A week before organized team activities (OTAs) began, the Steelers welcomed a group of guests to UPMC Rooney Sports Complex practice field.
They were quick. They were sturdy. They could get up after a big hit.
But none of these visitors had a pulse.
Instead, they were Mobile Virtual Players (MVPs), large, remote-controlled tackling dummies that zip across the field, simulating nearly any player on the field, and the Steelers became one of the highest-profile testers of the product last week, with a little help from Danny Rooney, son of Steelers president Art Rooney II. It was Danny, a former quarterback at Dartmouth, where the dummies were developed, who first showed footage of the Big Green’s MVPs to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens said.