Millions of fans worldwide make up "Steelers Nation," but Oland "Dodo" Canterna said few may be aware of how Pittsburgh's National Football League team came to hold its annual summer training camp at St. Vincent College near Latrobe 40 years ago. "There's a lot of people who don't know how the Steelers came to be here," said Canterna, 79, of Latrobe, the college's former athletic director. "It all started with a phone call from Art Rooney Jr. to me." In early 1966, Art Rooney Jr., a St. Vincent student and son of Steelers founder Arthur J. Rooney Sr., made a simple yet historic proposal to Canterna. The younger Rooney "called me to see about bringing the Steelers here for training camp," said Canterna, who at the time coached the college's men's basketball and baseball teams. "At first, I didn't think the practice fields were big enough to suit them, and (the younger Rooney) said, 'We can address that.' " Soon, Canterna, Art Rooney Jr. and his older brother, Dan Rooney, met with the Rev. Quentin Schaut, then the school's president, to discuss providing the college's practice fields and athletic training facilities to the team. At the time, Steelers head coach Bill Austin trained players at the University of Rhode Island. "Father Quentin was an English professor, and he wouldn't have known a football from a front door, but he was very attentive to the Rooneys' request," Canterna said. "He told us to put something down in black and white" to take to the Benedictine monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey, the school's sponsors. Canterna said he and Bill Dzombak, then a chemistry professor at the college and a Steelers fan, penned a letter to the school's leaders stressing the benefits of hosting Steelers training camp amid the pastoral Laurel Mountains of Westmoreland County. "Back then, the only thing that happened during summers at St. Vincent were retreats, so we said it would be nice to have something going on year-round at the school," Canterna said. "We also talked about how that might get more people up to see the school and the potential for money involved with it." The two stressed that being able to train closer to home could help improve the focus of the nomadic squad, Canterna said. "Up to that point, the Steelers never stayed anywhere too long," said Canterna, adding that the Steelers held camp in the 1950s at California University of Pennsylvania in Washington County before moving to Rhode Island. "They were taking all their equipment all the way up there, and if they were here and they got hurt, they could get to their Pittsburgh doctors easier. We felt that all that would help them be a better team." The monks at St. Vincent, some of whom were fervent Steelers fans, readily agreed to the Rooney brothers' request. Schaut and school maintenance director and treasurer, the Rev. Conall Pfiester, then met with Steelers representative Fran Fogerty to decide the details and sign a contract with the school, Canterna said. The Steelers arrived at St. Vincent on Aug. 29, 1966. They have made the campus their summer home ever since. "Year after year, it started getting better and better and better," Canterna said. "You just couldn't have dealt with a better man than Art Rooney Sr., and it has just filtered down to his sons and head coaches Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher." As training camp begins today at St. Vincent College, Canterna said, five NFL championships are proof of a good marriage between the school and the ball club. "It's definitely a change for the better for the school -- the fields look immaculate now. The locker rooms are great with all the expansion ... the Steelers are good for St. Vincent and St. Vincent is good for them," he said. For St. Vincent foreman of grounds, Ed Roscoe, welcoming the Steelers every summer had long been a family affair. Roscoe's wife, Annie, retired from the college in 2003 as supervisor of the Robert S. Carey Student Center, where the team's locker and weight training rooms are located. Ed Roscoe, 64, of Latrobe, puts up roughly one mile of fencing on campus grounds for crowd control and player protection and helps install the uprights on the playing fields. He will retire in January after 25 years of service. "Before I put the fence in, (Steelers officials) and I will go over the whole camp layout again in case there's any changes," Roscoe said. "This year, the changes were very minor, and some years there were major changes." Annie Roscoe, 64, recalled decades of memories with players like Terry Bradshaw, Jack Lambert, Merril Hoge, Yancey Thigpen and Jerry Olsavsky. "I crocheted a baby sweater set for Merril when he had his first child, and I made a black and gold afghan for Yancey to cover his car with," said Annie Roscoe, adding that Thigpen always enjoyed her chocolate chip cookies. Annie's shining moments came when she got an unexpected hug from Art Rooney Sr. and when Bradshaw autographed her copy of "Until You," one of the Hall of Fame quarterback's six country music albums. "They were all very, very nice. They would stop and talk to you any time, going to lunch or coming back, no matter what. They're just really good guys," Annie Roscoe said. The Steelers camp at St. Vincent is regularly recognized as being one of the most fan-friendly in the NFL and draws some of the league's largest daily crowds, said Don Orlando, the college's public relations director. Writer Peter King of "Sports Illustrated" recently dubbed it "the most picturesque camp." The team's first scheduled practice at 1 p.m. Sunday is open to the public free of charge. 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