Art Rooney Jr., an underrated architect of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ dynasty, is one step closer to following many of the players he scouted and helped draft into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Rooney is one of the 25 candidates remaining for the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame Contributor category as the Hall whittled the list down from 47 names.
Rooney, now 88 years old, served as the Steelers’ personnel director from 1965 to 1986. There, he helped take Pittsburgh from a history of lovable losers into a dynasty. Under his watch, the team drafted QB Terry Bradshaw, RB Franco Harris, WRs Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, DT Joe Greene, LBs Jack Lambert and Jack Ham, and CB Mel Blount, all Hall of Famers and core members of the Steelers’ 1970s dynasty.
Pittsburgh won four Super Bowls during the decade while making the playoffs each year from 1972-1979. Head coach Chuck Noll, scout Bill Nunn, and Dan Rooney are often given the most credit for the roster construction, rightfully so, but Rooney Jr. also played a key role.
From 1972-1986, the Steelers had the league’s fifth-best winning rate at just under 65 percent, becoming one of the league’s most storied franchises over that span and legacy that lives on today. Today, Rooney Jr. is the Steelers’ vice president.
Out Scott Brown spoke in April with Rooney, who understood Steelers fatigue may be blocking his path to Canton.
“They tell me I’m a hard sell because my dad and [brother] Dan are in, and Bill Nunn, who was a very, very dear friend and worked with me, he got in,” Rooney told Brown. “They tell me, ‘There’s too many Rooneys.’ You try to laugh about it, but it is sort of a kick in the shins.”
The Hall of Fame Committee will reduce the 25 names to nine semifinalists two weeks from now. Other notable names still on the list include former Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams, broadcasters Chris Berman and Howard Cosell, current New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and former Oakland Raiders CEO Amy Trask.
