Pittsburgh Steelers Owner Art Rooney II Has Powerful Voice In Controversial Thursday Night Football Flex Decisions

The Pittsburgh Steelers owner, Art Rooney II, was recently in Phoenix, Arizona for the Annual NFL League Meetings. Rooney was joined by Head Coach Mike Tomlin and General Manager Omar Khan as well as owners and representatives from all the other NFL teams.

Every year one of the hot-button topics is proposed rule changes. Some changes are submitted by the league's competition committee which is a 10-person committee comprised of owners, team executives, general managers and head coaches. The main focus of the committee's submissions, of which there were eight this year, is focused on player safety and league integrity. The teams are also allowed to submit proposed rule changes to be reviewed. For a rule to be changed, it must receive the support of 75 percent of the owners, or 24 of the 32. It is more likely for a rule change to pass if it is endorsed by the competition committee. 

Where Does The Steelers Art Rooney II Stand On The Changes?

Speculation is rampant as the meeting is happening with everyone wondering how their team is voting. Now we have been told by Rooney how he voted on two of the biggest proposed changes this year. The first was a rule that would allow teams to be scheduled for two "Thursday Night Football" games each season instead of just one. This rule was ratified by owners and will go into effect for the 2023 season. 

The second rule would allow the league the ability to flex "Thursday Night Football" games. This possible change was tabled by owners for now.

The chief goal of being able to flex the Thursday games is to avoid having two losing teams playing each other. As was evident during 2022, the teams you think will be the best often wind up having struggles. The NFL is all about the revenue, Thursday night games get national coverage, and no one wants to watch two 1-6 teams battle it out. If they go back and pass this then the league could move Sunday afternoon games to Thursday night during weeks 14-17 after giving the teams 15 days' notice. This ensures that the Thursday games remain competitive. 

Alan Saunders reported via Twitter that Rooney said he voted in favor of playing two Thursday games but voted against the ability to flex them. 

As soon as it was announced that it will now be possible to have two Thursday night games a season, players and fans took to social media to express their frustration. It means that teams potentially could wind up with those "short" weeks to recover now twice a year instead of once. The league will be able to schedule a game on a Thursday after a team just played on Sunday effectively eliminating three days in between.

Like Tomlin, most coaches are not in favor of the flex change. Schedule changes are hard on everyone - players, coaches, staff and fans. In addition, those multiple shorter weeks raise safety concerns from players. 

Many expressed the feeling that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is prioritizing profits over player safety. After all, the NFL did embark on a new partnership in 2022 giving Amazon the rights to air Thursday night games. Goodell defended the idea of flexing the games by saying that it ensures competitive teams play in prime time and that many players love the extra days off on the back end. 

It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out as the 2023 season gets underway. Do the flex rule and the additional Thursday night game punish teams who are performing well? Are you surprised that Rooney voted for the extra TNF game? Are you surprised he voted against the flex rule? What did you think of TNF on Amazon last year? Don't be shy! Tell us how you feel in the comments below.

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