First, can you let me know what you’re up to now?
Currently, I’m the Marketng and Communications Director here at the Greensburg YMCA – I’ve been here since last July. After I left the Steelers I worked in sales at Mohawk Industries selling flooring. But I always knew I wanted to get back into PR. I’ve been consulting as well since 2005 with ISM USA – they do signature sports events in Pittsburgh – the Three Rivers Regatta, the Bass Challenge… Our CEO moved to Florida and he worked with the Pirates when they got ingrained in Bradenton to build that major riverwalk they have there on the Manatee River. They looked for programming around that so we did the regatta there now for eight years as well.
But now I’m at the YMCA full-time. It’s close to home, and while it doesn’t pay like working for the Steelers did, I get the chance to give back to my community and do some charity work, which is important to me.
How did you get started working for the Steelers?
I grew up a fan obviously, growing up in Westmoreland County. I delivered newspapers as a kid and developed an aspiration then to be a sportswriter. I went to IUP – played football there and worked as a Sports Information Officer there. After that I did an internship at the local paper and was hired as a news reporter. I did that for three years but never got to cover sports. But, I was able to use my experience as a Sports Information Officer at IUP to land a job at Point Park College. They had a Masters program there in Communications so I did that and worked in the sports information department. Jerry Conboy was there – he was a well-known basketball coach in the area and was the Athletic Director there. He brought me in as the Sports Information Director – I did that as I got my Masters.
So that helped get you back on the PR track?
That’s how I got back into college PR. But they didn’t have a football program at Point Park. So from there I went to the University of Pittsburgh as their Assistant Sports Information Director. I first worked on non-revenue varsity sports – that’s when Steve Pedersen came in as the Athletic Director. One day he called me and asked me if I knew that Dan Rooney had called asking about me. That it wasn’t public knowledge yet but they were going to have an opening in their PR department and wanted to know if I would be interested in it. At that time I had been at Pitt for eight years – under Steve I met a lot of the heavy hitters in the Pittsburgh area. I was comfortable and wasn’t sure if I was interested. But I thought about it some more and decided to interview for the job and got it.
What was that interview process like?
I interviewed with Dan Rooney – he was a genuine guy. We talked mostly about family and my loyalty to Western Pa. We talked about wanting to stay at home and being a part of the community. And a lot on how I got along with people – that was very important to him. After that I interviewed with Art at his law firm, then got the job.
What was your role there – what did you do?
I basically did the same thing there that I did at Pitt. I just had to learn their procedures and processes.
I wrote press releases, arranged press conferences, designed the media guide and helped write the game programs’ editorial content. I also managed the press conferences for the players, coaches and front office and made sure the press was following the appropriate procedures. I also traveled with the team and worked in the press box and helped track statistics during the games.
How did you prepare players for interviews – what did you do to help them?
A lot of them came from major programs, so they had good media experience. Some from smaller programs we trained. Every year in camp they had orientation and Bill Cowher was big on having us come in and present a program to the players on our expectations on the PR-side as well. We made sure they knew that all interviews needed to be cleared though us and that just because you say “Off the record”, it doesn’t mean it will always be the case. We also helped them to be concise when they answered questions – be to the point so you don’t say something you don’t want to say.
For guys that were uncomfortable, we tried to protect them more. We coached them up on how to present themselves and what to say, but we tried to keep them away from the media when possible.
What were some of the big issues you faced and how did you approach working through those as a PR team and organization?
We had a policy in place – unfortunately most problems happen after hours. The first thing I usually did was to let the media know I was just learning about things now – to put them off a bit until I got more information. That buys time until I learn more. I would talk to Mr. Rooney and Art and present my thoughts on that we should do, but they ultimately decided on what to do. My job was to implement their decision.
The biggest things I remember dealing with were when Tommy Maddox was paralyzed – that was a big news thing to deal with. He was hospitalized – fortunately he was ok, but that was traumatic to deal with.
And there were some scandals of course. Like the Kordell thing.
How do you deal with things like that?
My thing was, if it wasn’t in the papers or on the news, it meant there were no facts – it was just a rumor. So I didn’t want people commenting on that – that just gave the rumors more substance. Now, we didn’t have much of a social media presence then. But then I would tell players that even if you denied a rumor, that just gave the papers something to write about – they would treat it then as a fact to report on. So I told them to say nothing on those.
Any players you liked working with most – why? And any that were tougher?
Jerome Bettis, Tommy Maddox, Hines Ward… They were so accommodating. They got the idea that it was an entertainment business. Jerome really got it – he knew the marketing and PR value aspect of it. He was smart and knew how to benefit from it.
Kordell – he had such a great personality and was friendly but didn’t like talking to the media. It was always required to be an open locker room, but he wanted to talk to the media just one day a week, on Wednesdays. I asked him why he wanted to do that – if you say something on that one day it just gets amplified more. If you are open to them every day, it’s just one or two reporters asking you questions in the locker room – you won’t have dozens of reporters gathered around you. When he finally did that he felt more at ease – he wasn’t so anxious on those Wednesdays.
Social media was just becoming a thing – how did you address that as an organization then?
It was just starting then with social media – we didn’t even have computers there when I started – just word processors. We launched our website when I was there, The only social media then that I remember many had was something on AOL. Now, everyone has social media and podcasts.
One thing I wanted to ask about – and I know there isn’t one definitive answer. But how do you divine the line between what you reveal/discuss to the media about player activity and issues – what is your process there?
The most important thing to me – the principle I adhered to most – was to always tell the truth. Sometimes I can’t tell the media something – but I just told them that. I never lied or misled people – that always comes back to haunt you.
Any fun/poignant moments that stand out most?
The big one was the opportunity to work for your hometown team. How many people get to do that? My relationship with Dan Rooney too – I had lunch with him nearly every day. When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, his family was so big they didn’t have room for them all at the hotel where the inductees stayed, so they stayed elsewhere. So Dan had my family stay at the hotel instead – we were the only ones in his party that stayed there. That was a great memory. I just remember how genuine he was. He was a tough businessman, but a gentle man.
Lastly, what changed most over the years you were there – players, job, etc.?
No question, it moved from a more family-oriented operation to a more corporate environment when we moved to the new stadium. The marketing department grew ten-fold – it just became more of a business to get what had to be done done. The operations staff stayed in the South Side and the business people moved to the stadium. We didn’t see each other much anymore. It didn’t affect the players as much but the business people didn’t get to get to know the players as well after that.
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