Steelers Now
Most of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster didn’t know Dan Rooney. Head coach Mike Tomlin carried the late team chairman’s name on the night before his team matched up with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
Rooney, a former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, would’ve been proud to see his franchise take the field for a regular-season game in the Emerald Isle.
“We talked a lot about the late, great Ambassador Rooney last night. I know he’s smiling, man,” Tomlin said after the Steelers’ 24-21 win. “It’s just an honor, man, to fulfill his vision to bring NFL football to Dublin. I’ve been thinking about him a lot on a personal level, and so I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that.”
“He’s probably going to be mad at me for saying this, but he got teary-eyed and stuff,” linebacker Patrick Queen said. “Just another side of him that you don’t get to see all the time.”
Tomlin’s admiration for Rooney, who died in 2017 at age 84, dates back to 2007, when Rooney chose him to replace Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Cowher.
“We want to win, for sure, but we did have extra motivation with him telling us about that,” veteran cornerback Darius Slay said. “He was just a guy who was a DC in Minnesota, who people probably didn’t think was going to get a head coaching job at that time. He did and he’s been almost 20 years, probably.
“He’s thankful for the opportunity and we want to show our thanks for him, play hard, play fast and just try to get the W.”
Tomlin’s words had a similar impact on DeShon Elliott, who went out and notched an interception and a sack in his return from a sprained MCL.
“Rest in peace, DMR. Coach T had a meeting the night before the game,” Elliott. “He told us about who he was as a man, how great he was and there was a lot of things I didn’t know about him.
“It was really cool to experience Coach T’s emotions, how he felt about Mr. Rooney, so I appreciate the Rooney family for bringing us out here, the opportunity. It was really cool.”
Keeanu Benton also had a sack in the win. Though he never spoke to Rooney, he feels a connection.
“Coach T does a great job of making us feel the urgency and letting us know the agenda of what we need to do that week,” Benton said. “It just so happened that it was the ambassador, but I think that’s just how family-oriented we are. I never met him personally, but if my leader feels that way about his leader, I’m going to feel the same way, as well, because it comes from a great tree.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Motivated by Memory of Dan Rooney on Ireland Trip
