While the Steelers are undergoing great change, one thing will seemingly stay the same: training camp in Latrobe. Pittsburgh is just about the only team at this point that travels off-site for training camp, a tradition that has persisted since 1966. They have the league’s longest history of doing so since the Packers stopped traveling to St. Norbert in 2020.
The Steelers never stopped motoring on to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe for training camp, except by force. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, they wanted to travel, but the NFL forbade them. As soon as they were permitted to return, they did, and will continue to do so under Mike McCarthy.
At least that’s the impression Aaron Rodgers left us with during his recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. He reminisced about his season with the Steelers last year, going back to training camp. “The fact that the Steelers still go to Latrobe is so fucking cool. It really is”, he said. He talked about some local establishments he and his teammates frequented and the consistent fan presence.
“It’s such team bonding stuff. Because there’s nothing to do. You’re staying in old school dorms”, he said. “So much great team bonding happened in Latrobe, and I know Mike [McCarthy] is excited for that. It’s a hearken back to when we could go to St. Norbert’s across town in Green Bay for so many years and just had a blast”.
While McCarthy has never taken the Steelers to Latrobe, I’m sure he’d been there as a fan in his youth. And he and Aaron Rodgers were together with the Packers while they still went to Saint Norbert. It’s an atmosphere and a venue that they both appreciate, McCarthy especially so.
The Steelers obviously have a deep and lasting relationship with Saint Vincent College and Latrobe. They have invested in the area through the Rooney family, and their field was renamed Chuck Noll Field. Generations of Steelers fans pass down memories of taking their children to Latrobe to watch training camp.
While it’s an important tradition to the Rooney family, the tangible benefits are at least debatable. Virtually every other team in the league doesn’t see the value in it, at least not offset by the expense. The Steelers have to coordinate a lot to bring their operation to Latrobe every summer, and nobody likes sleeping in dorms.
But while nobody has made any official announcement, Rodgers seems pretty confident that Mike McCarthy can’t wait to bring his first Steelers roster up to Latrobe himself. After all, it’s not like he’s unfamiliar with that tradition, nor the logistics. It only makes sense that this tradition will persist, at least for now.
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