PITTSBURGH — I've always believed one of the strengths of the Steelers organization was their family-first atmosphere. Art Rooney II is a present, involved team owner. He is at the team's South Side facility every day, just as his late father, Dan, was. Every indication is Rooney cares about his players.
That's why the results of an NFLPA survey about team working conditions released last week were so stunning. The Steelers finished 22nd out of the 32 NFL clubs in the overall ratings and finished 22nd or lower in five of the eight categories considered, which included everything from nutrition/food service to training room and weight room to team travel. A total of 1,200 of the NFLPA's 2,200 members responded to the anonymous survey.
The Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins and Las Vegas Raiders received the top three overall grades. The Los Angeles Chargers, Arizona Cardinals and Washington Commanders finished at the bottom of the survey.
Make of the results what you will.
The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs ranked 29th. The lowly Carolina Panthers were 12th.
But if I'm Rooney, I'm taking the Steelers' results seriously. I'm going to do my best to listen to my players.
The most shocking revelation was that the Steelers' treatment of families was given a D- that ranked 27th among the NFL teams. Neither day care nor a family room is offered on game day. The post-game gathering area ranked 31st.
The other significant complaint involved the team's South Side headquarters. Players gave high grades to senior conditioning coordinator Garrett Giemont and head trainer John Norwig, which isn't surprising considering the two are among the best in the business. But the players gave a C grade to the weight room and a D- to the training room. They also rated their locker room as a D+.
Only 44% of the Steelers who responded believe Rooney is willing to invest in upgrading the team facilities. That ranks him tied for 29th among the other owners.
Rooney needs to do better.
Shame on Rooney if he doesn't improve the game-day experience for players' families. That would be an easy and inexpensive fix.
Improving the South Side headquarters is more problematic. Space is limited because the Steelers share the facility with Pitt. Rooney might want to spend to expand the weight room and training room but not have the space to do it.
As bad as all of this sounds for the Steelers, things could have been worse.
Much worse.
Take the Jacksonville Jaguars. Players reported they had a rat infestation in their locker room and laundry hampers for a month last season. They also complained of no family room at the stadium and said "players' wives have breast-fed their babies on the floor of the stadium's public restrooms."
The Baltimore Ravens' strength staff received an F-. Right before the survey was released, the team fired strength and conditioning coach Steve Saunders.
The Cincinnati Bengals and Cardinals were given F- grades for food service and nutrition. The Bengals were one of only three teams to not offer dinner to players, one of only two to not provide vitamins and the only one not to offer supplements. The Cardinals were the only team to require the players to pay for dinner.
How can those things happen?
How can those owners not be embarrassed?
Isn't the NFL a $17 billion industry?
The NFLPA said it did this survey for the first time and will do one every year to spur all owners into improving working conditions for the players. The survey also is designed to be a tool for players to decide on a free-agency home if two teams offer similar contracts.
"The reason we want this to be reoccurring is next year, there can be no claim of ignorance because we've brought the problem up and it would be even more telling if these issues continue," union president JC Tretter said. "It's going to be very clear what the next steps should be. If you're unwilling to take those next steps, I think that tells us a lot going into the following year."
It's going to be fascinating to see how the NFL owners respond to the survey.
Especially the owner at 3400 South Water St. on the South Side.
