A week that meant to much to so many
Dublin based fan Tom McCormack has been a Steelers fan for as long as he can remember – 1979 in fact. When he heard that the team was planning to come to Ireland, he was ecstatic. “It was a week-long celebration”, he said. “Many fans of all teams in Ireland went from a limited television offering of delayed NFL highlights weekly in the 1980s and 1990s to a live preseason game in Croke Park in 1997. It meant so much for so many people.”
Looking back twenty seven years on, McCormack realizes the significance of the time in Dublin. “I have been a Steelers fan for a generation and I know how much this game meant to the Rooney family”, he said. “One of my favorite parts of the week was when we got to meet the players at sessions at UCD and Wanderers Rugby Club. To see the black and gold run out at Croke Park that weekend was just amazing.”
For so many players on the Steelers roster in 1997, the opportunity to play in Ireland was the first time that they had left the United States. For former Steelers TE Mark Bruener, the week meant that little bit more. “We realized we’re going to be there for a full week prior”, he told The Irish Steelers Podcast. “They allowed us to bring our families – so this was a big time event. This was not just a preseason game. If you think about pressure of being a first round pick, well, you want to think about the pressure that the players were in general were experiencing because we were going to the Rooney family homeland and we wanted to make sure that we represented Mr. Rooney and his family the right way.”
For Bruener, it was a welcome change from the usual activities in August. “It was great because training camp is a real grind”, he said. For you to be able to have a week away from training camp, it was an opportunity to kind of recharge the batteries. You were able to work during the early part of the day and then have the afternoon to experience the country and also experience the culture of Dublin and Ireland, which was incredible. My family went up to the waterfront and they took a train up there and were able to experience and do different things where they can actually really understand the culture of Ireland and really understand what Dublin has to provide…it was an incredible experience.”
Coach Cowher and the crystal trophy
The Steelers Head Coach entering Croke Park in July 1997 was Bill Cowher. When I asked him about his memories of the game at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas this past February, he smiled. “I love Ireland. It is a beautiful country”, he said. “That trip was so important to Mr Rooney. I still remember that Waterford Crystal trophy that we won when we played the Bears in Dublin. I remember on Thursday, we had the mindset that we weren’t going to play anyone. Mr Rooney said ‘Coach, – Patricia (his wife) really loves that crystal – it would look good in a trophy case!'”Suddenly, Coach Cowher’s mindset changed for the game against the Bears. “I went back, called the staff and said that we are playing the starters for the first quarter and that we were going to put a couple more plays in”, he said.
“Listen, we’ve never played in Ireland before and Mr Rooney was not going to play here for the first time and lose this game.”
“As far as I’m concerned, winning that game was as important as winning the home opener.”
The Waterford Crystal trophy still sits in the Steelers trophy cabinet to this day.
Many outings took place that week in Dublin, but one of the standout player activities was golf. Kordell Stewart was pictured along with other Steelers and Bears players on the local news playing golf earlier in the week.
For Steelers Hall of Famer Dermontti Dawson, it was a week to remember. “We played golf against the Bears and we won a trophy after beating them, he said. “It was great, just being able to travel around Dublin – it’s a great place to go and visit. I had never been to Europe before. It was a special game, knowing the heritage from the Rooneys and their family emigrating to the United States.”
Dawson and many other players understood the importance of the moment in the teams history and where they played. “The history of Croke Park – it was an honor just to even be able to play on that field because that was the first NFL game on that turf – so it was a great experience”, he said.
Steelers QB Stewart completed 7-of-11 passes for 131 yards and gave the Steelers a 10-0 lead after one quarter, with the Steelers going on to win 30-17.
It has been twenty seven years from that weekend – and this Sunday thousands of Armagh fans will drive through the Rooney family homestead in Newry on the way to Croke Park for the All Ireland Final, for the first time since 2003.
Also, the anniversary of the game takes place on the same day as the National Championship final in Ireland between University College Dublin and the Dublin Rebels in Athlone, a sure sign of the growth of the game in Ireland.
Who knows when we will see the Steelers play in Ireland again – but when it happens, many will travel from across the island of Ireland and beyond to be part of a historic moment, with many more eyes looking down, smiling.