Embarrassing. It’s the word I keep coming back to in regards to the NFLPA report card leak from yesterday. As Dan Patrick said on his radio show this morning, “This is the Pittsburgh Steelers!?!?” His demonstrative, yet inquisitive statement is something that has echoed around Steelers Nation since this was made public late yesterday. One of the great and storied franchises in all of professional sports has egg on its face today yet what can and will be done?
Let’s first start (and end) with Art Rooney II. No one bears more responsibility for this embarrassment than he does. This idea that he actually “doesn’t have the money of other owners” is preposterous. The report cards in recent years have been trending towards this so it shouldn’t be surprising. It’s still quite damning however but what can be done?
The Steelers “goodwill” towards the city and the University of Pittsburgh has cost them. They are the only team in the NFL that shares a facility with a college program. The field, which earned an ‘F’ rating, is abysmal and is much more than just “overused.” Yes the Panthers play their home games there and WPIAL plays their title games there in November but having to re-sod the field every season is ridiculous. Clearly the design and installation of the field was done poorly and yet Rooney is unwilling to do much about it.
This is often the case when you work with the Stadium Authority and don’t own your field outright. Jerry Jones does whatever the Hell he wants with AT&T Stadium because he owns it. The field was just one area that took a beating in the latest report card though.
The locker room also received failing grades and most of it started with the fact that there are just five toilet stalls. We are talking about a facility that houses 53 active roster guys, another 16 or so Practice Squad players and numerous staffers yet they only have five stalls? The lockers themselves are a joke compared to most mid-level college football programs.
Also getting dinged was the weight room and training room which I’m sure T.J. Watt graded quite poorly. Neither of these are even remotely comparable to other NFL facilities in terms of size and accommodations. Even Pitt down the hall has significantly better facilities.
For all of the above what really stood out was the Treatment of Families and the grade of Rooney himself. It is abundantly clear that the players and their families are not appreciated and are not valued by the organization and that hurts. The Steelers have always prized themselves on being a family-friendly franchise that embraced the player and the family as one. That is no longer the case. There is very little room for families to gather postgame and the in-game experience is extremely below par.
The most damning thing on this report card though was the ‘D-‘ for Art Rooney II. While there are few owners in any sport who are “perfect,” the fact that a member of the Rooney Family would grade out so poorly is sad and depressing. You already know that ARII isn’t a ‘football guy’ the way his father Dan was. That shouldn’t however result in him getting such a poor grade from his players. Factor in all of the above though and it makes sense.
If your locker room facilities suck, and your field sucks and your family isn’t treated well then this is what happens. ARII isn’t a bad guy, I just don’t think he ‘gets it’ at times. Dan understood players and was willing to talk with players and be honest with players but he was also someone who was there for players away from the game too. ARII is a lawyer, a business man who runs the Steelers in that manner. Despite a decade of playoff futility you know damn well he would have brought Mike Tomlin back had Tomlin not walked away.
Now in his 70’s, it’s difficult to say whether ARII will ever get it. In fact he more than likely won’t but he better take a look in the mirror. His family-owned franchise is the talk of the League today and it’s downright embarrassing.
