31 Facts About Art Rooney

Art Rooney was the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, an American football franchise in the National Football League, from 1933 until his death.

Art Rooney was the first president of the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1933 to 1974, and the first chairman of the team from 1933 until his death in 1988.

Two years after Dan Art Rooney was born, the family moved back to Canada and eventually ended up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1884.

Dan Art Rooney remained in the Pittsburgh area, and eventually opened a saloon in the Youghiogheny Valley coal town of Coulter, Pennsylvania.

Art Rooney had a brother, Silas Art Rooney, who later entered the priesthood.

Silas Art Rooney eventually became the athletic director for St Bonaventure University in 1947 and invited the Steelers to play their training camp at the university in the 1950s.

Art Rooney attended St Peter's Catholic School in Pittsburgh, Duquesne University Prep School, then several semesters at Indiana Normal School before completing a final year at Temple University on an athletic scholarship.

Art Rooney was awarded for his athleticism at Indiana by being posthumously inducted into the IUP athletic Hall of Fame in 1997.

Art Rooney spent his time there participating on both the basketball and football teams while playing centerfielder for the Crimson Hawks baseball team.

Art Rooney played minor league baseball for both the Flint, Michigan "Vehicles" and the Wheeling, West Virginia "Stogies".

Art Rooney's team played games at the former Exposition Park on the Northside.

Art Rooney named his new team the "Pirates", after the city's baseball team, of which Rooney was a fan since childhood.

In 1936, Art Rooney won a parlay at Saratoga Race Course, which netted him about $160,000.

Art Rooney placed the bet based on a tip from New York Giants owner Tim Mara, a bookmaker.

Art Rooney used the winnings to hire a coach, Joe Bach, give contracts to his players and almost win a championship.

Art Rooney got his good friend and his sister's father in law, Barney McGinley, to buy Bell's shares.

Art Rooney sent shock waves through the NFL by signing Byron "Whizzer" White to a record-breaking $15,000 contract in 1938.

Art Rooney longed to bring an NFL title to Pittsburgh but was never able to beat the powerhouse teams, like the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers.

Nevertheless, Art Rooney was popular with owners as a mediator, which would carry over to his son Dan Art Rooney.

Art Rooney was the only owner to vote against moving the rights of the New York Yanks to Dallas, Texas after the 1951 season due to concerns of racism in the South at the time.

From 1969 until his death in 1988, Art Rooney acted as the team's chairman and President Emeritus.

Art Rooney oversaw the team subsequently win three more.

Art Rooney acquired the Yonkers Raceway in 1972, the Palm Beach Kennel Club, Green Mountain Kennel Club in Vermont, Shamrock Stables in Maryland and owned the Liberty Bell Park Racetrack outside Philadelphia.

Art Rooney continued to work with the team until his death, often helping to scout talent for the Steelers' roster.

Art Rooney held authority over team decisions for much of the 1970's and 1980's despite taking a diminished position.

An August 1987 Pittsburgh Press story stated that Art Rooney never missed a Hall of Fame induction ceremony in all 25 years, and that he was asked to present his third inductee, John Henry Johnson, that month.

Art Rooney is buried at the North Side Catholic Cemetery in Pittsburgh.

In 1999 Art Rooney ranked 81st on the Sporting News' "100 Most Powerful Sports Figures of the 20th Century" list.

Art Rooney is the subject of, and the only character in, the one-man play The Chief, written by Gene Collier and Rob Zellers.

Arthur J Rooney was married to Kathleen Rooney nee McNulty for 51 years, until her 1982 death.

Art Rooney is the grandmother of the couple's 32 grandchildren, including current Steelers president Art Rooney II and US Representative Thomas J Rooney.