Review: Steelers DVD is a must see

Saturday, March 11, 2006
By Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It is not surprising that some stores in the region have sold out of copies of the NFL Films-produced DVD of the Steelers' Super Bowl championship season. What is surprising is that every store in the region hasn't sold out.

This is an absolute gem, a must-have souvenir of the recently completed season that takes you behind the scenes of the Steelers' success. It's a 72-minute feel-good ride filled with all of the highs and some of the lows.

What's more, the wise shopper can purchase this DVD for well below the advertised price. Some of the low-budget chains were selling it for as little as $12.

The DVD is more than a tribute to the Steelers' season. It's also a tribute to Jerome Bettis, the team's inspirational leader who was playing his final season. The Bus is heavily featured, and understandably so.

The masterful Harry Kalas narrates, but the live play-by-play calls of Bill Hillgrove on the Steelers Radio Network are heard almost as much as Kalas, and Hillgrove rarely disappoints. His calls of all the big plays were invariably on the mark and ringing with the kind of enthusiasm that helps make this product special.

The DVD opens with Willie Parker's 75-yard touchdown run in the Super Bowl and Bill Cowher exulting in victory.

But it quickly goes back in time to memorable disappointments that cost the Steelers a trip to the Super Bowl. We see the key plays in the Steelers' AFC title game losses to San Diego, Denver and New England. We see Kordell Stewart being mocked by a Denver defender. We see Hines Ward, weeping unashamedly after the loss to New England in January 2005, and saying of Bettis, "It hurts ... because he deserves to be a champion."

But we mind none of these sad remembrances because we know what's coming, and it comes with all the flourish and music and cleverness that we've learned to expect from NFL Films.

Their cameras capture inside stuff that gives a hint of who are the leaders of this team and what Cowher means to it. Some of it is totally candid, but other times the players know the cameras are there and make use of them.

After the AFC title game win against Denver, backup center Chukky Okobi approaches Bettis -- because he knows that's where the cameras are aimed -- and says, "It's only a 40-minute flight [to Detroit], but we're taking The Bus."

After moving briskly through the first 12 games of the season, spending a minute or two on each, the DVD slows down to capture the 7-5 Steelers' memorable run when every remaining game was virtually sudden-death football.

The cameras take full advantage of the snowy afternoon at Heinz Field when the Steelers began their comeback against the Chicago Bears, with the power running of Bettis taking control of the game. "Ride The Bus," yells Ward. "He's got his snow tires on."

The playoff games are covered in detail with none of the big plays missing.

With the Steelers facing a third down on the Seahawks' 1 in the Super Bowl, Cowher gets a most unexpected request. The camera catches Troy Polamalu approaching Cowher and saying, "Give it [the ball] to me. I'll take it over the top, coach."

There are lots more like that. If you're a Steelers fan -- and who isn't? -- this is must viewing.

(Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1468.)