Patrick Rooney Jr. has no direct affiliation with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he sure has some direct opinions about them. Founded by his grandfather, “The Chief” Art Rooney, he is not in any way a part of the Steelers’ ownership group. His cousin, Art Rooney II, is the team’s current president, though, and he doesn’t seem overly impressed.
In that regard, Rooney fits in with the attitude of many Steelers fans who believe the team has fallen behind. Absent a playoff win since 2016, it’s not hard to see why. Pittsburgh has floundered without a franchise quarterback for years now, jumping from one Band-Aid to another. The latest is Aaron Rodgers, who is on the cusp of retirement.
“This whole season depends on if Aaron Rodgers can somehow stay upright for 17 games and do something from an offensive capacity”, Patrick Rooney Jr. said on the PBKC Picks Podcast. For the record, the video appears to be down at the moment but may reappear soon.
“The problems with the Steelers are offensively; the person that we brought in to fix that, at least to some capacity, is Aaron Rodgers”, Rooney continued. “If he can stay healthy, we might be a little bit better offensively. And then maybe we’ll win a playoff game, I don’t know. I think that’s their goal now, is to win a playoff game. Not to win a Super Bowl”.
Earlier this offseason, another Rooney weighed in on the state of the Steelers. Jim Rooney, Art II’s brother, seemed to make excuses for the team’s lack of recent success. In doing so, he seemed to lower the proverbial standard, which, if you ask anybody in the organization, is winning Super Bowls.
Those like Patrick Rooney, however, view the standard as something different: an impartial reflection of reality. If the standard is the average level of performance, then the Steelers’ standards have clearly lowered. They have won just two division titles since 2017, and no postseason wins. Famously, they have never had a losing season under HC Mike Tomlin, but the last people who care about that are Steelers fans. At this point, they want a losing season to help find a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback.
Patrick Rooney doesn’t sound optimistic about the 2025 season, criticizing the Steelers’ offseason moves. He predicts that the Ravens will steamroll Pittsburgh—as they did in last season’s playoffs. He also took them to task for acquiring WR DK Metcalf and CB Jalen Ramsey, two players he argues are head cases.
Patrick Rooney Jr.’s opinions about the Steelers, of course, don’t mean any more than anybody’s whose name isn’t Rooney. While he is a relative of the franchise’s founding family, he is a mere observer like the rest of us. Still, it’s always notable, or at least eye-opening, when a team owner’s cousin comes out and says these things. Perhaps he didn’t expect to make headlines when he hopped on a kennel club’s podcast, but here we are.
