FanHouse DanRooney

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- One of the issues NFL owners discussed before wrapping up their meetings this morning was expanding the so-called "Rooney Rule" to the hiring of general managers as well as coaches. The rule, established in 2003, currently requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for vacant head coaching positions or face a fine. The change would apply the same rule to vacant GM positions.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said the change could be implemented "almost immediately," though he first needs to speak with Steelers owner Dan Rooney, the father of the rule and the chair of the league's diversity committee. Rooney did not attend these meetings because he is currently undergoing the training required of him to become U.S. ambassador to Ireland per an appointment by President Barack Obama.

Mike Tomlin is 36, just finished his second season as an NFL head coach, and all he's done is amass a 22-10 record and bring Pittsburgh its sixth Super Bowl championship, all while blazing a trail for young potential head coaching candidates who might be short on experience but long on leadership.

And the good news keeps on coming. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Tomlin's employer, are in the process of giving him a raise, even though he's only two years into a four-year deal. In general, the organization has a rule about new contracts: they're only re-worked in their last year. Perhaps that only applies to players, or maybe Dan Rooney is willing to make an exception in this case. Whatever, I don't imagine anybody thinks it's a bad idea.

In a baggy gray sweatshirt, jeans and aviator shades, he looked like one of the players who were celebrating Tuesday in Sixburgh. "What do you say to this?" shouted Mike Tomlin, addressing the gathered masses by flashing six fingers. "Steeler Nation, you're leaving us all speechless, man. We just appreciate the love. How about the Steelers? How about the greatest fans in the world? How about number six?"

He could have been Hines Ward, Ben Roethlisberger, James Harrison, any of them. Which is exactly the point. When Tomlin spoke at his job interview two years ago, a remarkable visionary named Dan Rooney slashed through variables that some scary men in the traditional old-boy network would've held against a candidate like mustard stains on a tie.

Last week, I mentioned that Steelers owner Dan Rooney, so moved by Barack Obama's candidacy, campaigned heavily for the then-Illinois senator. And in the months that followed, the two developed a bond. (Though not nearly as strong as the one Peter King and Brett Favre share. Obviously.)

TAMPA, Fla. -- Dan Rooney was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2000 for his contributions to the league as owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. But one of his greatest legacies in the game of football is something he did after he was already a Hall of Famer.

In 2003, Rooney convinced his fellow owners to adopt a new rule requiring every team to interview at least one minority candidate before they could hire a new head coach. Now known as the Rooney Rule, the policy has played a major part in increasing the number of African-American head coaches -- and keeping the NFL far ahead of college football in terms of the diversity in its coaching ranks.

TAMPA -- Dan Rooney was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2000 for his contributions to the league as owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. But one of his greatest legacies in the game of football is something he did after he was already a Hall of Famer.

In 2003, Rooney convinced his fellow owners to adopt a new rule requiring every team to interview at least one minority candidate before they could hire a new head coach. Now known as the Rooney Rule, the policy has played a major part in increasing the number of African-American head coaches -- and keeping the NFL far ahead of college football in terms of the diversity in its coaching ranks.

Some Cardinals' players might be using the opportunity to meet Barack Obama as motivation for winning the Super Bowl, but the country's 44th president will almost certainly be a Steelers' fan on Feb. 1.

Owner Dan Rooney, a life-long Republican, campaigned heavily for Obama in the months leading up to the election, and on Monday, traveled to Washington to hand-deliver the AFC Championship game ball.

I'm convinced Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is most comfortable when he's battling any number of ailments. Early in the season it was a bum shoulder, than a bruised hand, not to mention the 25 or so hits he'd take every game.

After a rough stretch last month, lowlighted by a three-pick, "I'm definitely the reason we lost that one" performance against the Colts, Big Ben had back-to-back strong performances against the Bengals and the Patriots. Today, as the 9-3 Steelers prepared for Sunday's matchup with the Cowboys, Roethlisberger tweaked his knee and had to leave practice early.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette, Big Ben "slipped and slightly injured his right knee while throwing a pass." I'd hasten to add that Roethlisberger thinks he'll be fine for this weekend's game, which must sadden the non-trivial subset of fans who'd love nothing more than to see backup Byron Leftwich get the job.

Not likely, but I can offer this: Leftwich ran the first-team offense for the final 20 minutes of practice today, so there's that.

It appears that Stanley Druckenmiller and any other prospective Steelers owner didn't have much of a chance. With everyone in the NFL wanting to see the Steelers stay in the Rooneys' hands, Dan Rooney was given all the time he needed to work out a way to buy out his brothers. So we get the news today that the rest of the Rooneys have agreed to sell to Dan and his son Art II, now that they have set the team's value at $800 million.

Overall this is an obviously good thing. Nearly as much as his legendary father Art Rooney, Dan has been a key to the Steelers' success. While other teams react to the whims of their owner, Dan Rooney is always looking at the big picture, So generally, the Steelers contend for playoff spots and win more than they lose.

But there is a potential drawback. Dan and Art II, two rich men, but not billionaires like some other NFL owners, will have to come up with $512 million if they are to buy the other brothers out completely. It's possible that the other four brothers will hold on to small portions of their shares, but whatever happens, the Rooneys, and any additional investors they bring in, have a pretty hefty bill ahead of them. And considering how difficult the credit markets are these days, if they have to take out a loan, it won't be cheap.

Dan Rooney's chances of keeping control of the Steelers just took a step forward, as the Rooney's brothers turned down Stanley Druckenmiller's offer to buy a majority share of the Steelers.

A lot of Steelers fans will see this as great news. Druckenmiller is out of the picture, which makes it more likely that Rooney's lowball offer will be accepted by the rest of his brothers.

But at the same time, the Post-Gazette story explains why it could end up being bad news. Druckenmiller was an extremely wealthy potential owner who was planning to let Rooney keep running the team. Now if the Rooney brothers still decide to get more money than their brother can offer, there's no guarantee the next potential buyer will be nearly as appealing as Druckenmiller.

But the good news is that the NFL seems to be bending over backward to make sure that Dan Rooney stays as the primary owner. This should have been fixed a couple of years ago, but the NFL keeps allowing extensions that allows the Steelers to violate the league's rules on having stake in a gambling business. It seems like the NFL is going to try to game the system for as long as need to get the result it wants: something Druckenmiller hinted at today.

"Throughout our discussions, I made clear that if the family could resolve these matters internally it should do so and I would gladly remain only a devoted Steelers fan. Based on recent developments, it has become clear that the Rooneys need substantial additional time to assess their options. I do not wish to complicate these efforts, and I also do not want the lingering uncertainty about my possible involvement to become a distraction to my business and my family."

So even though this was supposed to be fixed years ago, it's going to take a good bit longer. Now we just have to figure out if that's good news or bad news.