Sunday, May 18, 2008
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
V.W.H. Campbell/Post-Gazette
Art Rooney, his team and the locker room.
The Steelers' 75th season brought us more than celebrations and honorary co-captains for home games. It brought out two important books on the team's history by two men who lived through much of it -- Dan and Art Rooney Jr.
Two of Art Rooney Sr.'s five sons published books over the past year rich in history and revelations through their eyes. Another book is due out next year, a large biography on Rooney, the father of the franchise, by Rob Ruck and his wife, Maggie Patterson, that's been in the works for years.
Dan Rooney's autobiography -- "My 75 Years With the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL" -- detailed here previously, was published last fall, and his brother Art's this year, 20 years after the death of his father.
Art's book -- "Ruanaidh (Rooney, in Gaelic), the Story of Art Rooney and his Clan" -- was written with former Pittsburgh Press columnist Roy McHugh, and his deft writing skill is evident throughout. Art Jr. began as a ballboy with the Steelers and ran their scouting department from 1964 though 1986, producing some of the best drafts in NFL history, including the acclaimed best in 1974. His book contains a wealth of stories, many of them previously unpublished, many of them legendary, about his father, The Chief.
It's packed with delicious anecdotes from the early years through the 1980s. They include a recount of the only time the Chief ran for political office. Art Rooney loved politics and counted many politicians among his friends. A little-known fact is Art Sr. was a registered Republican -- as his son Dan is today, even though he's backing Democrat Barack Obama. Still, father and son lean toward the liberal.
In 1936, deep into the Depression, the Republicans were not popular during FDR's presidency. Yet, Art Sr. was talked into running for Allegheny County register of wills. The campaign did not go well, his son recounts in Ruanaidh. One visit to Wilkinsburg drew 25 people and "twenty-four of them were anti-Irish, anti-Catholic little old ladies," a friend is quoted as saying in the book. "Wilkinsburg was a straight-laced Protestant town with nineteen churches and no saloons."
Later, Rooney and his political caravan stopped at a picnic grounds unannounced. People danced and were having a good time, and Art Rooney bought beer and food for the crowd. He walked among the merrymakers and asked for their votes.
"In what county?" someone asked.
"Allegheny," he replied.
They told him they could not vote for him --- this was Washington County. Rooney lost that election and never ran for office again.
Sometimes, he was not politically correct either. After getting into a dispute with Redskins founder George Preston Marshall over who would pay the $50 train fare for a player who was traded, Marshall kept insisting, "Arthur, send me the dough." Finally, Rooney agreed to do just that. He sent Steelers accountant Fran Fogerty to the Ritz Bakery to buy 50 pieces of raw dough and had it wrapped and sent to Marshall.
One night, during one of his serious business trips to New Jersey's Monmouth Park -- Art's horse winnings are legendary -- he went to bed in his hotel, where he had a 4 a.m. wakeup call to view the morning workouts. A loud, booze-fueled party in the room next door involving a handful of men carried on for hours, and it was quite evident by their arguments that they disliked Jews.
A call to the hotel desk at 1 a.m. did not quiet the crowd, and the noise did not abate until 3:30. Once Rooney received his wakeup call, he began calling the room next door until someone answered, and he would ask for "Mr. Bernstein" or "Mr. Rosenberg." The hungover men at last took the phone off the hook. Rooney then turned his radio up high and put it next to the rooms' adjoining door, then he pounded on the door. He went downstairs and gave the switchboard operator $10 to call the room every 15 minutes and ask for "Mr. Levin, etc."
Upon his return, he banged on the door again, then started throwing things at it, calling out for "Mr. Shapiro" and such.
Finally, Art Rooney's phone rang and it was the men next store, crying uncle. They apologized, and he accepted.
Art. Jr. also details the time the Rooneys were offered the New York Yankees for a relative song. The CBS television network had owned them for a decade and wanted to sell in 1974.
"Make a legitimate offer for the ballclub and it's yours. You'd know how to run it," his father was told by the owners. The Steelers were fresh off their first Super Bowl victory. While Art Sr. could not have owned it, he could have put it in the name of one or more of his sons.
He could have had it for $6 million, the younger Rooney writes, but he passed on it. George Steinbrenner later bought it for $11 million. The Yankees are worth more than $1 billion today.
They also could have bought Avis, the rental car company that in 1974 was in receivership, but passed because they wanted to concentrate on winning their first Super Bowl.
Coupled with Dan Rooney's book, his brother Art's "Ruanaidh" gives the best one-two inside look into Art Rooney Sr. and the Steelers' long history than has ever been available. And why not? They lived most of it.
"Ruanaidh" is in its second printing and is available at most booksellers in the area, at all Steelers Sideline stores, at www.artrooneyjr.com and at http://news.steelers.com/catalog/.
Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com.
First published on May 18, 2008 at 12:00 am
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