Dan Rooney Dead at 84

[Cali-Steeler]

Sad day for Steeler nation and the Rooney Family.


 > http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/19152186

[Krunch]

Sad day for Steeler nation and the Rooney Family.


 > http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/19152186

Sad day indeed.  You beat me to the punch with that picture of he and Ben.  As soon as I saw that at the time you could see how frail he was.

Class family and a class man indeed.

[Cali-Steeler]

Ive go some pics of him from when they were here for the Raiders over the last 6 years...

[Cali-Steeler]

   

[Desert Steel]

Very sad day for the Rooney family and Steeler Nation.

R.I.P.

[BlacknGoldHaze]

R.I.P. Mr. Rooney.....there isn't much class left in the NFL.......

[SteelAHoosier]

I met him and Aaron Smith before a preseason game in Charlotte.

[mcmillenandwife]

What a huge loss for the Steelers, the NFL and for Pittsburgh. I remember seeing Mr. Rooney walking to the stadium, by himself, before the game. Can't remember the year, but it was fairly early (maybe 10 am) and we were at our usual parking spot sort of across the street from McDonald's by the stadium and there he was. And we shouted, "Hey, Mr. Rooney! We love you man," or something along those lines and he glanced up and gave a little half salute and continued his walk. It was truly amazing. I mean, can you imagine the likes of Jerry Jones walking to the stadium? RIP, God bless your family and thank you for the wonderful example you set, Mr. Rooney.

[BlacknGoldHaze]

Humility is sadly lacking in today's NFL........Mr. Rooney was a shining example.

[SteelAHoosier]

Agreed.

[Krunch]

On the subject of humility,,,I wonder where it stands now in the organization?  I am not close enough to Pittsburgh or well read enough to know if that deep sense of serving the team first and living the simple life that passed from the Chief to son Dan lives in Art II??  Any thoughts or observations.  I think this humility and down to earth demeanor is one of the key attributes that attracts me so much to the Steelers and I am worried that we might see a change more towards a corporate mindset like exists in most other professional sports organizations.

Someone please tell me I'm wrong in this feeling in my gut.

[dbsfgyd1]

He was the first Steeler I met. It was the spring of 1964. The local YMCA had a "Night With the Steelers" son and dads program. I became a fan during the 1963 season as the Steelers finally put together a championship caliber team, but fell short in a semi playoff game against the NY Giants. I was thinking I'd be meeting guys the likes of John Henry Johnson, Gary Bauman, Big Daddy Lipscomb. The thing was, the only Steeler that showed up was this skinny guy with a movie projector in one arm, and a film can in the other. It was the NFL highlight film of the 1963 season. Funny looking back on it, as thoroughly disappointed I was not so see any "Real" football players that night, little did I know, and how unimpressed I was to meet the second most important man in the history of the Steelers, a keen business man, the one who molded the most successful team in the history of professional sports, the key driver of turning this team and others into billion dollar enterprises, selected to represent all of all of us Americans as an ambassador, Mr. Dan Rooney. RIP. A life truly well lived.

[Desert Steel]

Very well stated, David.

[mcmillenandwife]

He was the first Steeler I met. It was the spring of 1964. The local YMCA had a "Night With the Steelers" son and dads program. I became a fan during the 1963 season as the Steelers finally put together a championship caliber team, but fell short in a semi playoff game against the NY Giants. I was thinking I'd be meeting guys the likes of John Henry Johnson, Gary Bauman, Big Daddy Lipscomb. The thing was, the only Steeler that showed up was this skinny guy with a movie projector in one arm, and a film can in the other. It was the NFL highlight film of the 1963 season. Funny looking back on it, as thoroughly disappointed I was not so see any "Real" football players that night, little did I know, and how unimpressed I was to meet the second most important man in the history of the Steelers, a keen business man, the one who molded the most successful team in the history of professional sports, the key driver of turning this team and others into billion dollar enterprises, selected to represent all of all of us Americans as an ambassador, Mr. Dan Rooney. RIP. A life truly well lived.

Perfect. This is going on the front page of the site. 

[mcmillenandwife]

So I dug back into the Mac & Wife archives and found the game where my friend Billy and I saw Mr. Rooney walking to the game. It was Dec. 21st, 2003, prior to the Chargers game. In my mind's eye, it was fairly early in the day (probably because I knew we saw him several hours before the game started). In reality, it was at probably around 1:30 pm prior to a 4:05 pm kickoff. Here's the post-game excerpt about our encounter with Mr. Rooney:

We got to the stadium and parked in our usual spot across from McDonald's at about 1 p.m. last Sunday for the Chargers game. We walked down to a place called Fire Water's or something like that for a little while, then headed back to the car to put on our full "game gear" (extra clothes under our jerseys). 

As we were walking by McDonald's, who do you suppose we saw walking down to the stadium on the other side of the street? 

DAN ROONEY HIMSELF! 

Unbelievable. The guy is a multi-multi-multi millionaire and he still walks down to the stadium for the games. No Jerry Jones stretch limo. No entourage. No Art Modell bodyguards. 

Just Dapper Dan taking a brisk walk. TOO COOL! 

When we spotted him, I shouted across the street "Hey, we love 'ya, Mr. Rooney!" and he looked over, smiled, kinda half-waved & half-saluted, and walked on. 

Dan Rooney is the friggin' CLASS of the NFL. PERIOD. Don't ever forget how lucky we are to have a guy like Mr. Rooney as the owner of our team.