Honoring Steelers royalty
Dan Rooney tributes all around — but none quite like the tailgate party near his house
The day ended with Ben Roethlisberger dedicating a 26-9 victory to the late Dan Rooney and handing the game ball to Dan’s eldest son, Steelers president Art Rooney II, who pledged to give it to his mom.
The day began, at least for me, with the most incredible baptism I have ever attended. Or am likely to attend.
It happened about 50 yards from the Rooney home on North Lincoln Avenue on the North Side — a fly pattern from Heinz Field — and featured a “reverend” and a “rabbi” initiating the newest member of Steelers Nation by dousing him with beer.
All of this will fit together, I promise. Let’s backtrack. Some 14 years ago, Dan Rooney and about 30 family members retraced part of the path of the legendary Lewis and Clark expedition through the great
Northwest. I thought of that Sunday as I contemplated howto pay tribute to Mr. Rooneyon the day of the first Steelershome game ever playedwithout him or his father,Art (“The Chief”), aliveto see it. Dan Rooney, whosucceeded his father and founderof the Steelers as teampresident, died April 17 at age 84.
About an hour before kickoff, I set out to retrace a walk Dan Rooney made countless times: the 10minute jaunt from his home — the one he grew up in and moved back to with wife Patricia in 1993 — to Heinz Field. I would chronicle the sights and sounds down Allegheny Avenue as fans gathered for the home opener against the Minnesota Vikings (the team the Steelers beat for their first Super Bowl victory).
Well, I got stuck in the starting blocks.
However,I’m fairly certainDan Rooney would have appreciatedthe party I stumbledupon, partly because it wasa block from his home andpartly because it was in manyways the perfect representation of all the Steelers havebecome over the past half-century,or ever since TheChief put Dan in charge ofthe family business.
As a teenager, Dan and his four brothers would travel to mill towns looking to sell the workers discounted season tickets for $16. That was long before the term “Steelers Nation” entered the lexicon. Long before waiting lists for tickets, Steelers fans invading stadiums across the country and tailgate parties like the one I attended — which, like so many others, serves as a regular gathering place for the same groups of friends and relatives.
Todd Simakas, 56, a lifelong Steelers fan from Shaler, bought the North Lincoln lot (it fits exactly 35 cars) about a decade ago in order to hold such reunions before games. Some of the participants come from Columbus, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; or Erie, Pa., and some from just around the block.
“It’s pretty cool having it right here on a historical street with the Rooney legacy,” Mr. Simakas said. “I don’t think words can describe what Dan Rooney meant to Steeler Nation.”
A few years ago, Mr. Rooney himself stopped by the party and autographed Patti Hiatt’s customized Steelersthemed Hummer (as Mr. Roethlisberger said of Mr. Rooney: “Everybody was important to him.”)
Patti’s friend, Helene Staniszewski, won’t soon forget that day. The Hummer already featured autographs of several Steelers luminaries (notably Greg Lloyd’s on the glove compartment) but something seemed incomplete without the signature of the man
Ben Roethlisberger carried a similar flag as he ran out of the tunnel before the game, raising goosebumps everywhere in the stadium. He handed it to linebacker James Harrison, who carried it to midfield.
down the street.
Well, Patti and Helene decided to fix that. They waited for Mr. Rooney to drive up in a golf cart after a game (he used the cart in his later years) and approached him.
“He had some bodyguards or something with him, and they looked a little suspicious,” Helene said. “But I went ahead and said, ‘Mr. Rooney, may I please have your autograph for our Hummer?’ He got up out of the golf cart — it wasn’t easy — and said he was more than happy to sign.
“He liked it. He called it a ‘showstopper.’ ”
Speaking of showstoppers, I’m guessing Mr. Rooney — always a big fan of diversity — would have gotten a kick out of a “rabbi” and a “reverend” bringing a new Steelers fan into the fold.
At some point during the party, “The Rabbi,” one Dave Stangel of Squirrel Hill, joined with “The Reverend,” Ben Piper of Center Township (who wore something akin to a bishop’s miter), in order to “baptize” Mr. Stangel’s 17-year-old cousin, Zach Lieberman of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Zach and his family evacuated Florida before Hurricane Irma hit. They figured Pittsburgh had benefits, like Zach getting to see his first Steelers game.
He laughed when I asked how the baptism went.
“Well, they gave me some inspirational words and then poured beer on my head,” he said. “I felt like I became one with Steeler Nation. I think a Steelers bar mitzvah is next.”
The Reverend’s daughter, 13-year-old Stephanie, also was attending her first game. She arrived complete with eye black and a Jesse James jersey and apparently had to pass a verbal test that included questions such as, “Name three Steelers defenders.”
Theparty ended around 12:30p.m., breaking up in the manicway tailgate parties do,and according to custom severalmembers of the group bowedin reverence as they passedthe Rooney house on theirway to the stadium.
I walked ahead, and soon was watching Mel Blount and Rocky Bleier raise a gold flag with Mr. Rooney’s initials — DMR for Daniel Milton Rooney — next to the scoreboard.
Mr. Roethlisberger carried a similar flag as he ran out of the tunnel before the game, raising goosebumps everywhere in the stadium. He handed it to linebacker James Harrison, who carried it to midfield.
Mr. Roethlisberger himself welled up when the Mr. Rooney’s beloved Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra played the national anthem.
Earlier, coach Mike Tomlin tweeted: “It’s going to be a special day honoring the legacy of Dan Rooney and what he meant to the Steelers. Words can’t express what he meant to me.”
The Steelers asked for a moment silence in honor of Mr. Rooney. Franco Harris and Joe Greene joined the captains for the coin toss.
The tributes included a scoreboard video narrated by KDKA’s Larry Richert. It ended this way: “Dan Rooney, a man who left an indelible impact on his city, his league and his world.”
Indeed. And you could feel that impact nearly anywhere on this particular day, notably in the parking lot 50 yards from his house.
The newest member of Steelers Nation was baptized there.
Joe Starkey: jstarkey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @joestarkey1.