"The Chief," Art Rooney

Hall of Fame Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw called him "the greatest man who ever walked." He was the face of the Pittsburgh Steelers and still is to this day, two decades after his passing. He was known as "the Chief," and even today it's hard to find any aspect of the Steelers that Art Rooney's fingerprints are not on. Why are the Steelers arguably the most successful franchise in the history of the game? Rooney. It was not only the way the franchise was run, starting at the top, it was his approach to treating people — both on and off the field.

"From day one my father set the tone on how the Steelers operate," Dan Rooney said of his dad. "He has always said that what the people think is important, and that we have to think that way. He very much felt that everyone was his equal. You must treat people with respect."

Respect was something that Rooney and the Steelers didn't have for decades after they were formed in July 1933 as part of the Eastern Division of the 10-team NFL. The franchise started as the Pirates and underwent a few name changes before they finally became the Steelers before the 1940 season. The names changed, but the losing for Rooney continued, that is, until 30 years later, as the team finally turned the corner.

And once it turned that corner, Rooney and his franchise took off like a freight train. There was the move to the new Three Rivers Stadium, the hiring of Chuck Noll as head coach, the drafting of Hall of Fame players like "Mean" Joe Greene, Bradshaw, Mike Webster, Lynn Swann, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, and many more.

It seemed only fitting that it would finally pay off for Rooney and the club. In the 1970s the Steelers won seven AFC Central titles, four conference championships, and four Super Bowls (1974, '75, '78, and '79). It was commonplace in the '70s to see Rooney standing with a cigar, hugging yet another Lombardi Trophy after another Super Bowl victory.

What made Rooney so special, though, wasn't the winning, it was the way he dealt with the club and the people who were involved with it. In today's cutthroat world of business, where only the strong survive, Rooney never treated anyone with anything less than respect — from a despised opponent on the field to an 11-year-old ballboy at practice during training camp.

"He always had good things to say, encouraging words, and a pat on the back," Steelers Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris said of Rooney. "It was really wonderful because leadership is everything. You can tell an organization by how the people conduct themselves at the top."

While Rooney turned over most of the operations of the Steelers to son Dan in the mid-1960s, he still was there on a daily basis, talking to players, people involved with the team, and attended every game, enjoying the fruits of his labor with the winning the team did after years of futility.

When Rooney passed away on August 25, 1988, following a stroke at the age of 87, the NFL world, the Steelers, and the city of Pittsburgh mourned. While the NFL lost one of its great pioneers, and the Steelers lost its founder and driving force, the legacy of Art Rooney will remain as the lifeblood of the Pittsburgh Steelers forever.

Tribute to the Chief

Two years after owner Art Rooney's death, a statue to honor his legacy was erected. The bronze statue, which was built by Raymond Kaskey, is a figure of Rooney sitting down with his trademark cigar in hand. The statue was the idea of John Howel, a Pittsburgh native, who did the fund-raising for the cost. More than 7,000 individuals contributed to the project. The statue was unveiled in October 1990 and remains a favorite fan photo op outside Heinz Field to this day.

The Emperor Takes Over the Steelers

When Charles Henry Noll took over the Steelers as their head coach in 1969, owner Art Rooney was hopeful that this new voice for his team could eventually guide it into being a force in the NFL. Never did even he expect that Noll would become the legendary coach to lead the Steelers to four Super Bowl victories. But in the end, that is exactly what Noll did.

He is the only coach in NFL history to lead a team to four Super Bowl titles, as the Steelers won Super Bowls IX, X, XIII, and XIV. He did it by getting the most out of his players by paying attention to detail, as well as picking players who fit the Steelers' system of superior defense and offensive running.

Noll was never a rah-rah type of coach, as was his successor, Bill Cowher, who took over after Noll retired in 1991. But the one thing that most of his players always said about him was that they never wanted to let him down. Players were prepared under Noll, and it showed in the way they systematically dominated teams year in and year out.

From 1972 to 1984 Noll's teams never suffered a losing season. In that stretch, the coach led the Steelers to a run that most NFL franchises have never seen: four Super Bowls, four AFC conference titles, nine AFC Central titles, and a record of 130–58 in the regular season and 15–7 in the postseason. Then, of course, was the fact that under Noll the Steelers had a legendary defense that struck fear in the hearts of opponents.

Noll's coaching credentials began as a player for the Cleveland Browns. After he left the game as a player in 1959, he became an assistant coach for the Los Angeles and San Diego Chargers and then the Baltimore Colts. While with the Colts, Noll took over the defense, and in 1968 he helped them set an NFL record for fewest points allowed in a season, with 144. The following season, he was ready to take over the Steelers.

When Noll came in, the Steelers had had only four winning seasons in 19 years, and had won only 18 games in the previous five. The one thing that Noll did was commit to the draft. He started with the drafting of Joe Greene, and from there he brought in big-name talent to build his dynasty.

After a 1–13 season Noll's first year came Terry Bradshaw, then Franco Harris. The 1974 draft continues to go down as one the greatest in NFL history. Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Jack Lambert, and Mike Webster all joined the team, four Hall of Famers in one draft year, which has never been done before, and almost surely will never happen again.

Noll was the brains behind the teams that won four titles, as he was able to make smart decisions and motivate his players with his wit and game-planning. As a coach, Noll never got the attention and media coverage he deserved. It wasn't until he led an overachieving team in 1989 to the playoffs, going 9–7, and then helped them pull off an upset of coaching rival Jerry Glanville and the Oilers on New Year's Eve in the AFC wild-card game that he garnered any amount of media accolade. It was Noll's last playoff win.

Two years later he left the Steelers. With the same quiet demeanor and charm that he used in coaching the team for 23 seasons, Noll left his post as "the Emperor" and rode off into the sunset with a coaching mark of 209–156–1, including the postseason.

He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993, his first year on the ballot. He still holds the ceremonial title of administration adviser in the Steelers' front office but does not have a role in the team's operations — just the way you would think Noll would want it after a career that put rings on players' fingers and trophies in...