SUPER BOWL POLITICS: Rooney “falls for” Obama & the President is rooting for the Steelers!
by Steve MasonIn 1990, when Republican incumbent Senator Jesse Helms was locked in a tight reelection race against Democrat Harvey Gantt, the African American Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, basketball legend Michael Jordan was approached about stumping for Gantt. Jordan was a star for the North Carolina Tar Heels and was at the peak of his NBA career and his fame. Jordan decided not to get involved, famously saying, “Republicans buy sneakers too.”
Steelers chairman and owner Dan Rooney with then-Senator Barack Obama
Pittsburgh Steelers chairman and owner Dan Rooney is a lifelong Republican, and spent most of his life as decidedly apolitical. His son Jim made an unsuccessful run for the Senate as a Republican in Pennsylvania in 2001 and son Tom was elected to Representative Mark Foley’s old seat in Florida in November, but patriarch Dan’s politics were mostly well-guarded. At the age of 76, and known only as a staunch, Pro-Life Catholic, the senior Rooney was unlikely to become a political firebrand, and it was a high-risk maneuver. After all, there are certainly plenty of card-carrying members of the GOP who are also Steelers fans.
Yet on January 3, 2008, the night that underdog Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama defeated heavily-favored Hillary Clinton in the Iowa Caucuses, Rooney was watching, and according to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, he immediately called his son Jim saying, “This is the greatest speech I’ve seen since John Kennedy.This guy connects with people like no one I’ve seen since John Kennedy. He convinced me that this is more than just a good politician. I want to stand up and say something for this guy. I want to be involved in this.”
When Dan Rooney met now-President Obama it sounds like it was love at first sight. They met in April of last year at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. Rooney immediately released a letter addressed to “fellow Pennsylvanians” endorsing the Illinois junior Senator.
Dear Fellow Pennsylvanian,
Based on the experiences that I have had in my seventy-five years and my assessment of what I think our nation needs to make real the change that is so needed, I am proud and now feel compelled to endorse Senator Barack Obama.
This is not something that I do regularly but as I listen to the candidates in this race, I am struck that we continue to hear about the problems and the same challenges that we have been talking about for decades. Protecting jobs here in Pennsylvania, breaking our dangerous and costly addiction to foreign oil, making health care accessible and affordable ” these are neither new issues nor new ideas. And yet we have failed to make real progress.
As a grandfather and a citizen of this community I think Barack Obama’s, thoughtful, strategic approach is important for America. When I hear how excited young people seem to be when they talk about this man, I believe he will do what is best for them which is to inspire them to be great Americans.
This time, we can’t afford to wait. Our country needs a new direction and a new kind of leadership ” the kind of leadership, judgment and experience that Senator Obama has demonstrated in more than 20 years of public service, and in a particularly impressive way in this campaign. Senator Obama has rejected the say-and-do anything tactics that puts winning elections ahead of governing the country. And he has rejected the back-room politics in favor of opening government up to the people. Barack Obama is the one candidate in this race who can finally put an end to business as usual in Washington and bring about real change for Pittsburgh and the country as a whole. He has inspired me and so many other people around our country with new ideas and fresh perspectives.
True sports fans know that you support your team even when they are the underdogs. Barack Obama is the underdog here but it is with great pride that I join his team.
When I think of Barack Obama’s America I have great hope. I support his candidacy and look forward to his Presidency
Sincerely,
Daniel M. Rooney, Owner and Chairman, Pittsburgh Steelers
In what seems to be unprecedented, both the President and the Vice President of the United States have come out as rooting for one of the two Super Bowl teams. Both Obama and VP Joe Biden (born in Scranton as he reminded us often during the campaign), want the Steelers to win Super 43 in Tampa on Sunday. Obama describes Dan Rooney as an “extraordinary supporter” and also acknowledged the support of Steelers’ Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris and current head coach Mike Tomlin.
Dan Rooney is famous in NFL circles for the creation of the so-called “Rooney Rule.” Back in 2002, Rooney devised a plan to improve the NFL’s dismal hiring record when it comes to black head coaches. The Rooney Rule requires that every time an NFL team had a head coaching vacancy, they were required to interview at least one minority candidate.
The first black head coach in the NFL was hired in 1921 when Fritz Pollard, now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was named co-coach of the Akron Pros, but even well-qualified candidates were ignored in the modern era. Tomlin, who has guided the Steelers to the Super Bowl for a possible record sixth Lombardi Trophy, is one of eleven black head coaches to be hired since the interviewing policy was implemented, and he is the first black head coach in Pittsburgh Steelers history.
The Rooney Rule has led to some tokenism. Some very good African American coaching candidates interviewed for jobs they really had no chance of landing, but, Tomlin himself admits that his debut as an NFL head coach might have been delayed without it. “I have no question it helped me get this job. Anything that brings a group of people an opportunity is a policy worth having. But I also thought that eventually I’d get an opportunity, Rooney Rule or not.”
When it comes to the Obama endorsement, Rooney has paid a price. The Steelers have received some angry correspondence. Steelers fan and Scottsdale, Arizona resident Virginia Peters Baird e-mailed, “Shame on you! I was born in Pittsburgh and raised in McKeesport. My father was a Steelers fan from the word ‘go’ and raised me the same. My father was, as I am, a conservative Republican, as, I might add, are a few million other Steeler fans. I cannot speak for them, but I will never watch another Steelers game!!… I pay $250 to Direct TV so that I can get every game, every week, and have for years. I will have a bonfire of all my Steelers possessions and request that my 18-year-old grandson do likewise. I will consider Oct. 27 the day something dear to me died.”
Simultaneously, diehard Cardinal fans (if there is such a thing), may be less than thrilled with the new administration for its endorsement of the Steelers in the big game on Sunday.
Steve Mason is on Facebook and now also on Twitter.
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60 Comments
Go Cardinals!
Kurt Warner is what American football and determination is all about. Rooney should read a book once and a while. Perhaps he wouldn’t be as impressed with flowery language.
Poor Rooney done went looney. I hope they both fail!!
Jan. 20, 2009, the beginning of an “error”
Go Cardinals
Poor Rooney, proof that age can be so debilitating.
You threw your Catholic principles away for this pro-abortion cur?!
Shame on you.
“Requiescat in pace”, may God have mercy on your soul!
I too was suprised by Mr. Rooney’s politcal debut. I am a resident of Pittsburgh Mr. Rooneys staunch following of Catholic Catechism is legendary. It has been said the he attends Mass EVERY day. What I can’t understand is how Mr Rooney can support someone with such an open pro abortion stance. I can’t wrap my brain around that.
BTW Russ Grimm assistant coach in the Cardinals organization, and former Steelers assistant. Was a supposedly a shoe-in for the head coach job here is Pittsbur. Rumor has it attended his interview in a flannel shirt with a hangover.
I;l take Coach Tomlin over a disrespectful bafoon
GO STEELERS
Makes me glad I’m rooting for the Cards.
I’m curious as to why this writer thinks that the Rooney Rule has “led to some tokenism”? Such as? Names? Teams? The fact of the matter is that the number of African-American coaches in the NFL has risen exponentially since this rule has been implemented. And with the success some of the “Rooney Rule” coaches have had, such as Mike Tomlin, what’s the problem again? Or would you prefer that the the NFL have a hiring rate like college football, where it’s what, 3% African-American coaches out of 119 programs.
The notion that alleged Steelers’ fans would drop their loyalty to the team because of the political candidate their owner supports is idiotic. That means that you were NEVER a real fan.
I guess this article is yet another Big Hollywood attempt to boycott someone else. Just change your site’s name to Big Boycott and be done with it.
I would bet my paycheck that the majority of you clowns couldn’t name 10 players on the Cardinals and are only claiming you want them to win because of this half-assed boycott site egging you on.
Shorter Peters Baird: “I paid a billionaire who endorsed Obama thousands of dollars of my hard-earned money to buy his team’s merchandise. Therefore, the best way to stick it to him is to burn it.”
I will admit, as dumb as this post is, it still doesn’t beat the commentary by someone on NRO’s the Corner from a few years back, claiming he was rooting against the Seahawks in the Super Bowl because their uniforms were the color of Hamas.
Must agree with Old Tom. A wrong fact is like a sentence with poor syntax. It becomes a distraction, while the mind tries to resolve the error.
Like I needed any more reasons to hate the Steelers. Go Cardinals!!!
Looney Rooney or not, can’t boycott the Stillers, even with m’man Levi Brown on the Cards. That said, the only thing more rotten in the confines of my old Western PA home is how John Heinz’s money got hijacked by the current Mrs. John Kerry.
What I can’t understand is how Mr Rooney can support someone with such an open pro abortion stance. I can’t wrap my brain around that.
That’s what happens when you aren’t able to tell the difference between issues of fundamental importance (such as individual rights) and a derivative application thereof (such as abortion). The data is showing that your theory is broken.
Since I do approach issues in terms of fundamentals, I know (among other things) that religious faith is ultimately plastic — it can be adapted or reinvented to justify anything. Observe the history of the Catholic Church, which found itself adapting to Adolf Hitler and more recently, to the depraved actions of its own clergy.
Of course, socialism and Christianity already have a lot of overlap, so there isn’t much adaptation necessary in this case. I am unsurprised by this turn of events.
Um..
Didn’t the Cardinals’ owner move his team TWICE when both Chicago and St. Louis refused to give him a corporate welfare handout in the form of a new stadium. Hell, they almost left Phoenix until the taxpayers there ponied up a billion or so for a new stadium.
Yet, you are threatening to boycott the Steelers because of perceived politics?
Steve,
Maybe you don’t explicity don’t call for a boycott, but you certainly indicate a certain sympathy with one given that you pointedly included a paragraph where a Steelers’ “fan” announced that THEY were boycotting their team because of Rooney’s endorsement.
As for the Rooney Rule, it is designed to specifically prevent teams from simply deciding on hiring only one candidate without bothering to field interviews with qualified candidates. That sort of mentality was exactly how NFL teams avoided hiring black coaches and is exactly how college programs do the same thing now. In the case of Mooch and the Lions, I can see exactly why the qualified black candidates didn’t feel like enabling that charade, HOWEVER the Lions completely deserved that fine because they so blatantly tried to do an end around on that rule by clearly signaling that the job was already filled before the search ever began. Too bad, in 2002, they might have had a crack at Tony Dungy or Lovie Smith.
Steve,
One more thing, the Turner Gill/Auburn situation was utterly disgraceful and clearly demonstrates that the 3% black hiring rate in college football isn’t merely a statistical quirk.
I think eventually the players themselves are going to have to take some sort of action in the form of a protest or, dare I say it, a boycott. Black athletes make up the majority of college football players. The Turner Gill fiasco merely reinforces the notion that to the good old boy athletic departments, black people are good enough to PLAY the sport but are prohibited from ever COACHING it.
Titov – January 30th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I would bet my paycheck that the majority of you clowns couldn’t name 10 players on the Cardinals and are only claiming you want them to win because of this half-assed boycott site egging you on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quite the opposite, Titov. This is not a “boycott” site–Liberals and especially Hollywood Liberals are welcome here, so that they that see how the loyal opposition sees things, since they have spent so much time, money, publicity and energy on hissy fits to drown us out and villify us at every turn. It would be nice for Conservatives in Hollywood to not be blacklisted for their political views, wouldn’t you agree? I mean, come on: isn’t that something that an “open-minded, tolerant” Liberal would agree on?
Obama is rooting for the Steelers, eh? Good for him; I hope that turns Ohio a little redder then.
Nicole, you do read this site, don’t you? Virtually every thread on here is simply a vitrolic denunciation of whatever celebrity pissed you guys off for political offenses either real or perceived.
Virtually every thread contains comments along the lines of “I’ll never watch so and so’s movies ever again because of this”. How many comments did the Matt Damon thread get when he had the temerity to express his free speech and say that Bill O’Reilly is an idiot?
By the way, name me a single Hollywood conservative who was specifically denied a specific job bacause of their conservatism. Name names, and provide evidence that said person was “blacklisted” because of their politics. Name the executive who orchestrated that.
If you can, then it wouldn’t be too hard to file a job discrimmination lawsuit, given that political beliefs are not grounds for dismissing or failing to hire a person.
By the way, when you guys freak out like little children whenever you find out actor ABC isn’t kissing your ass, it’s hysterical.
I don’t care what party the Rooneys have been affiliated with over the years. If Rooney abandoned his pro-life beliefs to support a candidate who stood against the Born Alive Protection act for no other reason than a speech, I have even less respect for him that I ever had in the past.
Since the day they entered the NFL, they have been tied with organized crime, and — along with Wellington Mara — have always been instrumental in implementing this spread-the-wealth mentality that runs the NFL.
The Rooneys and the Pittsburgh Steelers have ALWAYS disgusted me — now I hate this organization as much as I possibly can.
Mark:
I guess you can say there’s a bit of conspiracy theory in what I wrote.
What can’t be disputed in the Rooneys’ historical gambling interests, and how the team was bought.
It also can’t be disputed that the Rooneys have championed a system where all the owners NOT ONLY collectively regulate salaries, they THEN split up the revenue.
Meh.
My personal philosophy on the Super Bowl is, “If the 49ers aren’t playing, I’m not watching…”
Which, of course, means I won’t be watching another Super Bowl until about 2018 at best at the rate things are going out be the bay…
Oops, Rooney drank the Kool-Aid.
Go Cardinals!!
(I was rooting for them anyway.)
SHAME ON ROONEY! I am not a steeler fan! I HOPE they LOSE. When I found out AZ made it to playoffs I was hoping AZ VS Titans cause both had such great stories. Now that Im stuck with commie rooney vs AZ I hope AZ whips some ass! I hope its a blow out! COME ON AZ I LOVE Warner cause he isnt afraid to say the Word God and how he thanks God first, that is Beautiful to me. I am Catholic but still its beautiful.
“Representative Tom Foley’s old seat in Florida”
Maybe Mark Foley?
Would this amount of information be available even for the McCarthy-era blacklist?
And it’s ironic that you’re insisting that Nicole “name names,” isn’t it?
Ever notice that Bush was a genuine President of the ENTIRE United States and cordially would give both teams accolades. Obama acts like a dictator and gives no credit to either team but expresses his choice based on his campaign contributors.
It matters not to this fan who wins the super bowl. I’m in Southern Ohio, and I have to put up with the absolute worst owner in football, Mike Brown, whose father is still rolling over in his grave wondering why he left the team to his son. One winning season in the last eighteen years. On Sunday, I will be content to see my OSU alums perform with dignity and skill. (Pittsburgh #10)
There’s a Super Bowl? Wake me when it’s over. I used watch ESPN, but they can’t shut up about Obama, and now Art Rooney is in the tank as well. I care naught. I am going to watch White Heat and Die Hard and shut out the game.
This story really breaks my heart because I am a Republican but I am a hardcore Steeler Fan. Let’s all be honest and realize that Obama wouldn’t be cheering for the cardinals, I mean look at all that red. It’s too bad that Philly didn’t make it too the superbowl because I am positive Obama would have been cheering for the Eagles. Philly’s an urban area and most of the surrounding area’s in Pennsylvania that support the Steeler’s are rfull of rednecks and people who cling to their guns and their religion. I would have easily been off the hook.
Well, I guess I go to the movies and watch “Taken” again.
HA!!! Like I needed ANOTHER reason to hate the Squealers…GO CARDS!!!
I have to thank Mr. Rooney for putting me in the odd position of wanting my Steelers to win, yet hoping that their owner loses. Perhaps now I will be able to watch the game like a normal person instead of experiencing the near-unmanageable state of anxiety/manic-depression that accompanies watching three of the four quarters of any Steelers game.
I have a challenge for Mr. Rooney. I’d like him to put his money where his mouth is, and employ Mr. Obama’s politics in the management of the Steelers. If the franchise improves under universal health care, by awarding spots on the team to those who are less talented but no less deserving because of other challenges, and in doling out the most benefits to those who pay the least for season tickets and the least benefits to those who pay the most, then I might just jump ship myself.
Rooney, “Shut up & play ball!”
Once again proof that being old and wealthy does not necessarily make one wise.
Superbowl? Not this year. I’ll be watching Liverpool-Everton and hitting the beach after that.
Power loves power.
Go Kurt and the Cardinals.
Obama is a Steelers Fan!?! And now I have ANOTHER reason to detest the man. BROWNS FAN 4 LIFE!!
SORE LOOSERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is America! Stop hating! Detest is a strong word. So what if President Obama is a steelers fan? Many people are. Is it possible that RACE is comming into play?
I just want to know what he did that Rooney needed to thank him. Did he throw the winning pass, did he coach the team? Why is everyone bowing to this man. He has not done one thing as of yet. Maybe in time he will, but as of now NOTHING. He is being touted as the Best President in the history of the USA, WHY?
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