MSNBC: The 76-year-old Rooney took over the presidency of the Steelers in 1975 and is a Hall of Fame owner. His team won this year's Super Bowl, shocking the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 on Santonio Holmes' tiptoe catch for a touchdown with 35 seconds to play.
Rooney has received the American Ireland Fund's lifetime achievement award.
The "Rooney Rule,'' which requires any team with a head coaching vacancy to interview at least one minority candidate, was developed by an NFL committee Rooney chaired.
On the White House grounds, First Lady Michelle Obama came up with the idea to dye the fountains on the White House's North and South lawns green, said spokeswoman Katie McCormick Lelyveld. She was inspired by her hometown of Chicago, where the city marks the national holiday of Ireland by dyeing the river green.
Later Tuesday, Obama plans to meet with Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen in the Oval Office, and then with Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson and his deputy, Martin McGuinness, in a less high-profile gathering in his national security adviser's office. Administration aides singled out that trio as leaders who have resisted partisan reactions to a series of killings in Northern Ireland that threatens a decade's break in violence.
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