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Dan Rooney: Steeler to Statesman
President Obama says his Ambassador to Ireland ‘Quietly does the Right Thing’
Outside the Lines (Sunday, 9 a.m. ET, ESPN)
Sporting Life with Jeremy Schaap (Friday, 10 p.m., ESPN Radio)
During Sunday’s Outside the Lines, President Barack Obama discusses his relationship with his U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney, who is also Chairman Emeritus of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the namesake of the “Rooney Rule,” the NFL’s effort to better diversify its coaching and management ranks. This profile of the 78-year-old pioneer covers his life-long impact on the league and the Steelers. Last month reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada interviewed Obama at the White House and then traveled to Dublin where he spoke with Rooney, a Republican, about his new role as ambassador and his decision to campaign for Obama two years ago.
“I heard he was going out and campaigning with steel workers, early in the morning, showing up at plants, shaking hands, saying hi to folks. And the interesting thing is he never told me he was doing this. I had to find out from somebody else.” – President Barack Obama
“It’s a great capstone to what has been a remarkable life and a remarkable career. I think he loves being ambassador, but I think being the owner of the Steelers, that’s who he will always be.” – President Obama, on Rooney serving as ambassador
“I talked to him (Rooney) and just apologized for the negative attention that it brought to him, to the family. I just told him that I appreciate the support that he has shown me and given me, and that I would never disappoint him again.” — Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers QB, serving a four-game NFL suspension after accusations he sexually assaulted a 20-year-old woman
Mexico’s First Woman Bull Fighter
ESPN Deportes SportsCenter (Sunday, 11 p.m.)
ESPNDeportes.com (Reportajes Especiales piece)
Hilda Tenorio was 13 years old when she told her father she wanted to make bullfighting her profession. She started off facing calves, then steers, but when the time came for her to graduate in a major arena to “matador,” which translates to “killer of bulls,” she encountered resistance. She overcame a goring that resulted in 81 stitches to her left cheek and several fractured bones when she was 15, to eventually become Mexico’s first female matador at age 23.
“My father told me I was crazy.” – HildaTenorio, on telling her father she wanted to pursue bullfighting
“I gave her two books: one about bullfighting injuries by Campos Licastro, and the other about getting hit by a bull. So she saw these things, and hopefully it would scare her out of this idea and she would back off from this bull thing. But she decided to continue with it.” — Entrevista a Fernando Tenorio, Hilda’s father
SportsCenter, (Saturday, 9 a.m., ESPN; 10 a.m. ESPNEWS)
On Sept. 11, 1985, Pete Rose broke one of baseball’s most hallowed records — Ty Cobb’s 4,191 career hits. Shortly after entering the record books, Rose’s remarkable achievement became a footnote as he was banished from the game he loved and had come to personify. Sadly, he is known now as the man who bet on baseball and lied about it, closing the door on the opportunity for enshrinement in Cooperstown. Jeremy Schaap explains how Rose’s record endures unlike so many other baseball milestones, a testament to one of the game’s unique, flawed figures.
NFL Countdown (Sunday, 11 a.m., ESPN)
Each year, in conjunction with the Make-a-Wish Foundation, ESPN turns sports wishes into reality for children battling serious illness. Last December, Anna Schmidt was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy — an enlarged heart that rapidly loses the ability to function. After a heart transplant last spring, Anna’s wish was to meet the Green Bay Packers. What she got was a whole lot more. Chris Connelly has the story.
