"I wish I could say it's a done deal," said Rooney about the Steelers having their training camp at Saint Vincent College after a one-year hiatus caused by COVID-19. "(Having training camp at Saint Vincent) is certainly Plan A for us. That's what we're planning for, but unfortunately there still are some issues we've got to iron out, and some of them have to do with the Players Association and discussions about training camp and Covid protocols and all of that.
"But really the big thing is we hope people continue to get vaccinated, because that's going to be our best route to getting back to normal, both for training camp and during the regular season, and so we're optimistic. Things are trending in the right direction, that's for sure, and our plan at this point is to have training camp at Saint Vincent."
Training camp at Saint Vincent College is quite an experience for Steelers fans, and generations of them have scheduled summer vacations around those dates to be able to enjoy what for many has become an annual tradition. The NFL recently sent a memo to teams notifying them that they will be allowed to have training camps off site after prohibiting that in 2020, but for Rooney it's all about the fans.
"If we can't have fans, I'm not sure we would go to training camp up there," said Rooney. "That's certainly a big part of it – to be there with our fans. Our fans love being up there. There are great facilities up there, and it's a great place for training camp for the players from a football perspective. But without the fans I'm not sure what we would do. We'll be looking at whether there are more restrictions on fans' ability to gather at that point. Right now, things are trending in the right direction and so we're planning to be there and we're planning to have fans there. Whether everything (about camp at Saint Vincent) is exactly the same as it was two years ago, you've got to look at whether changes need to be made under the circumstances. And we'll be looking at all of that."
Maybe more important than fans at training camp is having fans at Heinz Field, with the first opportunity for that to happen being Saturday, Aug. 21 for a preseason game vs. Detroit, and Rooney is optimistic things will have returned to normal by then.
"We're planning on having full capacity. The trends are all headed in the right direction, and we're excited about getting our fans back in the stadium," said Rooney. "Again, I just encourage anyone who hasn't been vaccinated to go out and get vaccinated. That's the best way for everything to get back to normal.
"We're still in a situation where we have to be prepared to adjust, and certainly we will be, but where things stand today and the way things are trending we feel good about being about as close to normal by August as possible. We're looking forward to being pretty close to back to normal by then."
On the subject of normal, the Steelers will open their 2021 regular season on Sunday, Sept. 12 in Buffalo, which will mark the seventh straight year the team has opened on the road.
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