The Crystal Ball: Turmoil in Three Rivers

Hello one and all! The joy of training camp is upon us, and the Steelers will be arriving at picturesque Latrobe on Sunday. Oh, and that means the delicious goodness of another NFL season will soon be upon us. Has everyone had a good summer so far? No? Well join the club.

Oh, mind you my June was pure bliss. I took the big leap and married the Lady K. Honestly, if you guys out there find that special someone who will watch the game with you and live and die by your team, grab her and don’t let go. I encourage all gentlemen to get married once find that special someone. We had such a wonderful time and it was easily my best day ever. The joy and thrill of the entire day was everything we hoped for, and I find myself one heck of a lucky guy.

And since the last post, I’ve had a blast keeping tabs on the insanity of the NFL world. My original plan for a pre camp offering consisted of tossing out these softballs to knock around for a bit, maybe skewer a few perceptions and inflated egos. Oh, and there are so many from which to choose.

How about Adam Jones announcing he no longer wishes to be referred to as Pacman? Or the funnier part of the story is him becoming good friends with Tank Johnson who has been giving Mr. Jones sage advice?

Or perhaps you prefer Plaxico Burress wanting a big raise and the Jeremy Shockey drama. Seems not even paradise is enough for these gentleman.

I’m sure one and all has been tuned into As the Favre turns. Oh the waffling by Brett, management stating they were receptive several times to his return, and more waffling. Now management moves on, Brett demands release although he still has not definitively committed to playing. The Packers now find themselves in a massive hole with no way out without looking foolish have started trying to shop him around. Wow, for a guy who professes to love the Packers, he sure causes them enough heartache. Just real quick, this has been going on for a few years. Favre has wanted out to play for a legitimate contender and get one more ring, although more so a few years ago when the Pack were on harder times than today. But he’s not been able to find a way out without alienating Packer fans. (I’m sure he’s worried about his restaurant right across the street losing business.) So now he has found a way to put the screws to them, the team is in a no win situation and Brett can walk away saying, oh, it wasn’t me I love the Packers. Suffice to say, I am siding with Thompson and McCarthy. Favre’s just showing how big of a DB he is.

Maybe NBC’s decision to add yet another person to the cast of Football Night in America tickles your fancy. Really, we need 7 people to introduce the Charmin Wipe Out Play of the Day?

In his ongoing quixotic quest to stamp out all evil from the NFL, Roger Goodell now is installing a new plan to monitor on field player activity and catch offenders who flash gang signs. Good call Roger. How’s that HGH problem coming along?

Maybe you prefer Devin Hester holding out, saying there is no way he can play for a half a million dollars this season. Mind you, I think Devin does have a point. He has far outperformed his initial rookie contract, and the Bears have reaped the benefits of his unique talents. But come on Devin; is it really THAT insulting to ONLY make a half a million dollars?

Perhaps Jeremy Shockey finally getting his wish and traded to New Orleans tickles your fancy; especially with the additional part of him threatening revenge on his old team. Yeah, all they did was take a chance on you, pay you millions whilst putting up with your whining and then put a Super Bowl ring on your finger. Those bastards deserve to pay!

But alas, that plan has been destroyed, much like the remainder of my summer, part of my sanity and potentially who knows what else to come. No, I come back with this latest knee to the groin which broke a few weeks ago.

According to many reports, the Steelers are for sale, an event that has come to pass that had its origins in 2006. How this happened is quite the complicated tale, so bear with me as I’m still digesting it all myself. The 5 Rooney brothers own 80 percent of the team, with each brother owning 16 percent. The other 20 percent is owned by the McGinley family. NFL rules state that a majority partner, who in this case it would be Dan, needs to own 30 percent. But the Steelers have been exempted. Now a bigger issue is that the NFL does not allow team owners to be associated with legalized gambling. The Rooney family owns several race tracks, most of which have some sort of gambling. So they would either need to divest their interest in the gambling or the team. Plus, all the brothers are advancing in age and would like to move their shares and avoid the hefty inheritance tax their offspring would face if they were left stock in the team. Is everyone still with me? Good, because here’s where it gets crazy.

So Dan offered buyout packages to his 4 brothers. However, they felt the offer was too low so they had the team appraised. It turns out the Steelers franchise is worth between $800 million and $1.2 billion dollars. How’s that for a return on The Chief’s initial $2,500 investment? Which would mean each brother would stand to make roughly $170 million for his sale of the stocks, give or take a few million and before taxes. However, Dan and his son Art II do not have that kind of money lying around, and the NFL only allows ownership debt up to $150 million. Looks like Dan and Art II are in some rough waters. But then out of the blue arrives billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller, a professed Steeler fan more than willing to buy out the Rooney boys and retain Dan and Art II to run the team as they see fit.

To complicate an already complicated situation, the city is taking no chances. It has sent all current owners letters stating that if there is an ownership change, they want reimbursement for putting up capital to build the new stadium. Or they require a new agreement with the new ownership group that states the team must remain in Pittsburgh for the next 75 years. Personally, I don’t think the city really wants the money, I think they want assurances that the heart and soul of the city does not suddenly hop a jet for LA or other parts unknown.

This is where we stand today a mere 3 days before training camp. Woof.

Two things blow me away about this so far.

First is that this story woefully under reported in national media. SI.com’s Peter king wrote five articles by my count since this broke, two of which included responses to reader emails. Between them he set aside an entire paragraph to comment on the Pittsburgh situation. This was far short than the multiple plus pages devoted to yet more discussion of the Favre saga. And who other than me is getting really tired of that.

SI.com’s Dr. Z wrote a nice article about older quarterbacks trying to make a go of it with new teams, citing Bobby Layne, Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana. It was sort of a scared straight letter to Brett. But not one sentence was reserved for the Steelers ownership saga.

SI.com’s Don Banks had a fabulous article how Chargers G.M. A.J. Smith is obsessed with his team finding a way to defeat the Patriots. But nothing about the crumbling ownership situation on the north shore. And he has written two others since, including a nice synopsis of Ravens camp thus far. I guess he’s waiting until Steeler camp opens to dive into this can of worms.

Foxsports.com had at least 6 articles (I lost count at one point) about the Brett Favre Saga, all within two days of each other, and 2 articles on the gang sign crackdown from the league office. The Steelers received one article, which I was only able to find by doing a search, and it was just a pickup from the AP Wire.

Surprisingly, the only national football columnist I found who has said more than boo was ESPN.com’s John Clayton. Unfortunately, the NFL story ESPN was really pimping was the league’s soon to come crackdown on gang signs being flashed by players on TV. But Clayton’s article, while really digging into the issue at hand, also covered the overall ownership scene in the NFL. Still, at least someone is paying attention.

This is a much bigger story than I think people realize. And knowing how much of a Pittsburgh homer I am, perhaps there is a certain level of Chicken Little playing into it with me. But I don’t think so. This is the Colts leaving Baltimore or the Browns leaving Cleveland level of a story. This is huge, monumental and frightening.

I mean the Steelers and the Rooney family ARE NFL football. They have been around since the inception of the league. Dan himself, once he assumed control of the team, has been an integral player in league matters, now going on 40 years. He has been a calm voice of reason during contentious owner meetings, and one filled with sage advice and wisdom gleaned from a lifetime of football. He is who other owners and the commissioner turn to in rough times. Tagliabue enlisted his help in selling the last collective bargaining agreement to other owners. He was the one who came to Goodell to tell him he got the job as head man of the NFL. Stories like this could fill a book of their own (read his book if you doubt it). That there is barely a peep of this story outside the western Pennsylvania region blows my mind. This man and his family are pillars of the community, the state of PA and of the NFL itself. With out him, the NFL as we know it would not exist, and yet no one finds it important to report how the schism within the family could wrest control of the franchise and put it in the hands of a stranger for the first time ever? That another of the very small number of family run teams will no longer exist? No one else finds this important?

The other thing that amazes me is that this boils down to a family feud gone too far. The brothers all say they love the team, and have all been fine with Dan’s stewardship, (although Art Jr. might have a bone to pick when Dan fired him) but they want out of the business for varying reasons. And they all want fair market value for their stocks which I do not blame them. But to put their laundry out for all to see like this seems wrong. To go ahead and retain Goldman Sachs to look for potential buyers feels wrong. To risk the future of the team and the city while ignoring their father’s warning is wrong.

Recently, the Post-Gazette printed a letter Art Rooney wrote to his sons near the end of his life. In it, while praising the men they had become he also specifically warned them all to fix the ownership situation. He knew then, over 20 years ago, that if they did not find a solution, it would come back to haunt them and potentially hurt the team. Disturbingly, here we are today.
And despite everything, Art Jr. does not think there is any way the franchise will ever leave. Really? The more I keep hearing the more those doubts creep in. You can never say never to anything, just ask James Bond. Art, if you really want to guarantee that sentiment, don’t sell the team to an outsider.

Speaking of which, what do we really know about this Druckenmiller? He did try to buy the McGinley shares 10 years ago and was roundly rebuffed. But now he steps into this breech per request of the Rooney boys. He says he understands the Steelers and what they really mean to the fans and the city, but does he really?

People of Pittsburgh, and Steeler fans everywhere, not only root for the team, they relate to them, they are them. It’s the way the team and its players carry themselves, how they go about business, how they perform. Tough, smart, blue collar, smash mouth. People glean onto that image, even if it left years ago when the NFL turned very corporate. The idea behind it remains, and that is what many fans hold onto. They use it to identify themselves, where they are from, and who they are. For Steeler fans, it is never merely “this is my favorite team”. No, it is always, “this is OUR team”. Steeler fans bond with the team and the team with the fans. Players of every Steeler team past and present constantly say Steeler fans are the best in the world. Each season you hear stories of how well Steeler fans travel. They do not travel well, they are just EVERYWHERE. The players become beloved and fall in love with the city as well. Look around Pittsburgh sometime and see how many former Steelers still live there? What does that tell you about the relationship between the team and the city?

As foolish as that may sound to some, it makes perfect sense to many. That identity provides civic pride, a rallying point for different communities, sexes, religions, ethnicities and opinions. No matter whom you are or how little you have in common with someone else, if you both identify with the Steelers, you have a bond that cannot be broken and typically overcomes most differences. Does Mr. Druckenmiller really understand that?

And will the team, under his proposed watch, be able to maintain that relationship? I wonder if he really does comprehend it, since now he’s saying its all or nothing. He will not be a minority owner, or part of an investment ownership group being assembled by Dan Rooney, nor will he bid on shares through Goldman Sachs. He wants the whole shebang and nothing less. Mr. Druckenmiller did not become a billionaire for settling, and he does not want to settle in this case. But I wonder whether he would be satisfied by making a small profit in a small market, or want to find a better venue, and city, one day.

Perhaps I’m putting the cart before the horse, after all nothing has happened yet. And from all accounts Druckenmiller seems to be a true Pittsburgh guy at heart and does seem to get the relationship between the city and its team. And since he’s a billionaire that has a house in the area, who knows he might be Batman. But who is to say that will remain the same in 10 years? Who is to say his children will feel the same? Or whomever he may sell the team to down the road will feel that way? You never know. At least if the team remained with the Rooney’s we knew it would never leave. Now, all bets are off.

I wonder of the possibilities that could happen. Will this guy decide that he wants to make Jerry Jones kind of money as an owner? Will he be as intrusive to the on field action as Jones is, mucking up one good thing after another? If he does want to make scratch, will he look longingly at Los Angeles? If he does threaten to move, what could stop him? Who would try to stop him? Would the city of Pittsburgh fight for the team? So far it seems they would. If they were out of options, would they fight for the team’s name, colors and records like Cleveland did? Will I have to go through the same pain Drew Carey did when his beloved Browns were unceremoniously drug out of town? How sad would it be to see a vacant Heinz Field decaying on the Pittsburgh waterfront? How would such a move impact Pittsburgh, already suffering over the past 8 years from an out flux of talent and youth? Although I have found out recently that more young professionals are moving to the area, a good sign for me and my future home.

And perhaps I am just reacting to this story in doomsday scenarios because of the recent mess in Seattle. Mind you, I doubt Roger Goodell would sell out Pittsburgh the same way David Stern sold out Seattle, but who knows? With money involved, even the most noble of people and intentions become corrupted. If a team that has defined a city for 41 years and provided it with their only championship team in any sport can be unceremoniously torn from its home and dedicated fan base, who is to say a team who has BEEN the city and its fan base for over 75 years could not be?

Right now there are too many unknowns to answer. The issue at hand is multi-layered and very complex. Perhaps that is why the national media won’t bite. It’s far less complex to spew out a million words stating whether or not one thinks Favre and his selfish ass should return to the NFL, so that’s easier to write. Plus, everyone loves gossip. Or perhaps most people are under a gag order from the NFL. I would not be surprised if this were the case. Reports have stated Goodell dispatched former commissioner Paul Tagliabue on behalf of the league to work with Dan and Art II on a feasible buyout or investor plan. Perhaps Roger knows what side his bread is buttered on after all, and knows how devastating some of those worst case scenarios could be not just for the Rooney’s and Pittsburgh, but also for the league itself.

The problem is, as fans we do not know all the ins and outs of the situation; we only know what little has been reported. And that has been just enough to scare the living snot out of us. Or at least me, but something tells me I’m far from alone on this one. I know in times of hardship, we as humans are supposed to have faith. Faith that justice will triumph, good will be victorious and things will be as they should. That the hardships we encounter will make us stronger, and the victory that much sweeter. Perhaps that is precisely what we need to do now as we head into camp. Believe things will be alright and hope for the best while we watch the team prepare for a new season. I think I’ll look up Drew Carey’s number though, just in case.