DUBLIN -- Mike Tomlin stood before his Pittsburgh Steelers team like he would any Saturday evening at the Carton House, secluded in the Irish countryside about an hour outside of Dublin. A speech that Tomlin has given his players many times on the eve of a game, this one would be far different.

In 16 hours, the Steelers would take the field at Croke Park in Ireland, for the first ever game in the country. A culmination of a vision for the Steelers franchise, the Rooney family had pushed for a game for decades, but especially since the NFL expanded the international marketing rights program.

No one pushed harder for the regular season game than the late Ambassador Dan Rooney. Tomlin’s mentor in the Steelers organization and someone who changed his life when Tomlin was hired by the

See Full Page