Brett Keisel: “I’ll never forget, I was a young player walking to my car after practice when Dan Rooney walked up to me and asked me to be more vocal – to be a leader. I couldn’t believe it – why me? He must have saw something in me I didn’t see in myself then. That was the motivation I needed to stand up and say the things I knew needed to be said. I tried to be accountable and to respect my peers and give it my all.”
Steelers Dr. Joseph Maroon: “It was also with the support of Chuck Noll and Mr. Dan Rooney that ImPACT was not only developed but spread throughout the NFL due to Dan Rooney’s personal intercession with Paul Tagliabue informing him of the system we had developed to evaluate concussions.”
CB Ike Taylor: Of course Papa Rooney. I don’t know why he took me under his wing. I have no idea why he cared about me but I am so grateful he did. He had an open door policy – anyone could go in and talk to him. He knew your wife, kids, girl’s names. That’s what was so good about Papa. He understood players came first.
Papa taught me about money. I wanted to start a business and he told me my legs were my business. To do it after football. To understand my body is my business and take it from there. This is a guy that drove around in a Buick LeSabre. He drove around the city in a Buick and walked to church on Sundays for exercise. Looking at how he went about things was a humbling experience.
OL Brian Blankenship: “I told him I was going to see Dan Rooney before I sign anything. I knocked on Mr. Rooney’s door and informed him of my prognosis and he was very kind and gave me praise for my short five year career. He said that he was sorry and would do whatever he could to make sure I was ok. I asked him about the new contract and he told me the deal was agreed to on Saturday and to get my butt across the hall and get it taken care of.
That was my proudest moment as a Steeler.”
OL Brandon Torrey: “Pittsburgh was one of three teams that expressed interest in me. Dan Rooney, Jr. who I still thank to this day (thank you for your belief in me Dan) was the only one that went from being interested to believing in me enough to give me a chance. Dan wanted me to take all 270 pounds of myself to NFL Europe to get bigger and stronger, because in the NFL 310 pounds might have been the smallest lineman I’ve seen.”
LB Dedrick Roper: ‘The Steelers organization was hands down the most impressive organization I have ever been affiliated with. They care about their players, community, and fans. The Rooney’s are the type of owners that you would run through a wall for. They truly care about more than money and that is very rare in the NFL.”
OL Bob Adams: “Dan negotiated my four contracts with the Steelers. I had no agent…I had no chance until my third year. I calculated why my request for a raise was justified. I devised a chart devised by using calculus. I had drawn the graphs based on my stats for receiving, 3rd down blocking and conversions and fumble recoveries. I think I confused him enough he finally gave in and gave me the raise. So to that degree, college paid off.”
Steelers Photographer Michael Fabus: “I used to fly with Dan Rooney in his airplane. I’d take pictures of this or that for him – of the landscape… I’d move side by side to get the pictures. When we landed I looked green, Dan said. I just told him I needed to get my feet on the ground. Chuck would go to sometimes and he told me he had an airplane seat. He said he wanted me to sit in the seat that hung outside of the plane door – and that once I got in it he’d hand me the camera! I said no! He might have been kidding…I’m not sure.”
PR Specialist Ryan Scarpino: I can’t say enough about Dan Rooney. When we first met he was still the Ambassador of Ireland, but he’d come in for some of the games. One of the first times he met me he asked me for a ride to his doctor.
That led to seven years of the most valuable conversations I’ve had about life. Not just about professional life, but personal things. I became his right-hand man for getting him to places. He wanted to ride in my car to go to the airport for away games. His car was much nicer but he preferred mine.”
OL Kendall Simmons: “Not only was I surrounded by great teammates on the field, I had an organization that truly cared about my health. I can recall a number of times when Mr. Dan Rooney would ask how my blood sugar levels were doing.”
RB Willie Asbury: “I relished knowing Art Rooney, Dan Rooney, Artie and “skins” during my brief time there. Losing built character!”
Roy Jefferson: “I didn’t hate Dan Rooney either. I was upset at him – I felt I should have been paid more and we fought about that a lot. That was a thorn in my side. I was young and hot-headed and said things I shouldn’t have said. If it were me now, I wouldn’t have said many of those things.”
Steelers Trainer Ralph Berlin: “I interviewed with Dan. I’m not sure why he chose me, but I’m glad he did. It was always my desire to be a trainer for an NFL team.”
Steelers PR Chief Joe Gordon: “In 1970, the Steelers moved to Three Rivers Stadium. It was Dan’s opinion that they needed to expand the staff – including PR. The Steelers had one of the smallest staffs in the league at the time, and with the league merging with the AFL, Dan knew they needed to expand the staff. The NFL-AFL merger meant more opportunities for the team and NFL. Plus, we had an antiquated stadium. They had to generate more revenue to compete and playing at Pitt stadium – that was built in 1927 and had only bleacher seating – well, it was not even up to the standards of the current league much less the merging league.”
RB Rocky Bleier: “When I got back Dan Rooney was President and was running the team. He gave me an opportunity and put me on injured reserve. He bought me a year. I made the Taxi Squad the following year – they wanted me to get bigger and stronger. I was then activated in ’71. I put on strength and weight, and made the team on my special teams play in ’72. We had a terrific year and won the division. In ’73 I made the team again with my special teams play. Then in ’74, during the fifth game, there was an injury and I went in and played. We went to the Super Bowl, more afterwards, 1,000 yards…”
OL Mike Taylor: ” I am very grateful that Art and Dan Rooney along with the Steelers organization and coaching staff saw something positive in me to have drafted me as their first pick in 1968. “
OL Kendall Simmons: “I owe Mr. Dan Rooney, the owner of the Steelers at the time, special thanks. I really appreciate how he checked on me every time I saw him downstairs.”
S Clendon Thomas: “Dan Rooney and his family have set the standard in the league as an outline for success.”
DL Ken Kortas: “Dan Rooney was given control of the team…sort of. Art was mellowing. Danny wanted to make something out of it. He was more of a ramrod kind of guy.
After the quarterback debacle, Danny spent money to get a quarterback. They drafted Hanratty but found out he was a rollout quarterback with a weak arm. They said oh oh… So they drafted Bradshaw next year and spent a lot of money. Art would never have done that.”
Kathy Rooney: “My commission from my cousin Dan Rooney to do a 62 ft. X 13 ft. mural that includes a landscape of Pittsburgh with past and present sports venues. The mural is displayed on the front of the Steelers Practice Facility on the South Side.
Well, I set up a meeting with him and we went to his office. It was a brand new building and his office was right above the practice field. Behind his desk was a window overlooking the practice field and the Steelers were right there practicing. It was like a movie set.
Well, I had my portfolio with me and opened it up and started showing him my prints to see if he wanted to purchase any for his offices. He closed the portfolio and said “No. I have a project for you.” He took me downstairs and showed me a blank wall and told me he wanted a mural for the wall and asked if I could do that. I had never done anything like that before but I said “Yes!”
He took me back to his office. He had a drawing table there – I guess to keep him connected to his love of architecture. Well, he took out a big piece of paper and drew out his concept. He said that this was what he wanted – that I should add my thoughts and concepts to it. He also told me I didn’t have the commission yet – that I had to prove to him that I could do this.”
LB Steven Conley: “My best memories as a Steeler were the fans. I remember one day Dan Rooney asked me to accompany him downtown to a pep rally before we played the Denver Broncos in the AFC championship game. I was asked to talk about the game and also why the Steelers needed a new stadium. When we arrived, it must have been over 5,000 plus waiting to hear what we had to say. The weather was cold, but the atmosphere was great and the fans were ready!”
S Lee Flowers: “Sometimes I got carried away – especially after games. I felt I had the pulse of the locker room – and Cowher usually embraced it. Dan Rooney definitely embraced it – he told me I spoke for him too.”
K Norm Johnson: ” It was interesting then. Some things sucked. It was the only Super Bowl I was ever in, so it was great being in it but it sucked it was the only one. Evidently, the year before there was a lot of planning by the team for the Super Bowl before they got there. They had all of the plans done ahead of time – all they had to do was just beat lowly old San Diego. Then they’d be off to the Super Bowl. Well, then they lost that game.
Dan Rooney said after that he’d never let that happen again. So the next year when they got to the Super Bowl, no plans had been made.”
Video Assistant Rob Brakel: “It’s sad -I remember my last conversation with Dan Rooney. I wanted to talk to him about a couple of things. I was in the doghouse with the Cardinals and tried to talk with Bidwell, but he wouldn’t return any of my calls. I called Dan after to talk, and he called me back two hours later and talked for 30 minutes There’s something to be said I told him for an owner who does that. It says a lot about the Steelers organization – they treat you like a family.”
Marshall McFadden: “My junior year Dan Rooney came out to see me play. I had injured my rest and was already out for the season. When he saw me he said “I didn’t know you were hurt – I came out to see you!”
So we talked for a while. He told me he thought I was a good player that could do a lot of good things. But I didn’t get any offers after my senior year. I stayed in shape though while I sat out that whole year.”
These and more are all pulled from the new book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades
