Steelers return to the Old Sod?
As mentioned earlier this week, some members of the Steelers will spend this weekend in Mexico as part of a goodwill tour to visit that country's massive fan base for the team.
But what about return to the Rooney family's Old Sod of Ireland?
An item on the BBC News-Northern Ireland site today addresses the possibility, and features an a 4 minute 39 second video interview with Rooney.
Almost from the moment it was announced in 2009 that Dan Rooney would join President Obama's administration as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, there has been heavy media and fan speculation that the Steelers might return to play a game at Dublin's Croke Park -- where they played a preseason game against Chicago in July 1997 -- especially since the NFL has been fielding annual regular season games at Wembley Stadium in London since 2007 as part of its International Series.
The Steelers were regular travelers in the NFL's American Bowl series, which from 1986 to 2005 featured selected teams in preseason games played internationally.
Pittsburgh faced New England in Montreal in 1990; San Francisco in Barcelona in 1993; San Diego in Tokyo in 1997; the aforementioned 1997 Dublin game versus the Chicago; and met Indianapolis in Mexico City in 2000.
But if the Steelers do get tabbed to return to Dublin, they already have a Terrible Towel ready-to go (right).
Here's a look back at some archived materials from the Steelers' trip to Ireland, just a shade under 15 years ago:
***The game marked the beginning of Kordell Stewart's turbulent career as a Steelers' starting quarterback. Read Ed Bouchette's game story (pictured):
***Apparently Greg Lloyd broke a year-long media silence to take a few moments to insult the Irish people, and according to Bouchette's story, Dan Rooney was not amused.
***Read a second account of the Lloyd rant from the Youngstown (OH) Vindicator. It's amusing.
***Post-Gazette alum Dennis Roddy's take on the culture clash between Ireland and the United States.
***Quick Bleacher Report synopsis of the game featuring vintage Mike Tomczak photo. They also misspell Pittsburgh. Jags.
***New York Times preview of the game with an interesting little anecdote about a World League of American Football (remember that?) player who was practice fodder for the Steelers in Ireland.
A handful photos from that week (all photos by the Post-Gazette's Tony Tye unless otherwise indicated):
The Steelers practice at Croke Park. The sign says "Do not walk on the grass" in Gaelic.
Trivia question: Who was the last Steeler not named Troy Polamalu to wear #43? Answer: George Jones, a running back from San Diego State who played with the team for one season in 1997.
A classic. The 'Stache and The Chin. Then Chicago Bears coach Dave Wannstedt hits a driver from the practice tee while Bill Cowher looks on at St. Margaret's golf club in Dublin in July 1997. Just a coupla 'Burgh lads on the links. They probably could've shot this picture at the Schenley Park course. (AP photo)
To streamline things, and because a chunk of their training camps were cut into, the Steelers and Bears practiced against each other in the days leading up to the game.
Will Blackwell pulls in a catch on the rugby/soccer pitch at the redundantly named University College in Dublin.