"MY 75 YEARS WITH THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS AND THE NFL"
Dan Rooney 2007

Mr. Rooney's book tells the fascinating story of the Pittsburgh Steelers from their early "Pirate" days up to the interviewing of present coach Mike Tomlin. Although Mr. Rooney concentrates on his beloved Steelers, the book also contains an unique insight into the early days of the NFL and it's expansion into the sporting goliath that it is now become.

Rarely will the reader find so many interesting stories about Pro Football in one book. The history of Pro Football from those distant days, when it competed against America's national sport baseball, is compellingly interwoven with Mr. Rooney's account of his family and the Steelers.

The stories are not always told through rose tinted glasses and it is quite obvious there is no love lost between Oakland's owner Al Davies and it all makes for absorbing reading.

One of the sweetest and most amusing tales describes the despair of the 1946 equipment manager, Frank Scott, when he realised that he had forgotten to take a blackboard to training camp - an essential tool of the new coach Jock Sutherland.

Mr. Rooney pays tribute to Steelers' co-owner Bert Bell, who became the NFL's commissioner in 1946, and his efforts to expand the NFL with teams from the AAFC and the introduction of the draft

Many player anecdotes spring from the pages and Bobby Layne is highlighted as a Steelers quarterback that "did whatever it took to win." Mr. Rooney writes engagingly of his father's soft spot for genuine characters such as Layne.

To sum up - this book is a must for any Steelers fan as it provides a superb background to the Rooney family and the emergence of Pittsburgh's football team into one of America's top sports franchises.

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