Daniel Milton Rooney (July 20, 1932 – April 13, 2017) was an American professional football executive and diplomat best known for his association with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL), and son of the Steelers' founder, Art Rooney. He held various roles within the organization, most notably as president, owner and chairman.
Rooney implemented a philosophy and management style that emphasized open, practical and efficient management. The Steelers were very successful during his tenure, winning 15 division championships, eight AFC Championships, and an NFL record six Super Bowl Championships. In 2000, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his contributions to the game. He was also credited with spearheading a requirement that NFL teams with head coach and general manager vacancies interview at least one minority candidate, which has become known as the "Rooney Rule".
Outside of football, Rooney served as the United States Ambassador to Ireland, from July 2009 until his resignation in December 2012. He was also co-founder of the Ireland-related fundraising organization The Ireland Funds.
Daniel Milton Rooney was born in Pittsburgh, the son of Kathleen (née McNulty) and Pittsburgh Steelers' owner Art Rooney. In the Steelers organization, Rooney was involved in many aspects of the franchise from the time he was a young boy, often assisting his father at Pitt Stadium and Forbes Field. He grew up in the North Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh and attended North Catholic High School where he excelled as the team's quarterback. He was also the coach for the St. Peter's Elementary school football team, which was quarterbacked by future CIA Director and lifelong friend Michael Hayden. Rooney was mentored by Fran Fogerty, Joe Carr and Ed Kiely. These men assisted in teaching him the business of football.
Rooney attended Duquesne University, majoring in accounting. During his time at Duquesne, he was briefly a classmate of future Steelers head coach Bill Cowher's father, Laird Cowher. Rooney graduated with a degree in accounting in 1954.
In 1960, Rooney originally worked as director of personnel for the Steelers. In 1969, Rooney was appointed by his father to be the team's general manager, succeeding Francis Fogarty, who retired following the 1968 season. Rooney's first season as general manager saw him select Joe Greene third overall, who later became a staple of the team's Steel Curtain defense throughout their 1970s dynasty teams. After a poor outing in 1969 with a 1–13 record, Rooney stepped down from the general manager position, instead hiring Dick Haley. Hiring Haley proved fruitful for the team as he acquired the 1974 draft class which featured four future Hall of Fame players.
By early 1969, Rooney was managing the day-to-day operations of the team and personally selected the coaching hire of Chuck Noll. Rooney was appointed team president in 1975 and was officially given full operational control of the franchise. His father remained chairman and President Emeritus, as well as the public face of the franchise, until his death in 1988. Rooney oversaw all six championship teams for the Steelers between Super Bowl IX and Super Bowl XLIII and played a role in hiring all three of the Steelers' head coaches in 1969, 1992 and 2007.
Rooney generally avoided the spotlight, but he was a very active owner behind the scenes. Rooney helped lead the negotiations of the collective bargaining agreement of 1982, and is largely credited both by owners and players for ending a strike that lasted half of the season. He was also one of the main architects of the salary cap, which was implemented in 1993. Rooney became the patriarch and controlling owner of the team, following the death of his father. In 2003, Rooney followed in his father's footsteps by slowly ceding day-to-day operations of the franchise to the next generation of the family. While Rooney was still chairman, and to many fans, the public face of the team, his son Art Rooney II assumed full operational control of the Steelers.
In 1995, Rooney tried to stop the Steelers' biggest rival, the Cleveland Browns, from moving to Baltimore. He and Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson were the only owners to vote against the move and he was a driving force in ensuring the Browns return to Cleveland in 1999.
The Steelers' selection of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the 2004 NFL draft is often credited to Rooney. According to Bill Cowher, Cowher originally wanted to select offensive lineman Shawn Andrews with the 11th overall pick as he was "comfortable" with incumbent quarterbacks Tommy Maddox and Charlie Batch. Rooney made the final call on the pick, not wanting to miss out on another opportunity draft a franchise quarterback after the team passed on Dan Marino in 1983. Roethlisberger's selection ended a quarterback drought for the franchise that persisted since Terry Bradshaw's retirement in 1983 and led to three Super Bowl appearances between 2005 and 2010.
Rooney was considered to be patient with the team. In 1969, head coach Chuck Noll led the team to a record of 1–13, the worst in franchise history. Rooney chose to retain Noll for the 1970 season and gave him a slight raise for his efforts during the season. Rooney never waned on his faith in Noll, retaining him despite several poor seasons near the end of his tenure and allowed him to retire in 1991 rather than firing him. Throughout the 1998 and 1999 seasons, Rooney retained Bill Cowher as the team's head coach despite recording a combined record of 13–19 with two consecutive losing seasons. Rooney dismissed the notion of firing Cowher in February 2000 amidst rumors he would not return in 2000 stating "We all recognize that we have a lot of hard work to do in the months ahead, and I am concerned that ongoing speculation about these meetings could get in the way of what we are trying to accomplish." Cowher would later lead his team to two consecutive AFC Championship appearances in 2004 and 2005, winning Super Bowl XL following the latter.
Though Rooney never officially retired from his position, his involvement waned in the 2010s. Following the team's Super Bowl XLV defeat, much of the Rooneys' operations were handled by Dan's son Art Rooney II. In Rooney's final season with the team, the Steelers finished with an 11–5 record and claimed the AFC North title for the second time in three years. The team led a playoff run, ending with a 36–17 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship.
On July 7, 2008, Rooney and his son, team president Art Rooney II, announced that they were seeking to buy out his brothers' shares in the team. The team initially said that some of Rooney's four brothers want to "get out of the NFL and focus their business efforts on their racetracks and other interests." The Wall Street Journal reported that the Steelers had "been secretly shopped to potential buyers amid continuing divisions among the five sons of the team's founder, Art Rooney Sr." This forced the Steelers to announce that prolonged, ongoing negotiations were under way concerning the "restructuring" of ownership, which could have resulted in the sale of the franchise or a consolidation of control within the Rooney family. Discussions had supposedly been taking place for the last two years. The use of the phrase "ensure compliance with NFL ownership policies" referred to the family's gambling operation. At the time of publication, they owned Yonkers Raceway, a harness racing track outside of New York City, and Palm Beach Kennel Club, a greyhound racetrack in West Palm Beach. The New York racetrack had been owned by the family since 1972, and the Florida racetrack had been owned since 1970. The team said "these facilities have added forms of gaming that are inconsistent with NFL gambling policy.", relating to the then-recent installation of slot machines. According to league policy, no NFL owner may own, directly or indirectly, any interests in a gambling casino. The NFL defines any facility with slot machines as a casino.