Tim Rooney, the nephew of Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr. and a six-time Super Bowl winner, has died. He was 84.
Rooney passed on Tuesday morning after a short battle with cancer.
Rooney's long-time career included stints as a scout and personnel director executive for the Steelers, the Detroit Lions, and the New York Giants.
Per The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Rooney is credited for the drafting of Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert and other standouts of that era.
Rooney remained with the Steelers through 1979, the last of their four Super Bowl-winning seasons of the decade, then spent time with the Lions, and then hit it big with the Giants in 1985 as director of pro personnel. He stayed in that role until 1999, but then later returned in a part-time capacity.
“He was a great guy,” Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells said of Tim Rooney, via the Post-Gazette. “When you’re a head coach, you need someone to tell you the truth. Tim was our pro personnel guy, and that was his job. We had daily interaction every day talking about the roster. We had a lot of talks and became close. That enhanced our relationship. He understood me, and I understood him.”
“Tim was an invaluable member of our player personnel department for 14 seasons as our director of pro personnel,” Giants president John Mara said in a press release. “He was an accomplished evaluator. More importantly, he was a great person and colleague. Our thoughts are with Tim’s wife Mary Ann and children and grandchildren and friends, of which there are many.”
We too extend our condolences to Tim Rooney's family, friends, and colleagues.