Despite criticism of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ past international game itinerary, owner Art Rooney II doesn’t seem intent on changing plans for next month’s game in Dublin, Ireland. Doubling down on comments he made in May following the schedule release, Rooney shared the team’s likely schedule to fly over for the NFL’s first-ever regular season game in Ireland.
“I think the team is planning to leave on Thursday, arriving in Dublin Friday morning,” Rooney told WTAE’s Andrew Stockey in a one-on-one interview. “So we’ll have two practices Friday and Saturday. And the game on Sunday. And leave right after the game.”
That matches Rooney’s comments in May when the Steelers-Vikings game was officially revealed to be played September 28. At the time, Rooney indicated the team would leave later in the week.
“I don’t think it’ll be too much different from the last trip,” Rooney told Steelers.com’s Missi Matthews at the time.
Pittsburgh’s last international game came in 2023. A loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London, the Steelers came out flat and couldn’t complete a late-game rally. In the years since, players have criticized the schedule, believing jet lag played a major factor in the team looking unprepared.
In July of 2024, current Steelers DL Cam Heyward cited the decision to leave Thursday and take an over 7-hour flight to London as “the worst thing we did for that trip.”
“We left on a Thursday night, got in Friday morning, and went straight to practice,” Heyward said on his Not Just Football podcast. “That was the first time I’ve ever seen coaches sleep in a meeting. There were players falling asleep during warmup. It was rough. Our team likes to believe we don’t need sleep, or we don’t need to get adjusted to the time.”
A non-stop flight from Pittsburgh to Ireland will take roughly the same amount of time.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has offered similar critiques.
“That was such a big mistake”, Roethlisberger said in 2023. “We were so exhausted and gassed”.
Pittsburgh never led in the London loss, falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter and 20-10 at halftime. By the fourth quarter, the Steelers trailed 34-17, and a furious comeback fell short, a last-second drive stalling at the Vikings’ 6-yard line.
The Steelers haven’t played internationally since.
Despite clear comments from past and present well-respected players, the Steelers don’t appear set to change their schedule for this game. It’s not yet known when Minnesota plans to fly out. Many teams opt to arrive as early as possible, creating a normal work week and opportunity for players to adjust to the new time zone and quirks of another country (even the wall outlets are different).
If Pittsburgh comes out looking tired this time around against Minnesota, the team’s flight plans, not the football game plan, might be the biggest reason to blame.
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