With the ancestors of the Rooney family who owned the Steelers who emigrated from Newry in the county in the 1840s, the team visit in 1997 brought a particular meaning for the organization.
Indeed, the desire to mark the return to the homeland of the Rooney family with the victory would have contributed to the team’s beginners in the game longer than customary in order to guarantee what would normally be considered an easy victory.
If this guaranteed a larger pre-season workload than expected for Bettis at the time, his role as ambassador for the Steelers during the Sunday match means that he had the chance to see more of the emerald island this time.
A golf round at the K Club, the Rory McILroy victory location at the Open of the Rory Open this month, turned out to be a highlight with visits to Belfast and Newry also included in the route.
The reception granted to the itinerant contingent left Bettis of the opinion that the first dublin game in the regular season will not be the last.
“As a fan and spectator, you have the chance to discover the culture here in Ireland and people. You are lucky to interact much more and it’s just a wonderful place.
“People have been fantastic for everyone, and I think it will be a recurring matter.
“I think it is a commitment that the NFL will make at fans of Ireland and show how important it is.”
While Dublin becomes the fourth European city to organize a regular season match after London, Frankfurt and Munich – Berlin and Madrid will follow suit in November – Bettis thinks that we could one day see a full -time franchise on this side of the Atlantic?
“I just think that the game continues to develop, I think this question will continue to be raised,” he said.
“And as long as this question is raised, so I think the possibility really exists.”
