Steelers owner Art Rooney II is the victim of a vicious tirade by Mike Florio ahead of Week 6

the pittsburgh steelmen are not having a very good start to the 2022 season. The Steelers were embarrassed by the buffalo bills 38-3 and are now an 8.5 point underdog for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday at home. mike tomlin Y Matt Canada they’ve come under fire this week for the status of black and gold and fans want an organizational scalp so they can assess the blame.

mike florio who hosts professional football talk on NBC Sports, he joined the popular 93.7-afternoon radio show PM team with Poni and Mueller Wednesday afternoon and advanced a different theory. Florio proposed that Tomlin was an easy target and something, or more specifically, someone else in Pittsburgh is at fault.

“I still think Art Rooney is much more involved in everything than we realize,” Florio began. “Jerry Jones does it in Dallas, he just exposes it. Art Rooney has never done that, maybe it’s out of humility or maybe it’s because he has others to blame if he goes wrong.”

Art Rooney “The Boss” he began his tenure with the Steelers for 39 years before the franchise scored a playoff victory courtesy of Immaculate Reception in 1972, but then went on to preside over perhaps the greatest team in the Super Bowl era, the 1990s Steelers. 1970. His son dan rooney is responsible for the transition to bill cowherthe Rooney’s rule and two more Super Bowl trophies. Anyone who has played for them speaks of both with reverence.

“It’s a collaboration,” Florio continued. “The problem with a collaboration is that ultimately someone has to be the one. Who is leading the charge towards consensus? It doesn’t happen organically, because there will be disagreements and disputes and then someone will break the tie. Unless they’re very good at exchanging positions, it’s always been difficult to see who runs that organization. I think Art Rooney has a lot more influence and a lot more power than anyone realizes at all levels of decision-making.”

Art Rooney II he has been president of the Steelers organization since 2003. He had a 20% ownership interest in the team at the time and, following the death of his father in 2017, is believed to have inherited the other 30% ownership interest from the Steelers. equipment. He is the majority owner of the team and probably calls the shots on all things Steelers, like his father and his grandfather before him.

“The Steelers hold themselves to this platinum standard for stability and consistency for good reason,” Florio said. “Three coaches since 1969. The Rooneys owned the team before that and fired coaches every two years because it sucked. It’s very easy to keep your coaches when the team is good. It makes it so much easier to stick with your plan of never firing your coach, almost where he becomes your identity.”

Florio has a solid point about the Steelers’ organization. Art Rooney was not patient with losses during the early years. The Steelers had 13 coaches in 33 years before the hire chuck noll and since 1969 they have only had three. Nevertheless, joe bach Y walt kiesling they served five terms as head coaches between them, with 12 of the 16 coaches spending their entire professional careers in Pittsburgh. The team’s best chance of success was jock sutherland who led the team to the playoffs in 1947 but unfortunately died before the 1948 season.

“The limited partners a few years ago,” Florio shared. “They were making noise about changing coaches and Art Rooney just ignores it. To the extent that Art Rooney is quietly Jerry Jones playing for the Steelers, you need people to agree with that, and the next coach might not. You throw a new personality into that mix and it might change, but one bad year isn’t going to do that.”

Florio, who was also a lawyer before becoming a full-time football commentator, has often said that he is not a fan of the Steelers. He lives in nearby West Virginia and part of the organization’s vitriol could be the iron curtain that surrounds the team’s management dealings and his lack of access to them. Rooney’s image is carefully crafted and, unlike the dallas cowboys Owner who started at the top, has been with the organization since 1989.

“I’m throwing Bruce Arians overboard again,” Florio speculated. “What happened after Tomlin told him I took care of you, I got you a new contract. Arians has said that on the record. So, Mike Tomlin is either two-faced or he didn’t have the juice. I choose to say the latter. Todd Haley then turns into this forced marriage that I don’t think Tomlin wanted. I just don’t think Mike Tomlin has the juice.”

Report: Steelers likely to keep OC Matt Canada for now as layoff may not happen until after 2022 season

At this point, the incredulous team of Andres Fillipponi Y Chris Mueller interrupted the veteran NFL insider’s tirade. The pair asked if he was implying that Tomlin not only couldn’t fire Canada, but couldn’t even have been responsible for the hiring of his own staff.

“Yes,” Florio replied bluntly. “Rooney has been able to maintain this facade where no one ever calls him. That’s why he would do it. You stay away from criticism because it’s never you. If he goes sideways, someone else takes the fall. As long as the team is competitive every year, it never becomes a problem.”

The accusations are staggering and seem like an attempt to stir up a hornet’s nest within the organization. The players look disgusting and the younger fans who only know the ben roethlisberger Steelers, they’re upset with the state of the team. The Rooneys are a third-generation operation, and if Art Rooney II has meddled behind the scenes since he became team president in 2003, he’s been quite successful at doing so.

Unlike the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, who at one point named himself the team’s general manager.

The Steelers have made three Super Bowl appearances this century under Rooney’s current regime and are in his first year as a post-Hall of Fame quarterback. Unlike when Terry Bradshaw retired, the Steelers actually seem to have a succession plan with Kenny Pickett. If you’re butting in, you’re doing a good job.

What do you think steeler nation? Are you surprised to hear Florio blame Mr. Rooney for the Steelers’ problems? Comment below or on me Twitter @thebubbasq.

#SteelerNation