DUBLIN, Ireland — Art Rooney II walked into the Pittsburgh Steelers’ team meeting room Wednesday with a hurling stick in his hand and a message to deliver.

The NFL has been playing games overseas since the league launched the International Series at London’s Wembley Stadium in 2007. The Steelers played in their first regular-season game abroad in 2013. Many players on the current roster have played overseas at various points in their careers.

But as the Steelers’ owner and team president stood before the team in Pittsburgh, Rooney explained that the trip to Ireland is particularly special to him and his family, who have been working hard to make it happen for generations and decades.

“I just wanted them to understand it was something we had been planning on for a long time,” Rooney said Friday as the Steelers wrapped up practice. “I wish I had more time to walk them through more of the history of Ireland. But I at least wanted to let them know it was something that was special to us.”

Typically calm and collected, Rooney showed the team a different side of himself as he explained the Gaelic sport of hurling and the history of Croke Park, where Sunday’s game is held.

“I got to see Art get excited,” Cameron Heyward quipped.

The Rooney family emigrated from Newry, Northern Ireland, back in the 1840s, but their roots remained. In the 1970s, the late Daniel M. Rooney co-founded The Ireland Funds, a philanthropic organization that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to promote peace and push back against sectarian violence. Former President Barack Obama later appointed Daniel M. Rooney as the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland. When Rooney passed away in 2017, he was so connected to the countries of Ireland and Northern Ireland that the Steelers wore a three-leaf clover patch on their uniforms to honor his legacy.

“My dad would love this,” Art II said. “I think about him a lot this week. I’m sure he’ll be looking down on us on Sunday and enjoying the spectacle.”

With Daniel M. Rooney leading the charge, the Steelers played the Bears in a preseason game in Ireland in 1997. They’ve been working ever since to bring a regular-season game to the island. Those efforts began to gain steam in 2023, when the NFL announced the global market license in Ireland.

“It finally happened,” Art II said. “I kind of was pinching myself earlier this week thinking, we finally did this.”

Over the last several years, the Steelers have hosted sold-out watch parties at Croke Park and held youth football camps across the island. This week, the Steelers have embraced the opportunity to connect with the community. They visited Newry to establish the Dan and Patricia Rooney No Mind Left Behind Scholarship, which will benefit two Northern Ireland high school students. Former Steelers Jerome Bettis, Ben Roethlisberger, Maurkice Pouncey and Ike Taylor hosted flag football events in the region.

The NFL has also designated Fitzsimons Temple Bar as the official Steelers pub for the weekend. Black and gold jerseys are everywhere in the city, filling pubs and proving that Steelers nation extends far beyond Western Pennsylvania. Downtown Dublin on Friday looked like the North Shore before a Steelers game.

When the Steelers touched down in Ireland on Friday at about 8 a.m. local time, they discovered new practice jerseys. On the back of each uniform, the Steelers translated surnames from English to Gaelic, with the help of the Gaelic Athletic Association.

Heyward was changed to Gairnéir. Mason McCormick reverted to the more traditional spelling Mac Cormaic. T.J. Watt’s modified to Mac Uait.

At today’s practice in Ireland, our players wore jerseys with Gaelic translations of their names.

📝: https://t.co/pTk9RGjhrg pic.twitter.com/D3Q105Uou6

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 26, 2025

“Man, I’m actually very upset because they didn’t do anything (unique) with my last name, just added “Mac” in front of it,” right tackle Troy Fautanu joked. “I was one of two people on this team that didn’t get their name changed, so I’m just like Ireland kind of left me hanging out to dry on that one.”

While this week presents a unique opportunity for the Rooney family, it’s also a critical football game for the 53 men on the roster — one that will challenge not only their schematics but also their bodies, as they adapt to a five-hour time change.

“It’s certainly an opportunity for me to educate the Steelers about the late, great ambassador Rooney, his passion for this place and his vision for this game,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “We’ve done some of that. But largely, we’re here as business as usual.”

In an effort to prepare for the game,  which will be held at 2:30 p.m. local time and 9:30 a.m. ET, the Steelers moved their practice schedule up about 90 minutes. Instead of the first meeting at 9 a.m., the Steelers began their days at 7:30 a.m. in Pittsburgh. Steelers head athletic trainer Gabe Amponsah also had a call with a sleep specialist. During the flight, which left after practice Thursday, the Steelers offered players tart cherry juice on the plane mixed with melatonin.

“Man, listen, anytime you’re on a six-hour flight and you’re over 200 pounds and over 6-feet tall, it ain’t going to be the easiest transition,” tight end Jonnu Smith said. “But they tried to make available all the resources that we need to make it the best flight as possible.”

When they arrived, the players were educated on the best ways to recalibrate their circadian rhythms. That doesn’t mean they listened.

“They told us not to take longer than a 30-minute nap when we got here,” Fautanu said. “I still took a two-hour nap before I came out here. I feel great.”

Just hours after they got off the plane, the Steelers held a 90-minute practice at walk-through speed at the Carton House, a massive property where the team is staying. It was much lighter than a typical Friday practice, but they plan to work at a higher intensity than usual Saturday as they ramp up for Sunday’s game.

Players don’t have much time to experience the culture. However, several planned to go into the city during their off time Saturday. Tight end Pat Freiermuth said he plans to meet up with his family and friends in Dublin and “enjoy one pint” of Guinness.

“I’m a huge fan of Guinness,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “I don’t really drink beer, but if I do, it’s Guinness. That’s not a bulls— line I’m telling you guys in Ireland. It’s the truth. I heard it tastes different off the tap in Ireland than in the States. I’ve been to Northern (Ireland), and it was great, but I’m excited about seeing what it tastes like here.”

Given the Rooney family roots in Ireland and the work it took to bring the game to the country, a victory would taste even sweeter.

Aaron Rodgers: “We want to win every game, but there’s specific games when you know it means a little bit more —whether it’s to an individual player playing against a former team or a coach with ties or, in this case, an owner who has such a love and affection for this area.” pic.twitter.com/72D0IJQVck

— Mike DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) September 26, 2025

“We want to win every game,” Rodgers said. “But there’s specific games when you know it means a little bit more — whether it’s to an individual player playing against a former team or a coach with ties, or in this case, an owner who has such a love and affection for this area. We know how much it means to them.”

(Photo of Art Rooney II: Joe Sargent / Getty Images)