My 75 Years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL
He also discusses his relationships with players, coaches, NFL commissioners, his beloved family, and the devoted fans known as “Steelers Nation.”
Whether advocating hiring more minority head coaches through creation of the Rooney Rule or helping pave the way for the merger of the AFL and NFL, Rooney reveals the dynamics that have made him such a respected force in pro football.
November 5, 2007
The Rooneys are the Steelers in Pittsburgh, home of the championship team whose ferocious, far flung fans call themselves the Steelers Nation. Team manager Rooney, son of the Steelers's colorful founder Art "the Chief" Rooney, tells his life story, one inextricably tangled with the history of the National Football League: "Pro football was born on the muddy fields of Pittsburgh's North Side in 1892-just three blocks from where I was born 40 years later." Moreover, the Steelers themselves were born just a year after Rooney. Managing the team from the early days of television up through the present, Rooney has seen the "most critical issue facing the league" shift from "half-empty stadiums" to "labor relations." Tales of classic games and key figures are bolstered by interviews with legends like "Mean" Joe Greene and winning coach Chuck Noll, as well as current coach Mike Tomlin and others. Thanks to Rooney's own intimate, first-person accounts of legendary players, flamboyant personalities and never-ending politics, along with a concluding thumbnail history of each NFL franchise, this book is sure to score big points not just with the Steeler Nation but football fans nationwide.
November 26, 2007
The Rooneys are the Steelers in Pittsburgh, home of the championship team whose ferocious, far flung fans call themselves the Steelers Nation. Team manager Rooney, son of the Steelers's colorful founder Art "the Chief" Rooney, tells his life story, one inextricably tangled with the history of the National Football League: "Pro football was born on the muddy fields of Pittsburgh's North Side in 1892-just three blocks from where I was born 40 years later." Moreover, the Steelers themselves were born just a year after Rooney. Managing the team from the early days of television up through the present, Rooney has seen the "most critical issue facing the league" shift from "half-empty stadiums" to "labor relations." Tales of classic games and key figures are bolstered by interviews with legends like "Mean" Joe Greene and winning coach Chuck Noll, as well as current coach Mike Tomlin and others. Thanks to Rooney's own intimate, first-person accounts of legendary players, flamboyant personalities and never-ending politics, along with a concluding thumbnail history of each NFL franchise, this book is sure to score big points not just with the Steeler Nation but football fans nationwide.
Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.