Two men connected to the Pittsburgh Steelers are finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame under the coach -contributor heading. Art Rooney, Jr., brother of late owner Dan Rooney and Buddy Parker, the team coach for eight seasons. Rooney, Jr. has worked for the team since 1961 and was the personnel director from 1965 to 1986, presiding over each of the Steelers Super Bowl championships in the 1970’s. Since 1987, he has been a vice president in the organization, although he sold most of his ownership stake in 2009. Parker was the Steelers head coach from 1957 to 1964 and had a record of 51-47-6. But Parker earned distinction in Detroit, where he helped lead the Lions to two pre-merger NFL titles.
Other finalists include owners Robert Kraft and Art Modell, coaches Mike Holgren, Don Coryell, Dan Reeves and Mike Shanahan. The Hall of Fame committee will narrow that list to one in late August.