Croke Park NFL game will be ‘great celebration’

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell calls Dublin’s participation in a later this year regular-season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers a “great celebration.”

In advance of Sunday’s New Orleans Super Bowl, the widely anticipated news about the Croke Park contest was confirmed on Friday.

Dan Rooney, the Steelers’ legendary owner, passed away in 2017. He was the US ambassador to Ireland from 2009 to 2012.

“We’re really excited. It’s a great market for us”, said the NFL commissioner.

“Obviously there’s a great connection in the United States with Ireland. The Pittsburgh Steelers have a specific connection also through their]Rooney] family”.

Goodell added that the NFL receives “a tremendous amount of media coverage]in Ireland], but we spend a lot of time on a year-round basis promoting the game and getting kids playing, whether it’s flag football or tackle football”.

Larry Ogunjobi and Cameron Heyward, both Steelers players, expressed their excitement with the news.

It’s going to be cool to see what happened, according to defensive lineman Heyward, “because Mr. Rooney was ambassador to Ireland.”

When I went to Mexico last year, defensive tackle Ogunjobi said, “I learned how significant the fan base is and how crucial it is for us to show our faces there and show them that we support them as much as they support us.”

According to Heyward, “a lot of hits, a lot of sacks, and a lot of turnovers and splash plays” can be anticipated by the audience.

In 1997, Pittsburgh hosted a pre-season game against the Chicago Bears at Croke Park, and Dublin hosted a college football game.

However, the arrival of a regular-season NFL contest at the 82, 000 capacity venue will be a coup for the stadium’s owners, the Gaelic Athletic Association.