Steelers to join other NFL clubs in reopening team facilities Tuesday

With NFL commissioner Roger Goodell giving teams permission to reopen their facilities Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers plan to take advantage.

“We will begin the process of opening our facilities on Tuesday, May 19, with a limited number of staff being permitted in our buildings,” Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten said in a statement Friday night. “Health and safety of our employees will continue to be our priority as we phase up to the fully allowed staff level.”

NFL facilities have been shuttered to team personnel since March 25 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The Steelers offices are at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side, which houses the team’s practice and training facility. Some employees work out of Heinz Field and North Shore Place on the North Side.

In a memo sent to the 32 teams Friday, Goodell said facilities could be opened as long as “governing state and local regulations, are in compliance with additional public health requirements in their jurisdiction, and have implemented protocols,” developed by NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills.

In this phase of reopening, no players are permitted inside team facilities unless they are undergoing medical treatment. For the Steelers, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would fall under this category since he is recovering from right elbow surgery.

Strength and conditioning coaches may work in the facility but only for purposes of assisting in player rehabilitation.

Under terms of the reopening, teams may not have more than 50% of staff in the facility, with the maximum of 75 people permitted in the building. In addition, no members of the coaching staff are allowed to return in order to “ensure equity among all 32 clubs.”

That edict complies with the wishes of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who lobbied for competitive fairness last weekend in a conference call with reporters following the team’s virtual rookie minicamp.

“I subscribe to the approach of a competitive fairness within our game, and that is everybody gets an opportunity,” Tomlin said. “Our game is extremely competitive. It’s one of the things that makes football at this level so attractive to our fans. I am committed to preserving and protecting that, so all teams getting an opportunity to start on the same footing is a core element of that.”

Allegheny County began a gradual reopening Friday under Gov. Tom Wolf’s “yellow phase” of restoring normalcy during the pandemic.

Team officials that return to facilities must wear a cloth mask and undergo a daily temperature screening.