Steelers owner Dan Rooney passes away

[SHOWTIME15]

Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney dies at age 84

Great owner of one of the great franchises.

Just to remind folks, he said spygate was a non-issue as far as its competitive effect but did support goodell's punishment. I appreciated his comments at the time.

 

[qbno12]

Rest in peace.

 

[Froob]

RIP. Wishing his family well.

 

[AQPE]

RIP, Pats fans should remember that he was helpful to the process of getting an accommodation for the franchise from the state for the Gillette Stadium construction, working with Father Monan at BC.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Peace be with him and his family.

 

[Pats1989]

I certainly hope people won't say anything negative here. Hate the Steelers. Have nothing but respect for their owners. They do things the right way

 

[Joey007]

Rest in peace, Dan.

 

[Kontradiction]

RIP and my condolences to his family.

 

[Patjew]

Condolences. Some may say 84 is not young and he had a blessed life, but it's never easy for the family. I wish them well.

 

[turkeyneck]

I trust he's now in a place where he can be illuminated with the truth of the Ideal Gas Law.

 

[AtomicDawg]

 

[jmt57]

Consider this: from their inception in 1933 through 1971 the Steelers made the playoffs only once. Pittsburgh had only seven winning seasons, and managed only four seasons where they were two or more games above .500.

Then Dan Rooney took a bigger role in the organization, running the football operations in 1969 and finally formally being announced team president in 1975. He hired Chuck Noll and the team quickly went from annual cellar dwellers to perennial contenders. For those that lament the dark days of the Patriots, where the Steelers were prior to Dan Rooney taking on his role was was far worse. They went 25 years between playoff appearances. 25 years! From 1965-69 Pittsburgh's record was 14-53-3, finishing in last place in four out of five of those seasons.

Pittsburgh went 12-2 in 1975 and won their second consecutive Super Bowl. Rooney remained team president until 2002; during those years the Steelers were the class of the AFC and the best franchise in pro football over the last three decades of the 20th century.

More than anyone else, Dan Rooney was the reason for that turnaround. The Steelers' long term success was due to the leadership at the top of the organization. Rooney earned his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.


Rest in peace.

 

[PatsFans.com Article]

Steelers owner Dan Rooney dies at age 84

John Morgan

Consider this: from their inception in 1933 through 1971 the Steelers made the playoffs only once. Pittsburgh had a total of only seven winning seasons, and managed only four years where they were two or more games above .500. Then Dan Rooney took a bi

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[RobertWeathers]

Consider this: from their inception in 1933 through 1971 the Steelers made the playoffs only once. Pittsburgh had only seven winning seasons, and managed only four seasons where they were two or more games above .500.

Then Dan Rooney took a bigger role in the organization, running the football operations in 1969 and finally formally being announced team president in 1975. He hired Chuck Noll and the team quickly went from annual cellar dwellers to perennial contenders. For those that lament the dark days of the Patriots, where the Steelers were prior to Dan Rooney taking on his role was was far worse. They went 25 years between playoff appearances. 25 years! From 1965-69 Pittsburgh's record was 14-53-3, finishing in last place in four out of five of those seasons.

Pittsburgh went 12-2 in 1975 and won their second consecutive Super Bowl. Rooney remained team president until 2002; during those years the Steelers were the class of the AFC and the best franchise in pro football over the last three decades of the 20th century.

More than anyone else, Dan Rooney was the reason for that turnaround. The Steelers' long term success was due to the leadership at the top of the organization. Rooney earned his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.


Rest in peace.

Dan Rooney was THE reason for the dynasty. I didn't like how he pissed on the Patriots and Goody was in his pocket but that's "The 32". RIP.

Art Rooney was a mobbed up, hand -to-mouth, gambling addict.

 

[anditsgood]

RIP

 

[jmt57]

A bit of trivia regarding Dan Rooney's hire of Chuck Noll. A few here may remember that the Patriots had a chance to hire Noll before Pittsburgh did.

Chuck Noll was the unknown coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers | The MMQB with Peter King

The Rooneys, having just fired Bill Austin, had given Joe Paterno, everybody’s opening candidate, first crack at the Steeler job. He had turned it down. Nick Skorich was Noll’s competition. The Patriots were closing fast on Noll, but (Dan) Rooney says he wasn’t going to be stampeded into anything. He was going to take his time.​

Billy Sullivan had it narrowed down to two potential new head coaches. Then comes what was in retrospect the ultimate Homer Simpson Doh! moment.

For Patriots, the good times haven't always rolled - Portland Press Herald

Late in their first decade, owner Billy Sullivan was looking for a replacement for Mike Holovak as head coach. The New York Jets, with Clive Rush as their offensive coordinator, had just upset the Baltimore Colts, with Chuck Noll as their defensive coordinator, in Super Bowl III, 16-7. The story goes that Sullivan couldn’t justify hiring a losing assistant, so he went with Rush. Nice choice. Rush’s only head coach experience had been a three-year, 8-20 stint at Toledo. Crippling. The Steelers would be left with Noll.​

This article gives the best summary and timeline of the regrettable choice.

Donaldson: The late Chuck Noll, legendary Steelers coach, was almost coach of the Patriots_BINARY_1745934

“There was always so much negative press in our town about the Patriots playing in a ‘Mickey Mouse League,’ ” Sullivan said. “I was concerned that if we hired Noll, the headlines would be along the lines of ‘Losing Super Bowl Coach Hired by Patriots.’

“It was a dumb decision on my part to base it on that,” Sullivan admitted, “because Noll actually impressed me more than Rush. Then again, if Noll had come in here and been 1-13, the way he was his first year in Pittsburgh, they probably would have run him out of town.”

Instead, Noll won four Super Bowls in Steel Town, while the Patriots didn’t win one until Robert Kraft bought the team and brought Bill Belichick to Foxboro.​

 

[Haterproof]

RIP

 

[Vatahala]

RIP

I misjudged his historical importance to the NFL as when I turned to NFL Total Access at 1105 they were talking Rooney and again at 1125 it was still all Rooney so I gave up.

Just now at 100 AM I realized they whole 1 hour show is dedicated to Rooney.

Is there any remaining NFL owner whose obit would get more than 15 minutes?

Or it could be just a slow NFL news day.

 

[tasmlab]

Consider this: from their inception in 1933 through 1971 the Steelers made the playoffs only once. Pittsburgh had only seven winning seasons, and managed only four seasons where they were two or more games above .500.

Then Dan Rooney took a bigger role in the organization, running the football operations in 1969 and finally formally being announced team president in 1975. He hired Chuck Noll and the team quickly went from annual cellar dwellers to perennial contenders. For those that lament the dark days of the Patriots, where the Steelers were prior to Dan Rooney taking on his role was was far worse. They went 25 years between playoff appearances. 25 years! From 1965-69 Pittsburgh's record was 14-53-3, finishing in last place in four out of five of those seasons.

Pittsburgh went 12-2 in 1975 and won their second consecutive Super Bowl. Rooney remained team president until 2002; during those years the Steelers were the class of the AFC and the best franchise in pro football over the last three decades of the 20th century.

More than anyone else, Dan Rooney was the reason for that turnaround. The Steelers' long term success was due to the leadership at the top of the organization. Rooney earned his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.


Rest in peace.

Just looking at their W/L records over the past 30-40 years, they've done pretty well. Only a handful of losing seasons and very few stinkers. And never a complete 2-14 type breakdown like the Lions, Browns, Colts, etc., can put up. Pretty consistent and impressive:

List of Pittsburgh Steelers seasons - Wikipedia

 

[captain stone]

RIP

I misjudged his historical importance to the NFL as when I turned to NFL Total Access at 1105 they were talking Rooney and again at 1125 it was still all Rooney so I gave up.

Just now at 100 AM I realized they whole 1 hour show is dedicated to Rooney.

Is there any remaining NFL owner whose obit would get more than 15 minutes?

Or it could be just a slow NFL news day.

Slow news day, plus the usual never-ending, always-positive PitsDirt Squealer worship found on the NYJFL Network.

As a means of honoring Danny's memory, I think I'll hire someone based on their looks, but who would otherwise be unqualified for the job.