Steelers Owner Art Rooney II Receives Vicious Backlash For Response To 2024 NFLPA Survey

The Pittsburgh Steelers' late owners, Art Rooney and Dan Rooney are two of the most beloved owners in the history of professional sports. Both men personified class during their tenures with the Steelers. It took a while to get going, but since the AFL-NFL merger, when Pittsburgh was moved to the AFC, the Steelers are tied with the New England Patriots for the most Super Bowl Championships in the league. They have appeared in 16 AFC Championship games and employed just three coaches since 1969.

On Thursday, Mike Florio, the founder of Pro Football Talk, released an article blasting Art Rooney II's reaction to the recent NFLPA anonymous survey about his team's performance in several key areas. The Steelers scored poorly during the survey, finishing at or near the bottom in many categories. Florio cited Rooney's reaction to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic as an example of the indifference of ownership to the NFLPA's input. 

"It doesn't get presented to us; it gets presented to the media, so as far as I'm concerned, it's a media opportunity for the Players Association as opposed to a serious effort of constructive criticism," Rooney said. 

The categories in which the NFLPA scored teams include treatment of families, cafeteria food, various team facilities, coaching, and ownership. Pittsburgh received failing grades on the treatment of families, the locker room, and ownership. The NBC Sports personality was incensed with Rooney's take on the survey. 

"But, frankly, so what if it's a media opportunity?" Florio wrote. "Does that in and of itself make the grades invalid? Also, would Rooney dismiss the grades if his team had done better? Or if he personally had done better than, you know, F?"

It is interesting that Florio referenced Kaboly during his rant. The Athletic writer openly questioned the NFLPA grades when they were released and defended the Steelers' ability to improve the facilities because of their agreement to share them with the Pitt Panthers. Some of the grades are questionable, and the criteria to justify an F- for the treatment of families is, at best, unclear. 

Kaboly joked that the low grade might have been attributed to a family member having to pay for tickets. Cam Heyward blasted the survey. The Steelers received a confounding B- in the food/cafeteria category, but a D in the nutritionist/dietician category. Players liked how the food tasted and was prepared, but presumably thought the choices were terrible. Florio, a frequent critic of the Steelers owner, ignored the contradictory information and forged ahead with his narrative.  

"The Steelers finished 28th out of 32 teams. They would have landed lower if Coach Mike Tomlin hadn’t lifted the average with his high marks," Florio continued. "Someone needs to tell Rooney that there’s a not-so-subtle link between his performance in the grades and his effort to dismiss them as not serious because they weren’t given to the league instead of the media. The whole point is to use pro football's inherently public platform to shine a light on the owners who are doing it right and the owners who aren’t."

Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin's A Grade On NFLPA Survey Fodder For Pro Football Talk's Attack On Art Rooney II

Tomlin received an A grade, good enough for fifth place out of 32 head coaches. It is not surprising that Tomlin finished high in this category. He is usually at or near the top of this list. Florio is one of Tomlin's most vocal supporters in the media and seemingly took great delight in pointing out that he was the reason the Steelers were not lower on the list. 

Rooney's ranking as the 31st-best owner in the league is surprising and might be cause for concern, except for one inconvenient fact that Florio fails to point out. Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt was the only owner who ranked below him on the survey. Under Hunt's stewardship, the Chiefs have won three Super Bowls in the last five seasons and appeared in six consecutive AFC Championship games. 

What do you think, Steeler Nation? Did Florio go overboard in his critique of Rooney? Please comment below or on my Twitter/X: @thebubbasq.

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