Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney dies at 84

PITTSBURGH (AP) Dan Rooney, the powerful and popular Pittsburgh Steelers chairman whose name is attached to the NFL’s landmark initiative in minority hiring, died Thursday. He was 84.

The team announced his death but details were not immediately available.

Rooney took over operation of the team in the 1960s from his father, Art, who founded the franchise. From there, Dan Rooney oversaw NFL championships for a team that had never even played in an NFL title game.

He was the uncle of U.S. House Rep. Tom Rooney, a Republican whose district covers part of Southwest Florida. Tom Rooney’s father was one of Art’s five sons.

Dan Rooney was a powerful force within the league. He helped develop the Rooney Rule under which NFL teams are required to interview minority candidates for coaching and front-office positions. He was a key figure in labor negotiations and league expansion.

In 2000, Dan Rooney was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, joining his father. Dan Rooney’s son, Art II, has been the Steelers president since 2003, with Dan Rooney becoming chairman.

“My job is to do what’s best for the organization and to make that decision regardless of what the consequences are to me personally,” Dan Rooney once said. “I take my position very seriously. What I want is an organization that can be together, one where everybody in the place has the same goal, and that is to win.”

And win the Steelers did. With superb drafts that led to the building of the Steel Curtain defense and a potent offense, Pittsburgh eventually saw nine mainstays from the 1970s dynasty, plus coach Chuck Noll, make the Hall of Fame.

Under Rooney, two stadiums were built in Pittsburgh, securing their place in a small market where they are sporting kings. A confidant of three commissioners, he played a major role in negotiations with the players’ union and in league expansion in 1976 to Seattle and Tampa. He also was involved in scheduling and realignment decisions.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell called Rooney “one of the finest men in the history of our game,” adding Rooney’s “dedication to the game, to the players and the coaches, to his beloved Pittsburgh, and to Steelers fans everywhere was unparalleled.”

Perhaps Rooney’s most lasting contribution to the NFL – and to sports in general – came with the Rooney Rule.

Then-Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and league lawyers recognized the need for a hiring policy that was fair and transparent; the NFL had many critics over the lack of minorities in high-profile jobs, particularly as head coaches.

Rooney brought new employment requirements to his fellow owners and got the measure passed.

Why Rooney? As so many of his players said through the years, he saw no color, only talent.

Rooney was such a fixture in the Steel City that he regularly walked to home games. He mingled with fans, much as his father did before him, and made his players feel supremely comfortable in his presence. He would frequently have lunch with members of the staff, players and even the media, stopping to say hello or chat up whomever he came across.

Born July 20, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Rooney was a high school quarterback, then attended Duquesne, receiving a degree in accounting. The family business was his calling, and he soon became involved in every area of the Steelers.

The team hired Noll in 1969 and he promptly went 1-13, somehow fitting for the sad sack Steelers. But the Rooneys didn’t panic, and Pittsburgh drafted Bradshaw with the top overall pick in 1970.

Add in the likes of Joe Greene, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, Franco Harris, Mel Blount, John Stallworth, Lynn Swann and Mike Webster – all draftees. Soon, the Steelers were dominating pro football.

Pittsburgh has had a mere three head coaches since ’69. Noll won four Super Bowls. Bill Cowher won one and Mike Tomlin has won one.

Rooney also served as the U.S. ambassador to Ireland from 2009-2012.