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PITTSBURGH -- Dan Rooney wasn't at Heinz Field Sunday afternoon, but his presence was.
The Steelers opened the 2017 season by beating the Minnesota Vikings 26-9. It was the first season that opened without Rooney, who was born in 1932, the summer before the Steelers took the field for the first time.
Rooney died on April 13 this year after several years of declining health. Even in the tough years, he would attend the home games and watch from the coaches booth, habits that he never had an interest in breaking.
The Steelers honored the man who spent his life working for the family business, striking the tricky balance between a fitting tribute and the kind of ostentatious show that would have made Dan Rooney grumble, "C'mon, let's get the game started."
Joe Greene and Franco Harris were there. So was Rocky Bleier. Mel Blount, too. And because the Steelers don't live in the past, the current team was involved as well.
Ben Roethlisberger tore out of the tunnel carrying a flag that bore an enlarged likeness of the memorial patch that's sewn on the uniforms this year -- a black and gold shamrock with Rooney's "DMR" monogram. It now flies on the plaza in front of Heinz Field.
The idea of the flag had been on again, off again during the week as the front office struggled to determine what was appropriate and what was too much.
The flag bearer was glad the final vote was in favor of the flag.
"Coming out with the flag, honoring a man that just means so much to everyone --a guy that obviously drafted me, just everything that he's meant," Roethlisberger's stream of consciousness said.
"Even during the National Anthem, knowing that the (Pittsburgh) Symphony was out there because that was Mr. Rooney's thing, I had tears in my eyes. I had to try
to snap out of it and get ready to go. The whole day was very emotional."
The players decided to present the game ball to Art Rooney II, Dan's eldest son and successor as the Steelers' CEO.
"Art said he is going to give it to his mother," Roethlisberger said. "It was special."
The Steelers are simultaneously a multi-million dollar business and the world's biggest mom-and-pop store. Dan Rooney lived a few blocks from Heinz Field, in the house where he grew up.
After the kids were grown, Dan Rooney decided to get back to his roots. So he packed up the house in Mt. Lebanon and moved back to the North Side. Neighbors would see him cooling off at the nearby ice ball stand in the park during the summer. He attended Mass at St. Peter's.
The NFL is a huge machine, but the Steelers have this going for them -- in the entire history of the franchise, someone named Rooney has been in charge and has been in the office every day. It only adds to the charm (or confusion) that they alternate between men named Art and Dan.
One of Dan Rooney's other sons, Dan Jr., has moved into a more prominent role in the ownership group in the last few years.
The old Steelers have their memories of franchise founder Art Rooney Sr. This generation never knew the man known as "The Chief," but they have the same feelings about Dan Rooney, who would circulate through the locker room after games, thanking the players and shaking their hands.
"He was a father and grandfather figure to everybody," Roethlisberger said. "He treated everybody the same. It didn't matter who you were, where you came from, or what you did. Everybody was important to him. He always had time to shake your hand, look at you and talk to you.
"Obviously, he drafted me. He took a chance on me. I know he went in that draft room and said we're not passing him up. So, I wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for him. I just have a lot of love for him and the family."
Which he proudly showed on Sunday.
Mehno can be reached at johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com