In a big step in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ hopeful return to St. Vincent College for training camp this summer, the NFL sent out a memo announcing teams will be permitted to travel away from their team facility for camp, pending league approval.
Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
The memo also updates information on coach and player gatherings.
Art Rooney II and the Pittsburgh Steelers have struck an optimistic tone on getting to come back to Latrobe for training camp this summer. At least twice this offseason, Rooney stated hope the team would get back to SVC. Here’s what he said in late March.
“That’s the plan,” Rooney said when asked if the team would return to its typical camp site. “As I said to the previous caller, we’re hoping that things get back to normal this fall. Obviously training camp happens a little earlier than that. It’s something we’re planning for now, but we’ll see how things go. We need this virus thing to turn the corner and and we still want to make sure that fans are safe when they come to St. Vincent. So we may have to look at if we have to limit the number of fans, things like that. We’ll be looking at all those issues. But right now, our goal and our plan is to have training camp at St. Vincent this summer.”
The concern was if the league would allow it. Last year, all teams had to hold training camp at their team facilities. For Pittsburgh, that meant working out at Heinz Field with no fans allowed and very little analysis or news coming out over those couple of weeks. If you’re familiar with the site, you know we love getting to provide in-depth analysis of anything and everything that happens during training camp.
The Steelers will still need the NFL to approve a trip to Latrobe. Assuming it’s granted, there will probably be other logistical hurdles to ensure player safety. That could mean things like spreading out players’ rooms. It’s doubtful players will be sharing rooms this year, and it’s unclear what the policy on fans will be. There’s no guarantee the team will even allow fans on campus. If they are, the Steelers will likely restrict the number of fans who can attend. It’s also doubtful there will be the typical autograph sessions that take place before and after practice.
Still, this is all positive news for the summer. And assuming we’re allowed, you can count on us being there and reporting on what happens each day.
