Steelers President Art Rooney II was recognized Monday for his integral role in bringing the NFL Draft to Pittsburgh.
Just a month ahead of the draft, Rooney was given the Spirit of Hospitality Award, which recognizes excellence in hospitality. Visit Pittsburgh, a nonprofit tourism agency, presented the award.
“I’m really honored to receive this award, but I have to say it’s really about all of us in this room making sure that our city is a hospitable place to visit, so thanks to all of you for helping make this happen,” he said.
Charlie Batch, a Visit Pittsburgh board member and Steelers alumnus, presented Rooney with the award Monday during Visit Pittsburgh’s annual meeting.
Batch, who is also the founder of the Best of the Batch Foundation, spoke about being drafted himself in 1998.
“I understand the NFL Draft a little differently than most people in this room,” he said. “You never know how you’re going to approach it until your name is called — there’s nothing like grown men crying when their name is called.”
The NFL Draft will change the trajectory of the Pittsburgh, “showing the world what the city of champions has to offer,” Batch said.
“It’s not an overstatement to say that the NFL Draft changes lives,” he said.
‘Long time coming’
Rooney credited the planning of the mammoth event to a large host committee that was put together soon after the NFL decided in May 2024 to hold the 2026 draft in Pittsburgh.
“This has been an amazing experience — a long time coming for a lot of us,” he said. “It’s finally here … it’s going to be a lot of fun.
“It’s been a great effort, and I’m proud of what’s been going on.”
Rooney said he can remember when the draft was held in secret.
“(It’s) hard to believe, but back in the ’60s, the NFL was competing with a startup league called the AFL,” he said. “The league decided that the best way to compete would be to draft the guys in secret and then hurry up and go ahead and sign them before the other league found out we drafted them, so the draft was actually a secret.”
Now, with hundreds of thousands of visitors expected to flock to the Steel City for the planned long weekend of events, April 23-25, Rooney said the secrecy has obviously changed.
“It’s really going to be exciting to see this many people come to our city,” he said. “As you all know, on Steeler game days, people come from all over.
Rooney said he believes the draft will bring a lot of Steelers fans back home to Pittsburgh.
“I think we’re going to see a heck of a lot of Steeler fans from all over coming back to share in this,” he said. “It’s going to be a great celebration of our city.”
At this time of year, the Pittsburgh Steelers are usually in their own process of drafting new players, said Rooney, which is still going to be happening on the South Side of town while the draft takes place on the North Shore.
Through this process, he said, prospects get invited to the city to go through a full day of interviews. He said for many of the prospects, it’s their first time in Pittsburgh.
“A lot of them often comment about the tunnel,” Rooney said, of the Fort Pitt Tunnel. “Coming through that tunnel … the city just opens up to you.
“I really think we have one of the great front doors of any city in the world, and it’s going to be so much fun to welcome all those people here.”