Family Values...

OK, So this isn`t really football related at all, but it CERTAINLY is Steeler related.
It`s a look into the first family of Steeler Football, and gives a pretty good idea, why we are a unique team, among the NFL.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/art-rooney-sr-a-fathers-kingdom-700712/
They just don`t make men like the Chief anymore, and if they do, they are VERY few and far between!
God bless you, SR, for instilling the values in your family, that have led to this team remaining in capable hands, long after you were gone!
I don`t know what he would make of the politically correct, scared to offend anybody place, this world has become, since he was here, or how some people nowadays may judge him for his strict, uncompromising views, but I am glad he became the owner of this team in 1933, and don`t think we could have become the SIX TIME WORLD CHAMPIONS, if it wasn`t for him!
R.I.P. Art Rooney SR.

 

ya know i LOVE the steelers and rooney family as much as anyone...we fly in from FL 3 or 4 times a year every year just to see the games and sing renegade..... and im not sure this is true but i always heard that mr rooney won the steelers in a poker game.. can anyone prove that to be wrong?

HINES

 

That has to be wrong because I believe he initially paid $3,500 for the franchise so if it WAS in a card game I would say he didn't "win" ya know? LOL. However he got them I'm just glad he did.

 

Not positive,
But I believe he bought the team from winnings he made at a dog track, or maybe a horse track.
It is mentioned in Dan`s book "Rhuanidie"... (spelling is probably wrong, but is the original spelling of their Irish last name),
It is a book written by Dan Rooney, with the help of a co-author, that gives a LOT of details about where the family came from, and how the "kids" were raised... very good read...
To be honest, I forget if he says the myth about how the team was "bought" was true, or not, but it was pretty close...
His Dad(The Chief), came into some money from gambling(not sure which venue, but I don`t think it was poker), and decided to purchase a team that became the Steelers, with his winnings.
I do know that we combined with Philadelphia, to become the "Steagles", during WWII, and I`m pretty sure that is after Art SR bought the team...
Find the book, or look thru our history on the Official Steeler page, and it will probably answer your questions..
Or, JimmyAllen(I think was the screen name of our local historian), could answer better than me...
GO STEELERS!

 

I am reading that book Rhuanidie or however you spell it right now. He bought the Steelers before he had his big day at the track. The Chief was one hell of a business man. He was making money before the track but he had a two day run in which he earned somewhere in the ball park of $350,000 in 1935. So those two days set him and the family up the rest of their lives. But he didn't stop and rest on his laurels. He kept going and was always giving back to the people and the city of Pittsburgh. It is a great read and really gives a look in depth at the history of the family. You find out how classy a guy he was and where those values were installed. What I didn't know is how great of athletes that family was. The Chief was one heck of a boxer and football player along with his brothers and they were never afraid to mix it up.