By John Ingoldsby, Player Engagement Insider
If you are a rookie joining the Pittsburgh Steelers, you can totally focus on football since you are set up to succeed in almost all the other areas of your life.
The iconic Rooney family franchise not only offers its formal rookie programs like other NFL organizations, but the club also has local relationships in place to find, for example, apartments and a moving company, furniture, a barber or a babysitter, and even get massage therapy, all done with free security and background checks.
“We have practically all the services the rookies and other newcomers could possibly need so they don’t have to look elsewhere,” said Steelers Player Engagement Coordinator Terry Cousin. “We do anything to help them transition smoothly into our team and community so that whatever is going on, we are doing it.”
And as with all NFL teams, there is always a lot going on.
The bedrock for first-year players is the Rookie Transition Program (RTP), which for the first time this year had two new features with the clubs staging the event rather than the League and also the inclusion of undrafted free agents.
“Our RTP went well, and we went offsite to the William Penn Hotel downtown so it was done in true symposium style,” Cousin said. “Our focus was on the individual player and what our guys need and is most important to them, while keeping in mind the all-important nuances.”
While there from June 22-24, Cousin explained that, among many things, they saw welcome videos from Commissioner Roger Goodell and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent, heard about new rule changes from NFL official Gene Steratore, and attended a presentation from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
But it wasn’t all about being in the ballroom, fun was also featured.
“We took them all to a Pirates (baseball) game where we had two suites, had an etiquette dinner at The Capitol Grille with an option to attend a movie afterwards, and gave them rookie gear with a ‘Class of 2016’ logo,” Cousin said. “It gave everyone a change to bond and was a good way to mix in a relaxing time with our classroom sessions.”
This summer schooling will then be followed up during the season with the Rookie Success Program, also done throughout the League.
“This program basically consists of nine one-hour sessions that the players can take on a weekly basis during the season, and helps prepare them for real-life situations,” Cousin noted.
Those courses, according to Cousin, typically include topics such as family law, financial planning, investments, budgeting, business, and even a rookie family meeting where a player’s family is flown in to learn what it’s like for their son to play for the Steelers.
Then there are additional focused offerings as well, Cousin explained, such as helping players finish their college degrees where the club works with the League to determine the player’s status at his institution and how to proceed from there to finalize degree requirements.
“When everyone learns that players with degrees are more likely to have longer careers in the NFL, it becomes a big deal in the locker room where they might ask, ‘You haven’t graduated?’” Cousin said.
Those peer relationships also are important, added Cousin, since the team emphasizes a constant mentorship program with veterans and rookies through meetings and other interactions to ensure the Steelers successful approach is passed along.
That formula also extends beyond just current players.
“We place a priority on involving former players in everything from practices and mentoring to coaching and appearances, while also working with the NFL Legends program and its website to keep everybody in touch,” Cousin said.
Given that they are the first and only team to win six Super Bowls, the Steelers have a lot of Legends bleeding black-and-gold ready to help keep the remarkable four-decade run going.
John Ingoldsby is the President and Founder of IIR Sports, Inc. (www.IIRSports.com) a sports media firm based in Boston. He has covered the NFL throughout his career that began as a newspaper reporter/editor, which includes articles in Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine (NFL Player Engagement), London-based Financial Times newspaper (NFL's international strategy), the Philadelphia Daily News (annual NFC Coaches Breakfast) and the Boston Globe (Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll).