Dan Rooney wants to bring the Pittsburgh Steelers to Ireland

U.S. ambassador wants Super Bowl side to play in Dublin

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Daniel Rooney American Ambassador to Ireland

Photo by Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland.

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The U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney, has said that he is definitely interested in bringing the Pittsburgh Steelers to Ireland to play an NFL game.

Speaking to RTE’s “Sport at 7” Rooney said, “There is great interest and there is growing interest in the NFL in Ireland.” It's not a foregone conclusion but there is a possibility.

“'We would be definitely interested in that, and I do think that the people in Croke Park are going to talk to (NFL) Commissioner Roger Goodell to see if there is a possibility of doing that.”

The NFL has played in Wembley, London for the past four seasons. However, Dublin’s Croke Park as well as several other European venues have been mentioned for a game in the past few months.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has stated he would like to play a game in Ireland in honor of Steelers owner Rooney, who was appointed U.S. ambassador to Ireland by President Obama in March 2009.

Roethlisberger told a local newspaper last month, “If you didn’t have to travel all that time with the long flight, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. I think it would be fun to go play in Ireland where ambassador (and Steelers chairman emeritus Dan) Rooney is. That would be kind of fun.”

The Steelers will face the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV on Sunday. 

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