OUR FANHOUSE TOOLBAR INTEGRATES THE LATEST SPORTS NEWS INTO YOUR WEB BROWSER AND INSTALLS IN SECONDS.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE TOOLBAR HERE.

Jay Mariotti

Steelers Will Win, Advance Legacy

Posted Jan 31, 2009 7:30PM By Jay Mariotti (RSS feed)

Filed Under: NFL, Super Bowl

Text SizeAAA
TAMPA, Fla. -- You know it's a different Super Bowl when hotel rooms are available, ticket scalpers are on suicide watch and -- bear with me here -- someone thinks it's a good idea to have ME??? walk the red carpet and pose for paparazzi outside an ESPN party. It's one thing to experience an economic recession in this country, quite another to swallow a complete cultural meltdown.

Yet once you're back in the real world, away from Lindsay Lohan and DJ Samantha Ronson in her pink-and black-striped fingerless gloves, a January tradition smacks you in the chops like, well, a Terrible Towel. If little else is certain in the world, the Pittsburgh Steelers have become an American constant, disregarding NFL parity and their smallish market to become the best-run franchise in professional sports. No? The Steelers are about to win their sixth Super Bowl trophy, their second in four years, and if there's another organization on the national scene that meshes the robust echoes of its past with 21st-century efficiency, then I must need a Lasik do-over. Because I'm not seeing it.

They've already won one for the thumb. What would this one be? "The six-pack," said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, realizing that mass beer consumption is part of Steeler Nation's identity.

I'm seeing the New York Yankees throwing around insane amounts of money and trying to get back. I'm seeing the Boston Celtics approaching a full-blown renaissance. But the NFL isn't designed for the relentless success mastered by the Steelers, a mom-and-pop thread connected to a 76-year-old man who has carried on the family business with enormous, league-wide power while living in the same modest house of his youth. My guess is, the average sports fan wouldn't know him if he knocked on your door and shouted his name through a bullhorn. Once, when he was waiting to appear on a radio show with me at a Super Bowl, I mistook him for someone else.

"I'm Dan Rooney," he said matter-of-factly, not offended.

Assuredly, he's the only sports owner who walks to home games on a run-down sidewalk past a deserted gas station and through an underpass. But understated as he is personally, no one in sports hauls more clout and operates his team more effectively. Rooney has mandated continuity and stability in a revolving-door profession, employing only three coaches in 38 seasons since the 1970 merger -- Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin -- and watching all make the Super Bowl their home. His strong push for minority opportunities led to the Rooney Rule, which has helped the NFL remain ahead of the curve in African-American coaching hires, including Tomlin. In Pittsburgh, no longer the the smoky steel town of yesteryear, the Rooney Way has cultivated a family atmosphere in the locker room and an intense oneness with a community. All of which underscores the stark contrast between Rooney and his son, Art II, and the historically bumbling ownership of the Arizona Cardinals, who kind of stumbled into this Super Bowl and will put up a nice fight Sunday night before fading away. It also explains why respect for the Steelers extends to high places.

"They've run a model franchise," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. "I think everyone in Pittsburgh recognizes how proud they are of the Steelers. We in the NFL recognize how fortunate we've been to have Dan Rooney's leadership."


A Steelers fan in the White House also is paying tribute. Lest you think President Obama only cheers for his hometown team, the Chicago Bears, he has ignored the unspoken rule that a U.S. president shouldn't have a Super Bowl rooting interest. That's because last year, Rooney ignored the unspoken rule that no sports owner should endorse a presidential candidate, strongly stumping for Obama and influencing the vote in western Pennsylvania. "True sports fans know that you support your team even when they are underdogs," Rooney said at the time. "Barack Obama is the underdog here, but it is with great pride that I join his team." After the AFC championship game, Rooney flew to Washington for the inauguration and presented Obama with the game ball.

This weekend, Obama returned the favor. "I wish the Cardinals the best. Kurt Warner is a great story, and he's closer to my age than anyone else on the field,'' he said. "But I am a longtime Steelers fan. Mr. Rooney was an extraordinary supporter of mine during the campaign. Coach Tomlin was a supporter. The Cardinals have been long-suffering, and they're a great Cinderella story. But other than the Bears, the Steelers are probably the team closest to my heart.''

He isn't alone. The Steelers have that kind of romantic effect on folks across the country. Part of the affection is obvious: If America is a nation of frontrunners, why wouldn't they attach themselves to Steeler Nation? But the allegiance goes much deeper than that, with fans willing to fork out money in lean economic times to travel en masse to Florida. Three years ago, who can forget the snapshot at Ford FIeld in Detroit, where black and gold dominated the stands and turned the scene into a road game for the losing Seattle Seahawks? Expect a similarly lopsided fan imbalance Sunday night, with my unofficial tally so far indicating one Cardinal fan for every six Steeler fans. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more loyal and raging love affair in sports, centered around a town that endured a tough, 50-year metamorphosis and found joy in four titles in the 1970s.

"Success has had something to do with it,'' Rooney said. "The fact that they have had difficult times in Pittsburgh and we sort of filled the void -- they could have something for their pride. And, you know, they moved. Everybody sees that when we go (around the country ), there are a billion Steeler fans out there. A number of people lost their jobs and had to move and things like that, so that has had something to do with it.

"But we have tremendous fans. A lot of it is young people, so you can see the next generation is going to be there, too. I've talked to many of them, and they look at Ben and Hines (Ward) and all these great players that we have and they relate to them.''


Tomlin, already the youngest Super Bowl coach at 36, thinks he has died and gone to heaven in most road stadiums. "Steeler Nation drives me on a day-to-day basis,'' he said. "We appreciate it. There is nothing like going into a hostile environment and seeing so many faces, rabid friendly faces, and it's a pleasure to be a part of.''

Said Ward, the blue-collar receiver: "It's a blue-collar town. They go out and work hard. Tickets are passed down, generation to generation. When you're born, you come out with a Terrible Towel in hand. When the Super Bowl is over, they can't wait until training camp. They look forward to who we're going to draft, who's going to be the next up-and-coming guy. You appreciate that. Playing there, this is my 11th year. I'm pretty sure if I'm ever hungry, I can knock on somebody's door and they'll welcome me with open arms. It's a close-knit family. It's a great family city. We're role models, and they support us so much.''

The civic mood is dependent on Sunday victories. "When we win, the city is happy, and it seems like the sun shines brighter and there's no traffic,'' defensive end Brett Keisel said. "When we lose, there's traffic, the skies are dark and everyone is mad. That is what makes the city special. This city genuinely loves and appreciates what we do.''

It's a tone established by Rooney. Before him, it was his father, Art, the beloved Steelers patriarch who endured rough seasons -- much like the maligned Cardinals owner, Bill Bidwill -- before watching an onslaught of future Hall of Famers dominate the '70s. Rooney flies with the team and regularly visits the locker room. The players love him for it.

"I think it's cool that Mr. Rooney gives out his cell phone number to players,'' safety Troy Polamalu said. "People call him `Pops.' He's so down to earth, very humble. I think that atmosphere has obviously permeated our whole team, because our team is very close like that as well.''

"They come down, shake your hand,'' cornerback Ike Taylor said of the Rooneys. "You can talk to them about anything. They have a players-first mentality, and it trickles all the way down through the coaching staff.''

And while Tomlin has created his own iron-fisted mentality since replacing Bill Cowher two years ago, he's smart enough to embrace the in-place mechanism. "One of the reasons we've had consistent excellence over a long period is because we are under the leadership of Dan and Art Rooney,'' he said. "Their vision of what Steeler football is about is very clear. I think I have my job because my vision is similar to what their vision is. I have learned more about their vision since I've been here. So, of course, I am going to play to it.''

Like in the '70s, the Steelers thrive on defense. The offense simply has to maintain, which is why Roethlisberger and running back Willie Parker take a back seat in stardom to defensive monsters such as Polamalu, James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley. The front office wants what every other team wants: hard-working, team-first players. The difference is, the Steelers seem to find them without spending excessive sums in free agency. They draft better than the rest, sign the most cost-efficient talent and don't rule anyone out; Harrison was about to drive a truck in Ohio when the Steelers called in 2004.

The end result is an elite franchise that reflects its city like no other. "It starts with the Rooney family,'' Roethlisberger said. "They find ways to always have great coaches who find ways to get great players. I think it's just wanting to play for a team, an organization and a city like Pittsburgh. It's a love affair. It's winners. It's hard-nosed and playing grind-it-out football. It doesn't matter where we play -- in the mud, in the rain, in bad weather, in snow. It's just about finding a way to win. It may not be the prettiest way, but we find a way.

"You have to know about history when you play here. You know about the past when you see the Lombardi trophies every day. It motivates you to try to accomplish something like they did in the '70s.''

No NFL franchise has won the Super Bowl six times. Teams that used to win them in bunches, the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, have forgotten how. The Steelers never lost the code.

Sunday night, they'll use it to crack open a cold six-pack.

Tags: ben+roethlisberger, BenRoethlisberger, pittsburgh+steelers, PittsburghSteelers

Related Articles

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments

Jay Mariotti

Jay MariottiJay Mariotti is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse.com. He is a daily panelist on ESPN's sports-debate show, "Around The Horn,'' seen Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. ET. Mariotti spent 17 years as a lead sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and has covered every major sporting event -- national and worldwide -- on multiple occasions.