Steelers Owner Dan Rooney to be Ambassador to Ireland

By Yosef Solomon on March 17th, 2009

In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, Today, President Obama announced the appointment of Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney as the US Ambassador to Ireland. Interestingly enough Ronney, the 76 year-old Republican, supported Obama during the election and was very pleased to hear of his appointment.

Now that the Steelers are the most successful team in football his main focus will likely turn to improving relations with Ireland’s government. Not to mention, he’s a hall of fame owner who really has nothing to prove. It will be interesting to see if Rooney will be able to change the minds of Irish people into playing football instead of Rugby. There’s never been much respect for American Football in Ireland. Apparently wearing pads in a full contact sport is looked down upon.

President Obama felt St. Patrick’s Day was the perfect time to celebrate the appointment of Rooney and had this to say about the future Ambassador: “I am honored and grateful that such a dedicated and accomplished individual has agreed to serve as the representative of the United States to the Irish people.”

We’ll see if this affects the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl chances for next year…