Pittsburgh Steelers’ Director of Business Development & Strategy Dan Rooney III spoke to us this afternoon as the Steelers hosted an American Football Youth Camp in Newry’s Pairc Esler.
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00:00So Daniel, welcome to Newry. I just want to talk a little bit about your family ties to
00:04the area and the ties with the Pittsburgh Steelers to Newry.
00:08You know, the Rooney family hails from county down Newry, so this is my second trip up to
00:13Newry. Really special to be here. I learned a lot about the family history through my
00:17grandfather and my father, but seeing it in person is special and the fact that we're
00:22able to bring our former players here, James Farrier and Willie Parker, to where the Rooney
00:27family comes from is a really special day.
00:30And can you talk about specifically what's happening today? You're running a camp and
00:33trying to see some of the talent on this side of the water?
00:36So we're going to run a youth American football camp today, where we're able to teach our
00:41game to a group from county down GAA. We'll end with some flag football, so an actual
00:48competitive match of flag football. So we truly think that the kids are going to fall
00:53in love with the game if they're not already at that point.
00:56And that's part of growing the Steelers brand across Ireland, and that's what you really
01:00want to do is get more people involved and interested in American football as we call
01:04it.
01:05Yeah, I mean outside of the fact that my family is from here, that's where our passion lies,
01:09the connectivity on that front, but our passion also lies with American football. So the fact
01:14that we can just teach the sport in a beautiful stadium like this is fantastic.
01:19And of course, you know, the Pittsburgh Steelers have started well. They're 3-0 on the season.
01:23Are you happy with what you've seen from the guys?
01:25Yeah, it's week by week. So we're always on to the next game. We've got the Colts tomorrow
01:29and have the watch party at Croke Park tomorrow. So it's going to be a special day in a room
01:34full of Irish Steelers fans, which is really exciting.