Art Rooney II laughed at the boldness Broderick Jones displayed at their initial meeting. It was April 15 on a top-30 visit to UPMC Rooney Sports Complex when Jones had the audacity to suggest the Pittsburgh Steelers owner upgrade his office décor.

“He told me I didn’t have a big enough television,” Rooney II said Friday when the Steelers introduced Jones, their first-round pick.

Jones jabbed Rooney some more Friday after he returned to the South Side from Georgia, where he dominated at left tackle in 2022, resulting in the Steelers trading up to take him with the No. 14 overall pick.

“When we were meeting today, he reminded me again I need a bigger television,” Rooney said. “He’s a bigger guy who thinks big, and that’s the way we like it.”

The 6-foot-5, 310-pound left tackle didn’t always think that way. Not, at least, when he first arrived in Athens, Ga., as a freshman in 2020. Back then, Jones was happy just to survive practice, which included repetitions against the school’s star-studded defensive players.

Georgia had four front-seven players — and another former Bulldogs linebacker — selected in the first round of the 2022 draft. Two more defensive stars went in the opening round this season.

Coaches didn’t exactly take it easy on the talented yet raw offensive lineman. In one-on-one drills, he took snaps against the likes of Travon Walker, Jermaine Johnson and Nolan Smith.

“I had to go against six people that all went in the first round,” Jones said. “I lost every single rep. That humbled me, but I continued to work and continued to better myself. Going against so many people … you have no choice but to get better.”

It wasn’t easy. Jones played in just two games as a freshman, which enabled him to earn a redshirt. In his 2021 sophomore season, he didn’t crack the starting lineup until the final four games of the season.

Through it all, with Georgia annually bringing the nation’s top high school talent, Jones never thought about transferring.

“(Starting immediately) wasn’t the reason I went to Georgia,” he said. “I knew it was going to be tough going in as a freshman, but I wanted to be part of the building process. Georgia was rising, and I wanted to be part of something bigger than me.”

It was during that redshirt freshman season that Jones contributed to the Bulldogs’ first national title since 1980. That set up Jones to become the full-time starter at left tackle in 2022. His play on the offensive line helped the Bulldogs repeat as national champs.

Jones saw no reason to stay in Athens for another season and collect NIL money from donors.

“I felt like I did all I could there,” he said. “I felt like there was nothing left for me to do there. It was time for me to move on to bigger and better things.”

Jones believes the culture created at Georgia can help him become a better player with the Steelers. He toughed out those grueling practices in which the first-team offense would go against the first-team defense and came out a first-round pick on the other end.

“The way we get after it every day, you have no choice but to practice like that,” Jones said. “If not, you’ll be on the sideline somewhere watching practice and not being in practice. I’d rather tough it out with little bumps and bruises because that’s the only way the team is going to get better, the only way I’m going to get better.”

That dedication caught the attention of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who visited with Jones at the NFL Combine, Georgia’s pro day and on that top-30 visit a few weeks ago.

“He’s got a competitor’s mentality,” Tomlin said. “He’s wired right for this line of work. He’s got a desire to be great. He’s highly competitive. There’s a reason why he put himself in that environment. He’s been part of a winner. He understands that we are in the winning business. He values that.”

With the Steelers, Jones will sport uniform number 77. He wore 59 in college, but the Steelers made it known that Jack Ham’s digits weren’t available. So Jones decided to honor his roommate, the late Devin Willock, the Georgia offensive lineman who was one of two people killed in a Jan. 15 car accident that took place hours after the victory parade celebrating the national title win.

“I wanted to show my respects by taking that number and letting him live through me,” Jones said.

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