Rooney served as the United States Ambassador to Ireland, from July 2009 until his resignation in December 2012. He was also co-founder of the Ireland-related fundraising organization The Ireland Funds.
Rooney was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Kathleen (née McNulty) and Pittsburgh Steelers’ owner Art Rooney. In the Steelers organization, Rooney was involved in many aspects of the franchise from the time he was a young boy, often assisting his father at Pitt Stadium and Forbes Field. He grew up in the North Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh and attended North Catholic High School where he excelled as the team’s quarterback. He was also the coach for the St. Peter’s Elementary school football team, which was quarterbacked by future CIA Director and lifelong friend Michael Hayden. Rooney was mentored by Fran Fogerty, Joe Carr, and Ed Kiely. These men assisted in teaching Dan the business of football. After being mentored and graduating from Duquesne University he knew football was what he wanted to pursue. He then met his future wife in the office of the Steelers where she was currently working. The couple got married soon after. By early 1969, Rooney was managing the day-to-day operations of the team and personally selected the coaching hire of Chuck Noll. Rooney was appointed team president in 1975 and was officially given full operational control of the franchise. His father remained Chairman and President Emeritus, as well as the public face of the franchise, until his death in 1988.
During his tenure, Rooney implemented a philosophy and management style that emphasized open, practical and efficient management. The results were obvious: from 1972 until his death, the Steelers won 15 division championships, 8 AFC Championships, and an NFL record 6 Super Bowl Championships. Rooney became the patriarch and controlling owner of the team in 1988, following the death of his father. In 2003, Rooney followed in his father’s footsteps by slowly ceding day-to-day operations of the franchise to the next generation of the family. While Rooney was still chairman, and to many fans the public face of the team, his son Art Rooney II assumed full operational control of the Steelers.
Rooney was a graduate of Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University, majoring in accounting. He was involved with the Steelers starting in 1960, originally working as director of personnel. While Rooney generally avoided the spotlight, he was a very active owner behind the scenes. Rooney helped lead the negotiations of the collective bargaining agreement of 1982, and is largely credited both by owners and players of having ended a strike that lasted half of the season. He was also one of the main architects of the salary cap, which was implemented in 1993. He surprised many with his public endorsement of Barack Obama for president. The family had traditionally been very private on politics, even being rumored to have a Republican bent. Rooney responded to his public endorsement with: “When I think of Barack Obama’s America I have great hope. I support his candidacy and look forward to his Presidency.”
Rooney was the benefactor of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and Vice-Chairman of The American Ireland Fund. He was also a Founding Chairman of The Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He was named to thePoliticsPA list of most influential individuals in Pennsylvania politics in 2002. In 2008, Rooney became an honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. He won the 2009 Jack Horrigan Memorial Award, presented by the Pro Football Writers Association to honor a league or club official “for his or her qualities and professional style in helping the pro football writers do their job.” He was recognized in 2016 with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jackie Robinson Foundation.
Rooney was the maternal great-uncle of actresses Kate Mara and her sister Rooney Mara.
Dan Rooney died at the age of 84 on April 13, 2017. Attendees at his funeral included former president Barack Obama and former secretary of state John Kerry.
Jerral Wayne Jones Sr. remembers Dan Rooney’s ‘dignity and class’.
Jones, the Cowboys’ owner/general manger since 1989 and a 2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, recalled seeing Rooney enter Dallas’ locker room to congratulate Jones and his team following the Cowboys’ last-second, 35-30 victory over Pittsburgh in Week 9 of the 2016 season.
“My last in-person visit with Dan came just moments after our teams played in Pittsburgh in November. It was a thrilling game that came down to the last possession, and Dan came to the Cowboys locker room to congratulate our team,” Jones said, via Cowboys.com. It was a touching act of kindness and sportsmanship, and a moment that will forever remind me of the dignity and class with which he lived every day of his wonderful life.”
“Dan more than capably followed in the footsteps of his father, Art, a league founder,” he said. “He shaped the league with instincts, wisdom and a soft-spoken velvet touch. He was a steward and a guardian for the growth and popularity of the NFL, because he loved the game so much.
