John Stallworth has proven that you can come home again. The Rooneys revealed their new investors at the conclusion of the NFL’s spring owners meeting, and they made good on their promise that this latest investor group would contain “one very recognizable name.”
- That name was of course legendary Hall of Fame wide receiver John Stallworth.
Stallworth is the CEO and President of Genesis II and for twenty years was the owner of the Madison Research Corporation, a company that did business with NASA and the US military.
As John Stallworth joins the Steelers ownership group he is accompanied by other new partners who include:
- Bruce V. Rauner, chairman of GTCR Golder Rauner, LLC
- the Varischetti family of Brockway, Jefferson County.
These men join the three investors named last December, they are:
- James A. Haslam III who is president of Pilot Travel Centers, the nation’s leading retail operator of truckstops and travel centers
- Robert A. Paul, 70, who is the chairman and CEO of Ampco-Pittsburgh, a specialty steel manufacturer headquartered Downtown Pittsburgh.
- Hollywood movie producer Thomas Tull, whose producing credits include Superman Returns and Batman: The Dark Knight.
The Surprise We’ve Been Waiting For
Since the news of the Steelers ownership restructuring broke last July, both Dan Rooney and Art Rooney II announced that they were lining up investors to help them buy out the other four Rooney brothers, and promised early on that their new partners would include recognizable names.
When the announcement of the first three investors last December contained some interesting personalities, particularly Tull, a noted Steelers fanatic, but the Hollywood blockbuster movie maker’s name is hardly on the tip of everyone’s tongue.
John Stallworth’s is. Players from the Super Steelers have made a concerted effort to stay connected with the team, yet this is the first instance of one actually becoming an owner. It is a novel, but most welcome trend.
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