1932
Daniel Milton Rooney is born on July 20 on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
1933
Pittsburgh’s NFL team, originally called the Pirates, is founded on July 8 by Art Rooney. The name is changed to the Steelers in the 1940s.
1952
Rooney marries Patricia Reagan. The couple goes on to have nine children.
1955
Rooney graduates from Duquesne University with a bachelor of arts degree in accounting.
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Rooney (center) celebrates the Steelers’ victory in Super Bowl X with coach Chuck Noll (left) and NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, after beating the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 on Jan. 18, 1976.
Photo by: AP IMAGES
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1960
Begins formal Steelers career, working as director of personnel.
1964
Fires popular head coach Buddy Parker after eight seasons with no postseason appearances.
1967
Annual summer training camp begins at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., where it remains today.
1969
Rooney is managing the day-to-day operations of the team and personally hires new head coach Chuck Noll. Noll goes on to coach for 23 years and be the only coach to win four Super Bowls.
1970
Three Rivers Stadium opens as home to the Steelers and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
1972
The Rooney family acquires Yonkers (N.Y.) Raceway.
1973
Rooney is appointed chairman of the NFL expansion committee, which adds Seattle and Tampa Bay as new franchises in 1976.
1975
The Steelers win Super Bowl IX on Jan. 12 in New Orleans, the first of six to date under Rooney’s watch.
Rooney is named Steelers’ president.
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Rooney poses with the Steelers’ first four Super Bowl trophies in 1980. The Steelers remain the only NFL team to win four Super Bowls in six years.
Photo by: AP IMAGES
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1976
Rooney is named chairman of the NFL negotiating committee.
1980
The Steelers win Super Bowl XIV, their fourth title in six years.
1987
Following consecutive losing seasons, Rooney fires his brother, Art Jr., who had been vice president of player personnel since 1971.
1988
Art Sr. dies. Each of the five brothers inherits 16 percent of the organization. The other 20 percent is owned by the family of the late Barney McGinley, who helped Art Sr. reacquire the Steelers in the 1940s after Rooney sold the team for a brief time.
1991
Chuck Noll retires in December. The Steelers hire Pittsburgh native Bill Cowher to replace the legend.
1996
The Steelers make their fifth Super Bowl appearance, and first under Cowher.
1997
Rooney’s Public House opens in Jupiter, Fla. Other Rooney-themed restaurants have opened in West Palm Beach and Palm Beach International Airport.
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Rooney poses with presenter and former Steelers great “Mean” Joe Greene after Rooney’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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1999
Along with Cleveland Browns owner Al Lerner, Rooney begins to create the NFL’s G3 financing program, whereby the league would loan money to teams that wanted to build a new stadium.
2000
Rooney is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, joining his father, Art, as only the second father-son tandem to be inducted into the hall. In the closing remarks of his acceptance speech, Rooney says: “The National Football League, the game is your legacy. Protect it. Don’t let anyone tarnish it. God bless you.”
2001
The $281 million Heinz Field opens. The team contributed about $123 million.
2002
Washington law firm Mehri & Skalet, of Johnnie Cochran fame, releases a report called “Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Performances, Inferior Opportunities.” Commissioner Paul Tagliabue announces the creation of the diversity in the workplace committee, chaired by Rooney and overseen by Roger Goodell, NFL executive vice president and COO.
Officially turns over the title of team president to his oldest son, Art Rooney II.
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Celebrating Pittsburgh’s fifth Super Bowl title after Super Bowl XL in 2006
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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2003
NFL adopts the “Rooney Rule” requiring teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs.
2006
After the Steelers win their fifth Super Bowl title, beating Seattle in Super Bowl XL, the NFL approaches the Rooneys about consolidating ownership.
Family-owned Empire City Casino opens at Yonkers Raceway with 5,400 slot and table game machines.
2007
Mike Tomlin becomes the 10th African-American head coach in NFL history, and first in Steelers history.
Rooney’s brothers Art Jr., Tim, Pat and John hire Goldman Sachs to value the team. In a project code-named “Project Newcastle,” Goldman Sachs in late 2007 values the Steelers at $800 million to as much as $1.2 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. Each brother still owns 16 percent.
2008
Stanley Druckenmiller, a billionaire hedge fund manager with strong Pittsburgh ties, offers to buy controlling interest in the organization for more than $800 million in cash.
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Enjoying title No. 6 in 2009 with President Obama, coach Mike Tomlin (right) and the team
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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2009
The Steelers win Super Bowl XLIII, giving Rooney his sixth ring and making Tomlin, at age 36, the youngest head coach to lead his team to an NFL championship.
Rooney is appointed U.S. ambassador to Ireland on July 1, after which he is named chairman emeritus of the Steelers. Rooney serves as ambassador through 2012.
The team announces the sale of stock from Tim, Pat and John Rooney, and the McGinley families, to Art Jr. and Dan. The sale finalizes the separation of the Steelers from the Rooneys’ gaming interests.
2011
The Steelers reach a record eighth Super Bowl, losing to Green Bay in Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6.
2013
Rooney is honored as one of the 2013 Presidential Distinguished Service Award recipients, and is inducted into the Irish American Hall of Fame.
