Rooney Sr. (
January 27 ,1901 -August 25 ,1988 ) was the founding owner of thePittsburgh Steelers franchise in theNational Football League . Rooney began his life and career as a marginal player in the history of Pittsburgh, but by the time of his death, he was the city's most popular as well as beloved resident.Early life
The son of
Irish Catholic immigrants fromNewry inCounty Down Rooney was a lifelong resident of the Pittsburgh area having been born inCoulterville, Pennsylvania and raised on the North Side of Pittsburgh. He graduated from Duquesne Prep (later Duquesne High School, which closed in 2007). In keeping with his Catholic background, he then went on toDuquesne University . Since then, many members of the Rooney family have graduated from Duquesne and have made many endowments to the university.Pittsburgh Steelers
His affiliation with the NFL began in 1933 after he traveled to
Saratoga Race Course in New York and won at least $2,500 in a parlay of longshot winners. He soon used that $2500 to pay the requiredNational Football League franchise entrance fee for a club based in the city of Pittsburgh, which he had named the Pirates (also the name of the city's long-establishedMajor League Baseball club, which Rooney was a fan of as a child). Since the league's founding in 1920, the NFL had wanted a team in Pittsburgh due to the city's already-long history with football as well as the popularity of thePittsburgh Panthers football team, anNCAA national championship contender during this period. The league was finally able to take advantage ofPennsylvania relaxing theirblue laws that prior to 1933 prohibited sporting events from taking place on Sundays, when most NFL games take place.Rooney sent shockwaves through the NFL by signing Byron "Whizzer" White to a record-breaking $15,000 contract in 1938. This move, however, did not bring the Pirates a winning season, and White left the team for the
Detroit Lions the following year. The club did not have a season above .500 until 1942, the year after they were renamed thePittsburgh Steelers .During
World War II , the Steelers had some financial difficulties and were merged with thePhiladelphia Eagles in 1943 and theChicago Cardinals in 1944.After the War, Rooney became team president. He longed to bring an NFL title to Pittsburgh but was never able to beat the powerhouse teams, like the
Cleveland Browns andGreen Bay Packers . Although the Steelers were reasonably popular in the city during this time, they would remain second-fiddle to thePittsburgh Pirates until the 1970's and were known in the NFL as the "lovable losers". The team also made some questionable personnel calls at the time such as cutting a then-unknownJohnny Unitas in training camp (Unitas would go on to a Hall of Fame career with the Baltimore Colts.) and trading their first round pick in the 1965 draft to theChicago Bears (The Bears would draftDick Butkus , with the pick.), among others.Nevertheless, Rooney was popular with owners as a mediator, which would carry over to his son
Dan Rooney . He was the only owner to vote against moving the rights of theNew York Yanks toDallas, Texas after the 1951 season due to concerns ofracism in the South at the time. (Ultimately, the Dallas Texans failed after one year, and the rights were moved toBaltimore, Maryland , where the team became the second incarnation of the Baltimore Colts.) In 1963, along with Bears ownerGeorge Halas , Rooney was one of two owners to vote for the 1925 NFL Championship to be reinstated to the long-defunctPottsville Maroons .Later life
Following the
AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the Steelers agreed to leave the NFL Eastern Conference and joined the AFC Central Division.Through expert scouting, the Steelers did become a power. In 1972, they began a remarkable 8–year run of playoff appearances. In Rooney's 41st season as owner, the club won the
Super Bowl . They followed up withSuper Bowl victories following the 1975, 1978 and 1979 seasons. In between those championships, during the 1976 season, the team allowed only a staggering 28 "total" points in the final 9 games of the season, including 5 shutouts.After the 1974 season, Rooney reliquished the day-to-day operation of the club to his son Dan. He remained Chairman of the Board of the club until his death in Pittsburgh in 1988. In memory of "The Chief", Steelers wore a patch on the left shoulder of their uniforms with Rooney's initials AJR for the entire season. The team ended up finishing 5-11, their worst record since a 1–13 showing in 1969.
Legacy
.Art Rooney received many awards during his career. In 1964, he was elected to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame .Duquesne University named their football field in his honor in 1993. In 1999, "The Sporting News " named him one of the 100 most powerful sports figures of the 20th century.A statue of his likeness graces the entrance to the home of the
Pittsburgh Steelers ,Heinz Field . He also has a street named in his honor on Pittsburgh's north side.During his life, Rooney would usually have the Steelers use a late-round draft pick on a player from Pitt, West Virginia, and/or Penn State to give some of the local fans a player from one of the local college football teams, although that particular player rarely made the team. This is a trait the team occasionally still practices, but very seldomly do so nowadays and mainly focuses on talent in the entire draft as opposed to just the earlier rounds. Rooney also supposedly liked players from Notre Dame due to his
Irish Catholic background, hence why he allegedly had the team keep Notre Dame alumni & wounded Vietnam veteranRocky Bleier around. Bleier would go on to become one of the key members of the team's success in the 1970's; however, Bleier was ironically a GermanPresbyterian .Art Rooney is the subject of, and the only character in, the one-man play "The Chief", written by Gene Collier and Rob Zellers. The play debuted at the
Pittsburgh Public Theater in 2003, and has been revived on three occasions since then. All productions have starred Tom Atkins as Rooney.Today, Rooney is probably the city's most beloved figure. Few are talked about with as much reverence as Rooney. At Steeler games, (Especially during the
Super Bowl XL season) there is a sign that shows a picture of Rooney with his beloved cigar and under the photo, the word "Believe."Further reading
*cite book |title= The Chief: Art Rooney and his Pittsburgh Steelers|last= O'Brien|first= Jim|authorlink= |coauthors= |year= 2001|publisher= James P. O'Brien - Publishing|location=
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |isbn= 1-886348-06-5|pages=External links
*"Pro Football Hall of Fame:" [http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=183 Member profile]
*" [http://www.artrooneyjr.com Ruanaidh - The Story of Art Rooney and His Clan]
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