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Art Rooney dismisses NFLPA report card as “media opportunity”

Some teams have responded to the NFL Players Association report card by taking the criticism to heart. Some teams have responded by finding ways to downplay or undermine the marks they received.

Steelers owner Art Rooney II carved out a different path this week, at the league meetings.

“It doesn’t get presented to us, it gets presented to the media so as far as I’m concerned it’s a media opportunity for the Players Association as opposed to a serious effort of constructive criticism,” Rooney said, via Mark Kaboly of TheAthletic.com — by way of SteelersDepot.com.

But, frankly, so what if it’s a media opportunity? Does that in and of itself make the grades invalid?

Also, would Rooney dismiss the grades if his team had done better? Or if he personally had done better than, you know, F?

The Steelers finished 28th out of 32 teams. They would have landed lower if coach Mike Tomlin hadn’t lifted the average with his high marks.

Someone needs to tell Rooney that there’s a not-so-subtle link between his performance in the grades and his effort to dismiss them as not serious because they weren’t given to the league instead of the media. The whole point is to use the inherently public platform of pro football to shine a light on the owners who are doing it right and the owners who aren’t.

Indeed, multiple owners were asked about the grades by the (wait for it) media this week, because the grades were given to the (wait for it, again) media.

The fact that Rooney would shrug off the grades shows that they’re working. Teams and owners who can’t be fired are being held accountable like never before. Those who get bad grades don’t like it.

So keep it up, NFLPA. It will only make things better, not worse, for your membership. And it will help the fans of each team decide, over time, whether and to what extent they should keep devoting time and money and devotion to organizations that are failing to do the things necessary to inspire maximum loyalty and performance from their players.