WITH TE As STEELERS

EY's 75 YEARS WITH TE as STEELERS By Dan Rooney as told to Andrew E. Masich and David F Halaas Introduction by History Center President at the History Center, his family, and his and CEO Andrew Masich and Director of friends persisted. His story is important.He Library & Archives David Halaas P'i iR'S NR IDE I1 has made history. The result is the newly When Danfirst mentioned to us that friends il]II,,'iIl 1~[.' published autobiographyDan Rooney: My and colleagues had suggested his story 75 Years With the Pittsburgh Steelers should be told in a biography, we lFROMl~ WHE',lRE IIW"1AS [BOiRN and the NFL. encouraged him to pursue the project, not as Over the course of the last two years, a traditional biography but as an we spent thousands of hours interviewing him, traveling with him, and just plain autobiography.We thought the story should [COULDl I SAY'3'-0 Tl~HEooe CAME IINI be told from his point of view. At first he lAI:][~~ getting to know him. We talked to his resisted the idea. He is a genuinely humble IIIllF~''t" family, who shared their experiences and man and said, "That's just not me." But we insights as well. In addition we met with WESTERNPENNSYLVANIA HISTORY I WINTER2007- 11 35 I character. As we worked with the Steelers "THERE ARE FOUR THINGS THAT MAKE AWINNING FOOTBALL organization-at the South Side complex, at TEAM-TALENT, COACHING, CLOSENESS, AND MANAGEMENT:' Heinz Field, on the road-we saw his mark -Dan Rooney everywhere. The closeness of the organization, from the team and coaches and secretaries to players, coaches, colleagues, and friends. We friends, a man of abiding faith, and a man of the front office and grounds crew,feels more like pored over archives, old newspapers, and uncompromising dedication to football. a family than a corporation.Steelers Center Jeff scrapbooks to fill in missing pieces and confirm Football to him is more than a game. In many Hartings said it best: "We honestly love each Dan's recollections. All in all, his memories are ways, it symbolizes the strength and vitality of other. I honestly felt that I would rather lose a remarkably accurate and vivid, considering the people and place he loves-Pittsburgh. You game like this with this team than win a Super they span 75 years-years of great changefilled can't really separate Dan Rooney from Bowl with a team I didn't enjoy playing with." with a bewildering array of people and events. Pittsburghany more than you can separate him We found this attitude remarkable, We found a man devoted to his family and from football. It's in his blood; it's part of his considering this is a five-time Super Bowl championship team with the best record in win. You can see it in the Steelers mission Consider:Five Super Bowl championships. the NFL over the past 20 years. It's also a statement: "The mission of the Pittsburgh Six conference titles. And 20 Steelers elected to very successful business. This didn't just Steelers Football Club is to represent the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Dan has been happen. Dan likes to say there are four Pittsburgh in the National Football League, named NFL Executive of the Year, Dapper things that make a winning football primarily by winning the Championship of Dan's Sportsman of the Year, and he's been team-talent, coaching, closeness, and ProfessionalFootball." inducted into the FootballHall of Fame. management. He doesn't talk much about the management part. But make no "WE HONESTLY LOVE EACH OTHER. I HONESTLY FELT THAT mistake. From top to bottom, the THIS WITH THIS TEAM THAN Pittsburgh Steelers organization reflects I WOULD RATHER LOSE A GAME LIKE Dan Rooney's business acumen, values, WIN A SUPER BOWL WITH ATEAM I DIDN'T ENJOY PLAYING WITH" integrity, and character.And perhaps most -Steelers Center Jeff Hartings importantly, it reflects his determination to American Indian nations in education and CONSIDER: FIVE SUPER BOWL youth recreation programs.He was the driving The Immaculate Reception CHAMPIONSHIPS. SIX force behind the American Ireland Fund, now December 23, 1972, dawned cold and gray, CONFERENCE TITLES. AND 20 the world's largestprivate organizationfunding but today no one seemed to care about the constructive change in Ireland. weather. It had been a long time coming, the STEELERS ELECTED TO THE Tony O'Reilly, former Heinz Company kind of day I dreamed about all my life-the PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME. chairman and co-founder of the American first NFL postseason game to be played in Ireland Fund. describe'd Dan Pnnnev a "a Pitt'shnrah ince 1Q47 He leads off thefield as well, serving on the singularman. The level gaze, the humorousyet Before the kickoff, thousands of fans boards of the United Way of America, the watchful eyes, the quiet authority that he gathered downtown under the banners of American Diabetes Association, Senator John exudes are products of many tough battles, their heroes-Dobre Shunka (Good Ham) Heinz History Center, and the University of many triumphs, and some failures." for linebacker Jack Ham, Gerela's Gorillas for Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dan has assisted This is the man we have come to know. kicker Roy Gerela, and Franco's Italian Army 75SASN OF HI wit the tea in 13 ,sgig Al 38 i HISTORY '. % for rookie running back Franco Harris. Other Now, as the big game against the fans-those who couldn't get tickets, and Oakland Raiders began, the built-up emotion "THE MISSION OF THE there were only 50,350 who did-packed and excitement spilled out of Three Rivers PITTSBURGH STEELERS themselves in cars and buses in search of Stadium with a volume and intensity that televisions outside the 75-mile blackout could be heard all the way across the FOOTBALL CLUB IS TO radius. They crammed into motel rooms in Allegheny River into downtown. REPRESENT PITTSBURGH IN here we go! East Liverpool, Ohio, and Meadville, "Here we go, Steelers, THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL Pennsylvania, or chartered buses and drove to Here we go, Steelers, here we go!" Erie and jammed local American Legion and Inside the stadium the noise was LEAGUE, PRIMARILY BY VFW halls. Anywhere with a television set. In deafening. The concrete deck heaved so WINNING THE CHAMPIONSHIP some places, people were selling seats in their violently with every stomp of the crowd, I FOOTBALL" own living rooms to frantic Steelers fans worried the structure might give way. For OF PROFESSIONAL -The Pittsburgh Steelers mission statement desperate to see us in the playoffs. most of the game it seemed we were going to win. It had been a fierce defensive struggle; Now the packed stands were hushed. The As Terry Bradshaw and the Steelers first downs were difficult to come by and both scoreboard told everything: Raiders 7, offense broke huddle, I knew this was the last teams punted a lot. Daryle Lamonica had Steelers 6, fourth-and-10 ... 22 seconds on play. But when our players lined up on our started as quarterback for the Raiders, but we the clock. It looked like we didn't have a 40-yard line, they didn't look like a beaten intercepted him twice and beat him up so chance. What a shame-the best season we team. Bradshaw still had his swagger, still badly they took him out and replaced him ever had, and our first playoff game. I really seemed as confident and fearless as ever. with their young backup, Ken Stabler. Gerela's wanted to beat Al Davis' Raiders. Turning his head from side to side, he begins two field goals had given us a 6-0 lead when late in the fourth quarter Stabler dropped "NOW, I DON'T KNOW IFTHE LORD IS WORRIED ABOUT EVERY back to pass, couldn't find a receiver, and so FOOTBALL slipped outside and ran 30 yards for a GAME THAT'S PLAYED, BUT INTHIS CASE IT SURE touchdown. With the extra point, the Raiders SEEMED LIKE A CASE OF DIVINE INTERVENTION: had a one-point lead. -Dan Rooney the count, then takes the snap. Bradshaw's near sideline toward the end zone-Go Tatum's pads, shot back 10 yards where back, out of the pocket, running to his right. Franco!-stiff-arming the Raiders' Jimmy Franco made a shoestring catch. Where's He ducks one pursuer, his eyes downfield, Warren, somehow staying in bounds, then in the Chief? Seconds before the snap, I looking for a receiver. He shakes loose from for a touchdown. Unbelievable! The crowd remember seeing him head for the elevator the rush, then fires at Frenchy Fuqua cutting goes crazy-is it really a touchdown? Fans so he could be in the locker room to console across the middle. The ball, Frenchy, and swarm the field, mobbing Franco and the players when they came off the field. He Raiders safety Jack Tatum arrive at the same Bradshaw. I know there's going to be missed the whole thing! The most place at precisely the same time. I hear the controversy, so I run down the stairs into the incredible play I ever saw. collision even from where I'm sitting-four press box where the reporters sit stunned, Just then the press box phone rings. It's levels up, just above the press box. That's it ... looking at each other in disbelief. on the wall right where I'm standing, so I the game's over ... but wait! There's Franco Everybody is talking, yelling, trying to answer it.

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