Dan Rooney

While I am unmistakably biased on certain subjects, I think I can still provide an unbiased insight into those things. It's being taken seriously that other people need to judge. When it comes to Dan Rooney's new autobiography, Dan Rooney: My 75 Years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL, I figured I'd take the approach of reviewing the book's level of insight and historical value as it pertains to the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Rooney family.

According to Rooney, the primary reason for writing the book (co-authored by the Smithsonian's branch of the Pittsburgh sports history museum officials, Andrew E. Masich and David F. Halaas) was to provide a chronicle about the leauge's growth from its infancy to the present. The book does just that. Rooney dispels the widely held but inaccurate notion that his father, Art Rooney, Sr. bought the team with gambling winnings; the league, led by founding members such as George Halas and Jim Thorpe, approached Art Rooney about bringing an NFL team to Pittsburgh. Rooney, who was a sportsman of all sorts involved in such ventures as boxing, horseracing and his primary love: baseball, agreed to purchase a franchise which would begin play in 1933 as the Pittsburgh Pirates for a fee of $2,500.

From an early age, Dan Rooney had a love of football that neither of his parents saw as providing his future in football let alone taking the team's reigns for the first 75 years. Dan shadowed his father to league meetings and was a mainstay at team practices and learned how to do everthing from handling equipment to negotiating player contracts. Dan, himself, was a good football player but never seemed to view himself as a future pro player; he was going to learn the management side of the team - and learn it he did.

He talks in great detail about the history of the team including some wonderful insight to the "Steel Curtain" teams in the 1970s up to present day; in addition, he also gives an insight to the Rooney family and their strong Irish Catholic beliefs. It would seem that the Rooneys were always guided by family principles (which led to a sense of family among Steeler teams and fans) but they also did what was best for the league and, ultimately what was best for the community.

Rooney also speaks quite frankly about certain owners, most notably, Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders. "Al is Al," according to Rooney. He gives Davis credit for things but also feels a sense of obligation to talk about things he felt were not right which includes the notable lawsuit in the 1970's that then-Raider George Atkinson brought against Steelers coach, Chuck Noll. Atkinson had viciously attacked and knocked cold with concussions, Steelers wide receiver, Lynn Swann on plays that did not involve Swann. Noll said that Atkinson was part of a "criminal element" in football and Atkinson sued for defamation of character. Rather than settle out of court, Rooney opted to fight what he felt was a bogus suit he viewed as not Atkinson v. Noll, but instead as Al Davis vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers. Rooney, Noll and the Steelers prevailed.

I found this book to be an engaging read that I could not put down. I absolutely loved the book and found myself completely engaged with what Dan Rooney had to say on all of these topics. A great book from a great owner of a great team.