The Steelers will be taking part in the first NFL regular season game held in Ireland this weekend and the late Dan Rooney has a lot to do with that.
Rooney’s family came to the United States from Ireland and he the Steelers owner when they played the NFL’s first preseason game in Dublin in 1997. He later served as the United States ambassador to Ireland and wanted the team to do the same thing when the NFL came for a regular season contest.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was hired while Rooney was running the team and said on Tuesday that it will be impossible not to have his former boss on his mind once the team is in Ireland.
“I think a lot about the late Ambassador Rooney and how fired up he would be about this trip, and how important the development of this trip was for him,” Tomlin said, via the team’s website. “And so I’ve been thinking a lot about it. I’m sure I’ll be thinking a lot about it this week, and I certainly will be thinking a lot about him when we’re there. Man, you talk about a guy who certainly had a lot of passion for Ireland, and obviously for the Steelers, and then serving as ambassador to Ireland. I’m sure he’s going to be smiling down at us this weekend.”
Any smiles about the Steelers’ visit will be bigger if they cap it by beating the Vikings and head back to the United States with a 2-2 record.
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