Years ago, when the NFL changed rules governing who may own stakes in an NFL franchise, much of the Rooney family had to divest from control of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The franchise founded by “The Chief” more than 90 years ago is now overseen by one of his grandsons, Art Rooney II. Another one of his grandsons, Jim Rooney, isn’t doing his brother any particular favors.
Recently appearing on Ross Tucker’s podcast, Jim Rooney discussed the state of the Steelers. In defending their recent lack of playoff success and HC Mike Tomlin, he said a quiet part out loud. Basically, the Steelers are doing as good as they can manage.
“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,” Rooney said.
He is referring to the Steelers’ lovely streak of non-losing seasons and of reaching the playoffs. Sure, they manage that about as well as most teams, especially the further you zoom out.
But it doesn’t change the fact that the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016. It doesn’t change the fact that they haven’t won the AFC North since 2020. And it doesn’t change the fact that, more often than not, they have been limping to the finish line.
Since 2018, the Steelers have only finished better than 10-7 once. Now, 10-7 isn’t terrible, but it’s also not among the elite. That translates to a .588 winning percentage. And they have finished below that mark in four of the past seven years.
“I think if this was a boxing match and you were judging the competition, not just looking at the winning percentage, you would say that we have performed in a harder circumstance than most and outperformed them,” Jim Rooney said of the Steelers.
I wonder if Art Rooney II didn’t call him up after his comments went viral and asked him to stop weighing in on the current state of the Steelers. Jim Rooney has been doing media tours for a book about his family. Inevitably, interviewers want to ask about the Steelers — but he has nothing to do with the team.
Instead, he now makes Art Rooney II and the Steelers look accepting of the status quo. Hey, we’re making the best of what we have, right? We’re outperforming the mean. At least we manage to be just good enough all the time, even if we’re never great. The trophy case is pretty full, after all, and greed is a deadly sin.
But the point is, all of this has merely put a negative light on the team. Art Rooney II is supposed to speak to reporters soon, and he’ll have to answer for this. Last year, he came out and said he’s sick of not winning in the playoffs. That is the message the Steelers want to send. Not, “Hey, we’re giving it a go and whatever happens, happens.”
