Recently, Jim Rooney, brother of Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II, weighed in on the state of the franchise. Jim has nothing to do with the Steelers but was promoting a book he wrote about their late father. Since then, he has spent years doing the media rounds, the conversation inevitably spilling into Steelers territory.
More often than not, it has been innocuous enough, but his recent remarks ruffled some feathers. Essentially, he said the Steelers were doing the best they could in a tough environment. While technically true, it is not consistent with the team’s ethos.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Art Rooney II naturally had to address those comments. And he did so with one simple line, saying via 93.7 The Fan, “Jim speaks for himself, and I’m happy that he’s doing good selling his book”. I wouldn’t go so far as to claim there was agitation in his voice. Clearly, however, brother Jim did Art and the Steelers no favors.
“I don’t want to get into excuse-making, but the reality is we outperform the NFL mean at a greater rate than just about any team for the last 25 years,” Jim Rooney said of the Steelers. They always have a non-losing record and usually make the playoffs. But they also usually lose their first playoff game, while most of the league finds a way to win at least once.
If we assume that the NFL mean is 8.5 wins, then yes, technically, the Steelers always outperform the mean. Or at least they manage to hit the mean. The problem isn’t reaching the mean, though. The problem is that they haven’t come close to being the outlier in a long time.
You always want to be the outlier in a positive way because they earn the trophies. The Steelers still have the most Super Bowls in NFL history, but it’s becoming ancient history. Since the Steelers’ last Super Bowl win, 11 different teams have won it. Art Rooney II’s father, Dan, was still in charge then, and he left his permanent role to take a government job the following year, in 2009.
The problem is that many take Jim Rooney to speak for more than himself. The pent-up frustration from Steelers fans leads many to view his comments as representative of the organization as a whole. They interpret it as their only interest is doing just enough to keep the coffers flowing. After all, unlike most other teams at this point, the Rooney family business is still football. Other teams have owners who are otherwise already wealthy. Running a team is a hobby for them, so they can take greater risks as a passion project.
I personally don’t buy this theory. This may be a situation in which Hanlon’s razor is applicable. Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. Just because Rooney and the Steelers repeatedly fail to win playoff games doesn’t mean they’re not doing their best in trying. More likely, their best simply isn’t good enough. But that may be harder to accept than apathy because at least apathy can be overcome.
