"Here we go Steelers, Here we go!"

With a crowd of thousands chanting "Here we go Steelers, Here we go..." Steelers president and chairman Dan Rooney presented the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, with a Steelers jersey -- the new O8 -- at Mellon Arena, home of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

One wonders how Tommy Maddox -- a staunch Republican -- feels about Obama being awarded his old number.

Rooney: "Biden plays for our team"

During a recent campaign stop in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Steelers' owner Dan Rooney introduced the democratic vice presidential candidate, giving him the black-and-gold stamp of approval by saying, "Joe Biden plays for our team."

Joe Biden, a Scranton, Pennsylvania native, took the stage and briefly lost his composure as he recounted his family's emotional connection with the Steelers' organization. In December 1972, former Steelers' running back Rocky Bleier visited his two young sons in the hospital and presented them with autographed footballs following the fatal crash that killed Biden's wife and daughter. Click here to see Biden tell his story (courtesy of WTAE/Pittsburgh).

"They looked like they had lighted up like Christmas trees," recalled Biden. "My one little boy was in traction and the other little boy had a seriously fractured skull and they were happy, and they each had ... footballs in their beds." Biden briefly lost his composure remembering the scene. Wiping away a tear he continued, "I said, 'Guys, where'd you get the ball?' and they said, 'Daddy, Rocky Bleier gave it to us.'"

Bleir had been sent to the hospital by Steelers' founder Art Rooney Sr. — Dan Rooney's father — as Biden recalls, "without any fanfare, without any announcement, without anything other than his incredible decency." Once again he broke down and said, "I really apologize, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have tried to do this," he said. Referring the the Rooney family he said, "It's a helluva family, it's a helluva family, the greatest family in football and you're lucky to have them."

Steelers sign special rookie

What are you doing with your summer vacation?

Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers have done one very good deed. Together with the Make-A-Wish Foundation they made 14-year-old Akeem Havens' day, fulfilling Havens' wish to become a Pittsburgh Steeler.

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review , Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert opened a news conference by saying negotiations with Havens' agent (his seven-year-old brother James), had been tough, but that the two sides had agreed to a deal. The day began with Dan Rooney presenting Havens with a Steelers jersey (his name embroidered on the back), and included a videogame session with Roethlisberger, as well as lunch with Big Ben's teammates.

Pittsburgh station KDKA has video of Havens' day: http://kdka.com/video/?id=41933@kdka.dayport.com

Steelers' owner endorses Barack Obama

I can't recall Steelers' owner/chairman Dan Rooney ever endorsing a presidential candidate, but he has come out in support of Barack Obama in an open letter to fellow Pennsylvanians. Whatever one thinks of Obama it's hard to find fault in Mr. Rooney's logic. With Hillary Clinton and John McCain looking increasingly like "more of the same"-type candidates, Obama appears to be the only one with the potential to bring about "real change" for our country.

Thankful for Big Ben? Me too.

In an earlier post The Steelyard provided a sneak preview of the new Dan Rooney book, "My 75 Years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL" (Da Capo), in which Rooney lets it slip that he intervened to make sure the Steelers drafted Ben Roethlisberger with the 11th pick of the 2004 draft (instead of OT Shawn Andrews, who Bill Cowher apparently preferred). Thank goodness Rooney stepped in and backed Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert, who also championed Roethlisberger. This pivotal decision enabled the Steelers to win a Super Bowl, and may well afford the organization the opportunity to win more Super Bowls in the next six or eight years.

Interestingly, it seems like many Steelers' fans underestimate the value of Big Ben. It's hard to fathom how fans can criticize him and say things like, "Big Ben makes me crazy sometimes" or "He makes too many mistakes." Have these fans lost their minds? Or have they simply become spoiled? I'll go on record right now and say that Roethlisberger is already the best QB in franchise history. In this era he may never win four Super Bowls like Terry Bradshaw did but that doesn't change the fact that he has been better ... sooner ... than just about any QB in NFL history. His career record is 39-14 (which rivals the winning percentage of Tom Brady) and if one eliminates the 2006 (accident-appendectomy-concussion) season he's lost a grand total of only six starts (32-6). His career yards per attempt is among the best in NFL history and his post-season record is 5-1. Like every NFL QB he throws interceptions from time to time, but what goes unmentioned is that he fumbles the ball much less often than other QB's. And, as columnist Stan Savran explains in "Thankful for Big Ben", he makes the talent around him look better than it really is.

I think the Steelers have to be concerned that his career may be relatively short, thanks to the cumulative effect of the injuries he has suffered. But let's make no mistake: Big Ben is on course for the Hall of Fame, even if he can't get elected to a Pro Bowl.

Advance word on forthcoming Rooney book

Last week The Steelyard received an advance reading copy of Dan Rooney’s forthcoming book, “My 75 Years With the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL” (Da Capo), scheduled to hit stores on November 5. Longtime Steelers’ fans probably won’t glean a whole lot of new information, although there are certainly some interesting bits about past drafts and personnel changes. For instance, concerning the Bill Cowher-Tom Donahoe spat, Rooney writes, “Bill didn’t want Donahoe in the coaches’ meetings because he thought Tom was a spy. Tom thought Bill was finished as an NFL head coach.” Pretty strong words from both sides, don’t you think?

But to me the most interesting item concerns the 2004 draft. Rooney writes that with Eli Manning and Philip Rivers off the board early in the first round “our people seem to have focused on Shawn Andrews, a big offensive tackle from Arkansas as our likely number-one pick…. But when out turn came, I couldn’t bear the thought of passing on another great quarterback prospect the way we had passed on Dan Marino in 1983, so I steered the conversation around to [Ben] Roethlisberger. After some more talk, we came to a consensus and picked Roethlisberger.”

All I can say is, Way to go, Dan! It would have been foolish to take a right tackle over Big Ben, especially since the Steelers were badly in need of a long-term solution at the QB position. I’ve always believed that when a team has a chance to select a potential franchise quarterback it has to seize the opportunity--particularly a team like the Steelers, which rarely has a chance to select in the top 10 of the draft. In my opinion, the Steelers have been too quick to pass on quarterbacks over the years. For instance, back in 2000 the Steelers had the opportunity to trade the 8th overall pick (used to take Plaxico Burress) for two of the Jets’ first-round picks (one of which could have been used on Chad Pennington). Selecting Pennington would have been a worthwhile risk back in the Kordell Stewart era.

"Plaxico"

Recently, The Steelyard received a copy of the new book “The G.M.: The Inside Story of a Dream Job and the Nightmares That Go With It,” by Tom Callahan (Crown), which chronicles the last year of Ernie Accorsi’s tenure as general manager of the New York Giants. Of course, the book is of minimal interest to Steelers’ fans, except for chapter 4 (“Plaxico”), which focuses on former Steelers’ wide receiver Plaxico Burress, described by Callahan as having “a sleepy manner and a penitentiary face.”

According to Accorsi, The Steelers “would have loved to have kept [Burress]” … but “Dan Rooney didn’t want to put all of the team’s money into receivers,” preferring to retain Hines Ward. Makes sense.

Meanwhile, Giants QB Eli Manning goes out of his way to defend Burress, saying, “Plax is smarter than what you think, or what he shows you.” Manning relates how he once borrowed Burress’ playbook and says, “When I opened it, I couldn’t believe my eyes. He had written all these little notes in the margins--in beautiful handwriting. ‘I’m the hot receiver here.’ ‘I go here.’ ‘I do this or that.’ ‘Somebody else does whatever.’ All in perfect penmanship….”

It’s funny how Manning compliments Burress’ penmanship, as if that compensates for the occasions when Burress takes plays off or disappears from the offense.