Dick LeBeau for Secretary of Defense

We’re stripping the Dallas Cowboys of their NFL Films-conferred “America’s Team” title and granting it, for the time being, to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are far more representative of America circa 2009 than are the Dallas Cowboys and the reasons are many.

These times of economic uncertainty and gloom seem to be more in sync with the steel-town sensibilities of Pittsburgh rather than the glitz and glamour of Dallas and as comedian Dennis Miller once noted during a Monday Night Football telecast, the franchise hails from a city so austere, they could only afford to put the Steeler logo on one side of their helmet. And so austere they do not appear to be able to afford cheerleaders… the only team in the NFL to deny themselves this vanity.

Also, it is noted that this historic presidential election bears some symmetry with the Steelers on-field and front office leadership. It was Steeler owner Dan Rooney who got the league owners to adopt the “Rooney Rule” which obligated teams to offer interviews to minority candidates for coaching, particularly, head coaching vacancies.

It was because of the self-imposed Rooney Rule that the Steelers gave then-Minnesota Viking defensive back coach and African-American, Mike Tomlin, an individual that was not on their initial short list, an interview. As the story goes, Tomlin knocked their socks off and got the job – a decision made by the Steelers’ brass that appears to be working out quite nicely, thank you very much.

(Full disclosure: We were vehemently against the Rooney Rule when it was first implemented as it made, depending on the circumstances, minorities the “token” black interview subject when they knew full well they were not going to get the job. We’ve backed off our adamancy a bit as there is now concrete proof that the concept did indeed work instead of the rule merely being of rhetorical good intent.)

And, no dummy Tomlin, the first decision he made was to keep onboard defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. LeBeau is a flat-out genius. His ability to disguise blitz packages by using various formations and personnel sleight of hand is very reminiscent of Bailout Nation as one never knows where the next stimulus package or bailout is coming from, where it is going and the havoc it is ultimately going to wreak. It’s all just a crap shoot, baby, and we love it.

So there you have it. The Pittsburgh Steelers: America’s Team.