--The Steelers could have three more investors approved by the NFL at league meetings next week. Three others were previously approved in the team's restructuring of ownership.
--President Obama nominated Steelers chairman Dan Rooney to become U.S. ambassador to Ireland. It would obviously remove him from the daily operations of the club and leave his son, team president Art Rooney II, truly in charge.
"I don't believe Dan would be able to take on these new responsibilities if his son Art wasn't already a Super Bowl-winning club president," said Joe Browne, the NFL's executive vice president of communications.
--Mike Tomlin, the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl at age 36, will receive Pittsburgh's Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year in two weeks. It's the highest honor bestowed on a Western Pennsylvania sports figure annually.
--If the NFL owners pass it at their meeting next week, a new rule might well be called the Hines Ward Rule.
A rule to eliminate a blind-side block to the head of a defender will be proposed at the league meetings which begin Sunday in Dana Point, Calif. It was just such a block that Ward threw in October that broke the jaw of rookie linebacker Keith Rivers in Cincinnati.
"It's one of several plays we looked at, that's correct," said Ray Anderson, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations. "Under this year's rules, that was a legal hit, but we're trying to advance our player safety."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "If approved, it would be a new round for us because we've had land developers and former players and oilmen as owners but we've never had a U.S. Ambassador as a club owner." -- NFL executive Joe Browne on Dan Rooney.
