Steelers' Art Rooney Gave Tony Dungy A Simple Ultimatum During His Rookie Year

There's a saying that the Pittsburgh Steelers use in reference to anyone that steps onto the field: "Once a Steeler, always a Steeler." There are many players and coaches that are remembered as Steelers, even if they spent the bulk of their career elsewhere. For example, Tony Dungy spent two seasons as a player for the team, as well as eight years as a coach. Despite the fact that he won a Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts, many people still remember him as an assistant coach under Chuck Noll. 

Part of the reason that Dungy is known as a Steelers is because that's how he was told to live his life. While appearing as a guest on a podcast hosted by Sports Spectrum, he went into detail about that conversation with "The Chief," Art Rooney, and how that conversation changed his life.

"I got to the Pittsburgh Steelers as a 21-year-old rookie, and Art Rooney Sr. was our owner. As a rookie, when you made the team, Mr. Rooney invited you in, he said 'Congratulations,' but he also said something that was really unique. He said 'You're a Steeler now, and we have high expectations of you. You're going to represent our family; you're going to represent the football team; you're going to represent the city, and we want you to represent it the right way. Whenever you do anything from now on, it's not going to be Tony Dungy, but it's going to be Pittsburgh Steeler Tony Dungy...that's a responsibility, and we expect you to do that really well.'"

By this time, the Steelers had already established a culture of winning with two Super Bowl wins, and they were looking for more. If Dungy wanted to stick around, especially as an undrafted free agent, he had to embrace the "Steeler Way" and prove that he could be a model Steeler, both on and off the field.