{"id":5996,"date":"2015-11-11T00:05:31","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T05:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=5996"},"modified":"2015-11-12T13:56:12","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T18:56:12","slug":"the-extraordinary-life-of-art-rooney-sr-in-newspaper-snippets-and-pictures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2015\/11\/11\/the-extraordinary-life-of-art-rooney-sr-in-newspaper-snippets-and-pictures\/","title":{"rendered":"The extraordinary life of Art Rooney Sr. in newspaper snippets and pictures"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Art <\/a>
Art Rooney visits Shamrock Farm, a 350-acre stud farm near Winfield, Md., in 1964. (Richard Stacks, Sun Newspapers, published in The Pittsburgh Press Roto Magazine on Sept. 27, 1964). <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rooney <\/a>
Rooney as a North Side baseball player in 1929. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rooney <\/a>
Rooney published in the Post-Gazette with a pasted on hat on Aug. 3, 1939. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rooney <\/a>
Rooney at the track in an undated picture. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rooney <\/a>
Rooney with twin boys Pant and Jim in 1939. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rooney <\/a>
Rooney in 1955. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rooney <\/a>
Rooney with his famous stogie in 1957. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rooney <\/a>
Rooney family in an undated picture. Back row, left to right, Peggy, Kathleen, Rita, Art III, Sean, Patsie. Center, Patsy, Mrs. Rooney, Mr. Roonie, Artie. Front: Kathleen, Danny, Duffy, Bridget. <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rooney <\/a>
Rooney at Shamrock Farm near Winfield, MD, on Sept. 27, 1964. (Richard Stacks, Sun Newspapers, published in The Pittsburgh Press Roto Magazine Sept. 27, 1964). <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rooney <\/a>
Rooney in the Steelers locker room prior to the first practice since a strike in 1982. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rooney <\/a>
Rooney loafing in 1975 with some North Side kids on a Sunday afternoon at the corner of North Lincoln Avenue and Allegheny Avenue, the Rooney’s old neighborhood. (Michael Chikiris\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rooney <\/a>
Rooney talks with Steelers running back Franco Harris in the Steelers lockerroom before the start of Super Bowl XIV on Jan. 20, 1980. <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rooney <\/a>
Rooney watching a Steelers game on television in 1972. (Harry Coughanour\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rooney <\/a>
Rooney family members leave St. Peter Church after mass of Christian burial was celebrated by four bishops and two priests. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The story of an extraordinary Pittsburgh life, from\u00a0excerpts found in a newspaper clipping file labeled Rooney, Art Sr.\u00a0<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Art Rooney of the North Side had to step along at a fast rate to beat Ambrose Johnson, dropping him just before the bell in the third round with a right to the mouth. This was the hardest bout of the night.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— Philadelphia<\/strong> Boxers Beaten at the P.A.A.<\/b>, Post-Gazette, Dec. 18, 1918<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At the request of his father, Art Rooney, all-around athlete of the North Side, has decided to abandon professional boxing and will complete his studies in the law school at Duquesne University.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

… Rooney had his heart set on becoming a professional boxer until his father stepped in. Asking Art how much he expected to make if successful as a boxer, and receiving the reply, \u201cAbout $25,000,\u201d Rooney pater told his son he would give him this sum if he would finish his studies and give up the idea of a career in the ring.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— <\/span>Art Rooney gives up boxing to study law<\/b>, Post-Gazette, Jan. 28, 1923<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Playing their best football of the season, the Hope Harvey eleven turned in a 20-0 victory over the Boston Bulldogs yesterday at Phipps field\u2026 A 60-yard run for a touchdown by (Art) Rooney after intercepting a forward pass was a feature of the game.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— <\/span>Hope Harvey club wins from Bulldogs, <\/b>Pittsburgh Daily Post, Nov. 28, 1924<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Art Rooney, little Northside lad, had a great campaign and his spectacular playing earned him the quarterback position \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

— <\/span>Art Rooney at quarter, <\/b>Pittsburgh Daily Post, Dec. 13, 1925<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Since Art Rooney\u2019s fantastic streak of luck at the Saratoga race track, which put more than $125,000 into his bank account, according to reports, and his name in all the papers, the Northside sportsman has received some 200 fan letters. Most are from optimistic souls who hope in one way or another to share his winnings.<\/span><\/p>\n

— <\/span>Art Rooney\u2019s fan mail, <\/b>Post-Gazette, Nov. 1, 1937<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NEW YORK — That man Art Rooney is here again \u2026. The Pittsburgh punter who won $108,000 the opening day at Saratoga last August is tamer this season. He picked up a paltry $3,200 at the Jamaica opening Saturday.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— <\/span>Art Rooney visits Jamaica, wins $3,200 opening day, <\/b>Post-Gazette, April 19, 1938<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Steeler chief, just elected to the presidency of the professional football team, has been a storm center of Republican politics in the past. He is widely known in sports circles \u2026 and is rated as a formidable candidate in his own Northside district.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— <\/span>Rooney, sports leader, enters state senate contest,<\/b> Post Gazette, March 11, 1946<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Arthur J. Rooney, president of the Pittsburgh Steelers and one of Western Pennsylvania\u2019s most prominent sports promoters, yesterday got out of this year\u2019s political contest as suddenly, last Monday, he got in.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

That made Rooney\u2019s candidacy one of the shortest on record and it developed that it wasn\u2019t his idea in the first place. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— <\/span>Rooney quits state senate race<\/b>, Post-Gazette, March 15, 1946<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Art Rooney, to whom gambling has always been a gentleman\u2019s game, was looking ahead to the Kentucky Derby and backward at his past experiences with the horses.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cNo other man has been broke so many times and on a park bench,\u201d he philosophized.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Right now, Rooney could afford to buy several carloads of park benches and pad them with foam rubber cushions where the city\u2019s horse players can sit and brood in crestfallen comfort.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— <\/span>Mr. Rooney tips his derby,<\/b> Post-Gazette, April 27, 1949<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThese are only Art\u2019s $15 friends. If his $1 friends were admitted, we would have to hold picnics at North and South parks.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— Rooney friend David L. Lawrence quoted in <\/span>Rooney cheered by 1,500 fans at testimonial<\/b>, Post-Gazette, Jan. 20, 1964.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHorses don\u2019t talk back, you know, and that can be a great relief when you spend most of your life around football players.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— Art Rooney quoted in <\/span>The Squire of Shamrock Farm<\/b>, The Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 27, 1964<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The plainness of Art Rooney can test (wife) Kathleen. Once, when one of the boys came home after hitting an opponent with a piece of cement in a fight, she asked that his father reprimand him. And Art said, \u201cWhen you get into a fight, you use whatever\u2019s necessary.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— <\/span>Art Rooney, the last sportsman, <\/b>The Pittsburgh Press, Jan. 18, 1976<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kathleen once asked him, \u201cAre you expecting to die soon?\u201d He answered, \u201cNo, why?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause,\u201d said Kathleen, \u201cyou haven\u2019t bought a new suit in five years.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Success has not changed Art Rooney. He still brings panhandlers home for sandwiches and still sends strangers to sit with his wife in her private box at the Steeler games.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— <\/span>Art Rooney, the last sportsman, <\/b>The Pittsburgh Press, Jan. 18, 1976<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I doubt there is an owner in sports today who is better known to sports writers the country over than Arthur J. Rooney.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

He is a man who keeps in touch. He is an inveterate post card writer. No matter where Art goes, and he is forever traveling, he will sit down and write little greetings on cards and send them to as many as a hundred newsmen everywhere.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— <\/span>Art Rooney and his friends <\/b>by Al Abrams, Post-Gazette, Dec. 19, 1972<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Art Rooney knows all the alleys in Pittsburgh. <\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI had to,\u201d the Steeler president said yesterday. \u201cThey were my hiding places in the losing days. I don\u2019t take the alleys anymore.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— <\/span>No more alley routes for Steeler prez<\/b>, Post-Gazette, Nov. 28, 1974<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Several players recalled how Rooney used to pass through the locker room before games, shaking hands and wishing everyone well. Most of the personal comments usually concerned players families, not game matchups.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

— <\/span>Steelers mourn Rooney\u2019s death<\/b>, \u00a0Post-Gazette, Aug. 26, 1988<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From writing greeting cards to boxing, history of the Chief is revealed in excerpts from the Post-Gazette.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesThe extraordinary life of Art Rooney Sr. in newspaper snippets and pictures<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1066,944],"tags":[976,1057,1250,1030,1035],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Digs.ArtRooney009.jpg?fit=1296%2C1580&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2494,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/09\/24\/steelers-of-the-past-mark-malone-with-art-rooney-sr-and-his-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":5996,"position":0},"title":"Steelers of the past: Mark Malone with Art Rooney Sr. and his son","date":"September 24, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"In 1982, NFL fans were a frustrated bunch. 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