Several of Steelers founder Art Rooney's five sons also have interests outside of football, including racetracks and gaming facilities. The NFL frowns upon any association with gambling or gambling properties, even though the league's popularity was built upon and still benefits from gambling -- Vegas lines, fantasy football, etc.

The league's policy manual has long stated, "No owner of an interest in an NFL club may own, directly or indirectly, any interest in any gambling casino." Other policies for players and other team personnel (including management) bar any promotion of acts "that can reasonably be perceived as constituting affiliation with or endorsement of gambling or gambling-related activities." The irony of the whole situation is that according to legend, Rooney bought the team some 75 plus years ago with gambling money he had won at the track.

The story isn't exactly new, but was just made public in the last few weeks. Apparently this has been a situation the league has been trying to work out with the team for the past couple of years. You have to figure the Rooneys received a little bit of a free pass because of the team's history and what current president Dan Rooney has meant to the league for the past three decades.

The latest developments in the story have Pittsburgh billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller ready to pony up the cash needed to buy a controlling interest in the team. Druckenmiller, a native Pittsburgher, calls it a "life-long dream" to own the team. He has stated, though, that very soon it'll be all or nothing for him: My guess is that when you're worth an estimated 3.5 billion, you're probably not used to taking orders from someone.

Whether the Rooneys consider Druckenmiller's offer or find someone else, fans of the black and gold should in no way panic. What would really change? The team has been one of the most successful in league history over the past 30-plus years, and is worth nearly $1 billion, according to an article in Forbes magazine. The reason for all that success: the way the team has been run for over 75 years.

It's a good system, so why mess with it? While the sale of a controlling interest in the team is good talk radio and sports bar chatter, don't expect any Mayflower moving vans cruising through the Fort Pitt tunnels and out of town any time soon.