[BigBadBuc]

Mr Rooney is The Man!


A mere two days before potential labor chaos, and for another 12 as the zero hour to extend the league's collective bargaining agreement approached.


In the end, they missed the 8 p.m. Wednesday deadline by a few minutes but got the deal done, anyway.

And as had been the case in times of prior labor strife, Steelers chairman Dan Rooney helped broker the necessary settlement.

"The system that we have and our relationship with the players was key, and I spoke on that a few times," Rooney said Thursday.
Players' association executive director Gene Upshaw reportedly cited Rooney and Carolina's Jerry Richardson as owners "who just would not give up."

Rooney's motivation, he said, came in part from his fear that the salary cap and the competitive balance it promotes were in jeopardy.
Had the contract not been extended, an uncapped year in 2007 and a potential work stoppage in 2008 loomed.

"Yeah, I was concerned about that," Rooney said. "We put this deal together in 1993 and have moved it ahead from that time. It's so important to maintain that, I thought." The NFL's answer turned out to be a system of increased revenue sharing, designed to decrease an ever-widening gap between "small market" and "big market" franchises.

[Lefty Noob]

No doubt that Rooney is one of the guys who deserves credit for helping to get the deal done, but let's also remember there were others involved. Jerry Jones and Arthur Blank were both largely involved in the negotiation process, an apparently Al Davis had a major impact with a speech he gave to the owners. Davis helping the NFL? Go figure!

[wvuauthor]

Davis?! Are you sure about that? haha

[Lefty Noob]

Straight from Chris Mortensen, so it's gotta be the gospel truth, right?

[wvuauthor]

That's right; if Mort said it, it's law!