In 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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