America's Game- The 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers

With Big Ben it isn't always pretty, but he finds a way to win

By Dan Shaughnessy
INSIDE THE NFL
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/
January 24, 2011

PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 23: Ben Roethlisberger #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs for a second quarter touchdown against the New York Jets during the 2011 AFC Championship game at Heinz Field on January 23, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH -- We know the celebrity quarterbacks. Tom Brady has won three Super Bowls, is married to a supermodel and gets to meet Popes and presidents. Peyton Manning cuts that meat, wins multiple MVPs and occasionally is mentioned as the greatest ever. Drew Brees was Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year. Aaron Rodgers is Super Bowl-bound, the flavor of the month in January 2011. Michael Vick is infamous. Even Philip Rivers gets into the discussion.

And then there's Ben Roethlisberger, the double-wide quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Roethlisberger is going to his third Super Bowl. Not bad for a 28-year-old quarterback from Miami (Ohio). He is 10-2 in the playoffs. He is 6-foot-5, 240 pounds and can beat you in a lot of different ways.

Sunday night at Heinz Field, Roethlisberger completed only 10 of 19 passes for 133 yards. He did not throw a touchdown pass and he was intercepted twice. He took a safety. He led an offense that was shut out in the second half.

But he won. He almost always wins. He ran the ball 11 times for 21 yards, including a long gainer of 12. He scrambled to his right for a two-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

"We have a lot of tenacity,'' said Roethlisberger. "We have a don't-quit attitude and mentality. We have a belief in each other.''

Rex Ryan had a bad feeling about playing Big Ben. Rex talked a good game when his Jets beat Manning and the Colts in Indianapolis. Rex called out Brady before the Jets beat the Patriots in Foxboro. But he knew Roethlisberger was a different beast. And he was right. Unlike Manning and Brady, Roethlisberger was able to move in the pocket, scramble and run. He made the Jets' defense vulnerable.

Pittsburgh's game-opening touchdown drive was a 16-play, 66-yard beauty that took over nine minutes. It set a tone. The Steelers were not going to be confused or stopped on offense.

The Steelers went ahead 24-0 late in the first half but had to hold off a furious second-half rally by the bold New Yorkers. After the Jets cut it to 24-19 with three minutes left, Roethlisberger sealed the victory with a 14-yard completion to Antonio Brown on a third-and-six with the clock winding down and the Jets out of timeouts.

"We weren't going to play not to lose,'' said Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin. "That's why we threw the ball to Heath Miller on a bootleg on second down prior to that and we got the first down.''

"It was a gutsy play,'' admitted Ryan. It was a great throw and a gutsy play.''

"Every time he needs to make a play he does,'' said Steelers safety Ryan Clark of Roethlisberger. "If we don't get that and it's incomplete, it stops the clock. But once again he came through and made a big play and came through for us.''

Roethlisberger's piggish offseason behavior got him suspended for the first four games of this NFL season. After last night's win, he was asked if he looks back to the beginning of the season, and he cut off the question with, "I don't. I don't. I'll stop you now. I don't. Not at all.''

Big Ben played poorly in his first Super Bowl victory over the Seahawks. He could have been MVP when he won his second one against the Cardinals, but the award went to Santonio Holmes, who made the spectacular game-winning catch. Among quarterbacks with 10 or more playoff games, Roethlisberger's 10-2 record trails only Bart Starr's 9-1 mark. Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw are the only quarterbacks who've won four Super Bowls.

Big Ben goes for No. 3 in two weeks. "Any time you get to the Super Bowl it feels good,'' he said. "I don't care what you're going through or what is going on. We put a lot of stuff behind us early and found a way to get it done. We weren't always the prettiest team, but we had guys step up and fill in for guys in critical times in games this season.''

Jets linebacker Bart Scott spoke for many when he talked about Roethlisberger during conference championship week.

"The respect we have for Ben is that we don't look at him as a diva quarterback,'' said Scott. "We look at him as a football player. In this league, especially now, quarterbacks are treated pretty much like it's flag football. But he's one that's willing to take the hits and look down the barrel of a gun for his team.''

Brady, Manning, Brees, Vick and Rivers are all done for the season.

Big Ben is back in the Super Bowl. He's nothing like Aaron Rodgers. But he usually wins.

- Dan Shaughnessy is a columnist for The Boston Globe.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/dan_shaughnessy/01/24/rothlisberger/index.html#ixzz1C9SHD5jO

Highlights: Steelers 37, Packers 36 (Week 15 - 2009)

Bettis has storybook ending

Sunday, February 07, 2010
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/steelers/

Funny, what former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis remembers most about Super Bowl XL in Detroit.

It's not being sent out alone by his adoring teammates for the pregame introductions at Detroit's Ford Field, one of the great honors in the history of Pittsburgh sports. It's not holding up the Lombardi Trophy high in the air and the falling confetti after the Steelers' 21-10 win against the Seattle Seahawks and telling the delirious crowd in black and gold, "One for the thumb!" It's not even announcing his retirement in the bedlam on the field after a 13-year career that surely will take him to Canton, Ohio, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he's eligible for induction next year.

Bettis remembers the empty locker room.

"I was the last one to leave that night," he recalled last week. "I just looked back as I was walking out and tried to soak it all in. I knew that was going to be my last time in an NFL locker room.

Somewhere, Don Meredith was singing ...

"Turn out the lights, the party's over ..."

"For me, it was a 13-year party," Bettis said. "Man, it was some party."

Especially the ending.


Peter Diana/Post-Gazette

Jerome Bettis celebrates the 21-10 victory against the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL Feb 5, 2006, in Detroit. Bettis announced his retirement after the game in his hometown.

Many people will look back at the Steelers of the past decade and remember their 27-23 win against the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII as the highlight. They'll remember Ben Roethlisberger's winning 6-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes in the final minute or James Harrison's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown, the greatest play in Super Bowl history.

Others will remember the win in Super Bowl XL. They'll remember Willie Parker's 75-yard touchdown run or Antwaan Randle El's 43-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward.

I will remember Bettis' week in Detroit.

It's the greatest week any player had at a Super Bowl.

It nearly didn't happen.

A year earlier, after the Steelers lost at home to the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game, Bettis told his teammates he was retiring. Ward emerged from that team meeting and, sobbing, told the media, "I wanted [to win] more for him than me. He deserves to be a champion."

In the days that followed, Bettis' coaches and teammates worked to persuade him to play one more season. Roethlisberger begged, actually. Linebacker Larry Foote probably made the most persuasive argument.

" 'You don't want to miss this next Super Bowl, Bussie,' " Bettis remembered Foote saying. " 'You know it's in Detroit, right?' "

Their hometown.

So Bettis relented.

One more season it would be.

As usual, the man made the right decision.

Bettis was one of the all-time great team leaders. In that 2005 season, his teammates rallied around him, their goal to get him to the Super Bowl in his hometown. When they accomplished it by winning playoff games at Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Denver, they -- OK, linebacker Joey Porter with approval from coach Bill Cowher -- decided on that terrific pregame tribute. Television cameras showed Porter holding everyone back as Bettis ran on the field alone.

"I wanted the cameras to shine on him alone," Porter said at the time.

Said Bettis last week: "That was incredible. It meant that everything I had done as a football player and as a teammate was significant. Those guys appreciated it."

The game seemed almost anticlimactic after Bettis' emotional and uplifting week in Detroit. He had 14 carries for 43 yards. His final run went for 4 yards off right guard and was so typical of his career. He became the NFL's fifth-leading rusher at the time by moving the pile, 4 yards at a time.

Bettis did his best work in the days leading up to the game. He was a kid who survived Detroit's meanest West Side streets to become an honor student at Mackenzie High School, a Notre Dame graduate and the 2001 winner of the NFL's prestigious Walter Payton Award for community service or, as his high school coach, Bob Dozier, put it, "for reaching back in the barrel and trying to pull others up." Clearly, Bettis would be successful in life without football.

"Jerome's story needs to be told over and over and over again," Dozier said. "If it doesn't inspire kids, nothing will."

Detroit couldn't have had a better goodwill ambassador than Bettis. From the time he showed up at his first Super Bowl news conference wearing a Tigers cap and jacket, he never stopped promoting the city, which had been devastated by the brutal economic times. People who wanted to ridicule its selection as the Super Bowl city couldn't do it after seeing and feeling Bettis' passion.

"When I tell people I'm from Detroit, they say, 'That's not the greatest place in the world,' " he said. "I always say, 'You're right, but it's my place.' "

Said grateful Detroit mayor Kwami Kilpatrick when he presented Bettis a key to the city a few days before the game: "We're not giving Jerome this honor just because of football. We're giving it to him because he's a man who knows who he is and whose he is."


Peter Diana/Post-Gazette

Jerome Bettis shoots video on his camcorder while more than 40 players gathered for dinner Feb. 3, 2006, at the suburban Detroit home of his parents, Johnnie and Gladys. It was the highlight of Bettis' extraordinary Super Bowl week.

So it went for Bettis during his extraordinary Super Bowl week. The highlight -- other than the game, of course -- was a team dinner that his parents had in their home along the No. 2 fairway at Detroit Golf Club, the house a gift from their son after he signed his first pro contract. A total of 41 players -- actually, 40, but they counted nose tackle Casey Hampton as two because of his voracious appetite -- showed up to eat ham, roast beef, turkey, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, broccoli and carrots. "I think he had three plates," wide-eyed teammate James Farrior said of Big Snack.

That night meant the world to Bettis' mother, Gladys, an outgoing type if there ever was one. It also was pretty special for his proud dad, Johnnie, even if he was too quiet and reserved to show it.

All of it is even more significant to Bettis now. His father died of a heart attack in November 2006, not even 10 months after Super Bowl XL. He was just 61 and had been so looking forward to reliving his son's career by watching the game tapes he had collected.

Every game tape.

Hey, Johnnie Bettis was that kind of father.

"A lot of times, your parents don't get to see your ultimate success," Bettis said. "I'm so blessed mine got to share my brightest moment as a professional. They took the journey with me. They were there every step of the way."

Man, it really was some party.

Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com. More articles by this author

First published on February 7, 2010 at 12:00 am

Steelers stable while Lions founder

NFL Week 5: Lions starting over again

Sunday, October 11, 2009
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/

When the Steelers return to Ford Field in Detroit today for the first time since they beat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL, wide receiver Hines Ward might be inclined to walk to the spot and touch the ground where he caught a 43-yard touchdown from Antwaan Randle El that cemented the 21-10 victory and earned him the game's MVP award.


Lake Fong/Post-Gazette

Super Bowl XL MVP Hines Ward holds up the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defaeting the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 in the Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit in 2006.

Willie Parker and maybe Max Starks, the only starting offensive lineman who played in that game, might even go to the area near the 25-yard line where Parker took a handoff on a play called Counter 34 Pike, cut behind a block by Starks on linebacker Lofa Tatupu and ran 75 yards for a touchdown, the longest scoring run in Super Bowl history.

But it might be Charlie Batch, who did not even play in the game, who will remember a moment of personal satisfaction the most.

When the Steelers (2-2) face his former team, the Detroit Lions (1-3), at 1 p.m., Batch will recall the afterglow of that Super Bowl victory, just as he did that night in February, 2006 when he basked in a moment that only five of his other Steelers teammates -- center Jeff Hartings, defensive end Travis Kirschke, tackle Barrett Brooks, linebacker Clint Kriewaldt and cornerback Chidi Iwuoma -- could appreciate. Ironically enough, they got to do so in the very town where each had known mostly misery.

"We had been through a lot," said Batch, a backup quarterback who grew up in Homestead and attended Steel Valley High School.

Like Batch, Hartings, Kirschke, Brooks, Kriewaldt and Iwuoma had all spent parts of their National Football League careers in Detroit, playing for a franchise that was crumpling faster than the town's auto industry.

They each were part of an organization that went through head coaches the way ants go through picnic food, hiring and/or firing seven since 2000.

They each were part of a franchise that struck out more often than Ryan Howard on No. 1 draft choices, even though they never drafted lower than No. 10 in seven of the past nine years. And they watched it disintegrate under TV analyst-turned-team president Matt Millen, whose poor coaching hires and constant reshuffling of philosophy eventually produced an 0-16 season in 2008, the first winless season in the NFL since the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

So, several months after they beat the Seahawks, during the ceremony in which the players received their Super Bowl rings, Batch and the other five ex-Lions got together and posed for a picture that hailed triumph, signified freedom and, perhaps most importantly, exulted escape.

"A big thank you, let's put it that way," Batch said.

The Kodak moment did not include Kevin Colbert, the Steelers' director of football operations.

But it could have.

Somehow, it seems odd that one of the NFL's least successful programs has contributed to the success of one of the league's best franchises.

Colbert, a graduate of North Catholic High School and Robert Morris University, was the director of pro scouting in Detroit when he decided to leave the Lions to return to his hometown in February 2000. At the time, he worked in Detroit under Ron Hughes, who was the Lions' director of player personnel. His decision to join the Steelers as the replacement for Tom Donahoe, who was fired, came 11 months before the Lions turned the entire football operation over to Millen.

Three years later, Colbert hired Hughes to be the Steelers' college scouting coordinator. They employed the same philosophy, remained committed to the same beliefs, with the Steelers that they had in Detroit. But the results were drastically different.

"It was the same philosophy we were using in Detroit when we were like 7-9, 8-8, and they just couldn't get us over the hump," said Batch, who was drafted by the Lions in 1998 and spent four seasons in Detroit. "But, you look at the flip side, the Steelers were like 7-9 and 8-8 then, too, and Kevin took his philosophy and beliefs and brought them here and ultimately got them over the hump."

Indeed, the Steelers were 6-10 in 1999, the year before Colbert was hired, and 9-7 in 2000. After that, the Steelers made the playoffs six of the next eight seasons and won two Super Bowls.

The Lions, conversely, have not had a winning season -- or even a .500 season -- since 2001. But that is not the only drastic difference with the Steelers.

Consider:

• The Steelers have employed just three coaches since 1969 and built the core of their Super Bowl teams with No. 1 draft choices.

• The Lions have employed five head coaches since Colbert departed -- the latest is Jim Schwartz, the former Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator -- and have made mostly disastrous decisions with their No. 1 picks (see chart).

Coaching instability, especially to the degree the Lions have endured, often can lead to failed development in young players.

"It's huge," Colbert said, referring to coaching stability in general and not the Lions in particular. "If you draft players to fit into a specific scheme, they're brought along and they're learning one system over a period of two, three, sometimes four years before they're asked to contribute. Whereas, if you draft a player thinking he's going to play in a certain scheme and you change that scheme, now that player may not be able to adapt, and you're that much further behind."

Even when the Steelers hired Mike Tomlin to replace Bill Cowher after the 2006 season, they did not change any of their offensive and defensive philosophy. Instead, they retained their respective coordinators -- Bruce Arians on offense and Dick LeBeau on defense -- to ensure stability.

"It means a lot," said inside linebacker and defensive captain James Farrior, who might be Colbert's best free-agent signing since he arrived. "We have the same coach who knows what you are going to do and what they expect out of you. With a new guy coming in all the time, it's a new slate. Everyone has got to start over again."

The Lions are trying to start over with Schwartz, and they're trying to do it with their No. 1 draft choices such as quarterback Matthew Stafford (2009), tight end Brandon Pettigrew (2009), right tackle Gosder Cherilus (2008), wide receiver Calvin Johnson (2007) and linebacker Ernie Sims (2006), all of whom have been starters since their rookie years.

They are hoping they make up for such disastrous picks as quarterback Joey Harrington (2002), wide receiver Charles Rogers (2003) and wide receiver Mike Williams (2005), each of whom were drafted among the top 10 overall picks..

Curiously, only one Lions player remains from when Colbert was there -- kicker Jason Hanson, who is in his 18th season. Meantime, the Steelers have continued to employ players who once played for the Lions, including tight end Sean McHugh, who is on injured reserve, and No. 4 receiver Shaun McDonald.

Yet, they keep winning. And the Lions, well, they keep losing.

"That was Matt's biggest thing when he first came in," Batch said. "When he put blame on somebody, he said they missed on their No. 1 draft picks. But, all of a sudden, he was drafting and put his guys in there and he missed on them, too. And he never really accepted blame. He would never admit it."

Batch and the others were glad to escape.


Lion's No. 1 Draft Picks Since 2001

Year Player (Overall pick) Status

2009- QB Matthew Stafford (1) Detroit’s first rookie QB to start opener since 1968

2009- TE Brandon Pettigrew (20) One of four rookie starters for Lions

2008- T Gosder Cherilus (17) Has started 17 consecutive games

2007- WR Calvin Johnson (2) Already one of the league’s top receivers

2006- LB Ernie Sims (9) Started all 48 games in three seasons

2005- WR Mike Williams (10) Played two seasons before being released

2004- WR Roy Williams (7) Traded after averaging 61 catches, 913 yards in four seasons

2004- RB Kevin Jones (30) 1,133 yards as a rookie, released after injury-plagued four seasons

2003- WR Charles Rogers (2) Released after three seasons of injuries and off-field issues

2002- QB Joey Harrington (3) Traded after throwing 62 interceptions, 60 TDs in four years

2001- T Jeff Backus (18) Mainstay who has started every game for Lions (131 in a row)


Ed Bouchette's blog on the Steelers and Gerry Dulac's Steelers chats are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.

First published on October 11, 2009 at 12:00 am

Can Seattle finally shrug off XL loss?

"We played the game, Pittsburgh won ... It really is time to move on."

Sunday, October 07, 2007
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

No Steelers player could be found wearing a Super Bowl XL ring the past week. One thing's for certain, though, the Seattle Seahawks did not take them.

"They're not going to get our Super Bowl rings," safety Troy Polamalu declared as the rehash of events that led to the Steelers' 21-10 victory on Feb. 5, 2006 in Detroit heated up prior to today's game in Heinz Field.

The complaints by the Seahawks, their fans and, most importantly, coach Mike Holmgren, that the officials stole a Super Bowl victory became infamous in Pittsburgh, where it sounded like sour grapes.

Holmgren finally told fans in Seattle last week that enough was enough. But his own team helped keep the fires burning in its weekly press release for today's game that described how the Steelers won Super Bowl XL.



"Seattle outgained Pittsburgh in various statistical categories but an uncharacteristic seven penalties and two Pittsburgh big plays aided to the final outcome,'' it read on the first page.

So let the angle of today's 1 p.m. game between the Steelers and Seahawks, both 3-1, be Super Bowl XL rematch, if you will. The Steelers just aren't buying it.

Twice the Steelers played the New England Patriots early the next season after losing to them at home in AFC championships following the 2001 and 2004 seasons.

Never, they say, did they think it was a rematch of anything.

"No, no, I didn't,'' guard Alan Faneca said. "It wasn't like I was going to get a Super Bowl ring for beating them this time around. In a lot of senses, it was just another game.''

Many players return from Super Bowl XL on both sides but there are plenty who no longer will be on the field today either.

The Steelers have the fewest changes in their starting lineup -- four on offense, three on defense. Seattle has five official new starters, although Super Bowl starting receiver Bobby Engram might as well be even if he's not listed as such, and six on defense.

Both starting quarterbacks return in Ben Roethlisberger of the Steelers and Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck, as do their starting halfbacks in Willie Parker and Shaun Alexander.



Among the big names gone are Steelers linebacker Joey Porter and the man he called out, tight end Jeramy Stevens of the Seahawks. So too is Jerome Bettis, not a starter but certainly a star in his hometown of Detroit all week. Receiver Antwaan Randle El, who threw the back-breaking TD pass to MVP Hines Ward in the fourth quarter, plays for the Redskins. Seattle defensive tackle Grant Wistrom has retired, but the Seahawks have added end Patrick Kearney and outside linebacker Julian Peterson.

"You know, it doesn't seem that long ago, it really doesn't,'' Faneca said of Super Bowl XL. "It's still very fresh.''

It's more like a fresh wound in Seattle. Holmgren helped fire up Seattle's complaints about the officiating when he told a crowd, at a post-mortem rally the day after losing the Super Bowl, that "We knew it was going to be tough going against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn't know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well."

The Steelers say they weren't exactly angry over those comments and others made in Seattle after the game.

"I thought it was comical,'' Faneca said.

Naturally, he felt there was no validity to the Seattle protests.

"No, I don't think so. Sometimes, it seems like they go your way and sometimes they seem like they don't. I remember that first Patriots championship game we played here in '01, it just seemed like every call we had go against us, we had to burn some challenges and we could have used them later. Even though we won the challenges, we didn't have them any more. It's just the way it goes sometimes."

Said linebacker Larry Foote, "I wasn't upset. They had a great year and they just didn't quite want to put it to rest yet. I know when they watched film and everything set in, they didn't honestly think the refs took it from them. They had opportunities to win the game and they didn't do it. The bottom line is, they only scored one touchdown."

This week, 20 months later, Holmgren said it was time to put it all behind them.

"We played the game, Pittsburgh won. Getting to the Super Bowl is special and hopefully we can get back there one day. It really is time to move on."

First published on October 7, 2007 at 12:00 am
Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com.

Happier Times From a Year Ago

45,000 fans rock to Bon Jovi as Steelers celebrate Super Bowl trophy

Monday, July 24, 2006
By Dan Majors, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Some came for the Steelers. Some came for the music. Most came for the unique convergence of the two last night at Heniz Field, and most came away happy.

More coverage
From yesterday: It's party time on the North Shore for Steelers fans
More photos in today's Photo Journal

An estimated crowd of 45,000 people turned out for the Steelers Celebration/Bon Jovi Have a Nice Day Tour -- a show that amounted to much more than another black-and-gold pep rally in a city that seizes every chance it gets to wave its Terrible Towels at the world.

Yesterday's event was an intoxicating mix of tailgating, cheering, singing and dancing, with a shiny new silver Super Bowl trophy serving as the swizzle stick.

The music was provided into the night by Jon Bon Jovi, Nickelback, and The Yards, interspersed with player introductions, taunts at Seattle and Cleveland, and the odd environmental message from former Vice President Al Gore between concert sets on the jumbo video screen.

The day started with player autographs in the Coca-Cola Great Hall. Hundreds of Steelers fans waited their turn to enter the hall, where players autographed photos, memorabilia and other items clutched with reverence.

Joe Mangol, 43, and his wife, Alice, of Natrona Heights, brought some footballs to be signed. The pigskins already bore the signatures of Hines Ward, Ike Taylor and others. They waited a half-hour to get a few more.

Because there was no exit and re-entry at the event, they had to carry the footballs with them into the evening and through the music concerts.

"I'll use this as my pillow," Mr. Mangol said.

Later, team officials, including President Dan Rooney, his brother Art Rooney II, and some of the players, made the formal presentation of the franchise's fifth Vince Lombardi Trophy, placing it behind glass in a newly dedicated trophy case built into a column in the Great Hall.
"The only question I have," Kevin Colbert, director of football operations for the Steelers, said to the crowd, "is where are we going to put No. 6?"

The throng of fans packed around them pointed in unison to the neighboring column.

The fans ate it all up, along with hot dogs, nachos, and the usual football stadium fare.

But there were differences.

Because of marketing issues, Steelers memorabilia was not for sale yesterday. Fans had to bring their own numbered jerseys and Terrible Towels.

The Bon Jovi merchandise booths, however, did offer a Bon Jovi football jersey -- No. 3 -- but it was black and blue, not black and gold.

Danielle Greene, 32, of Hermitage, Mercer County, paid $200 for her autographed Bon Jovi jersey and happily blended in with the Steelers fans.

"I really don't care for the Steelers," she said. "I'm here for the concert. And I hope the Steelers stuff doesn't take away from it."

But she was distinctly in the minority, as most attendees found it to be a perfect mix.

"It's so good to be here," said Sue McGahan, 58, of Crafton, who attended the event with her daughters, Melissa Malachow, 31, of Ross, and Amy Fuchs, 35, of Cleveland.

"We wouldn't want to be anywhere else. We are Steelers fans and Bon Jovi fans. This is the best of two worlds in one place."

Even the night's top performer got caught up in the atmosphere. When Bon Jovi came out for an encore, he was wearing a Ben Roethlisberger jersey.

(Dan Majors can be reached at dmajors@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1456. )

Super Bowl Changed Steelers' Lives

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By Joe Starkey
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, July 23, 2006

It's not as if the Steelers toiled in anonymity before winning Super Bowl XL.
It's just that winning it in front of some 90 million television viewers rocketed them toward another dimension of celebrity - the kind where a simple trek to the local Uni-Mart practically requires a police escort.

The phenomenon is easy to explain. As cornerback Bryant McFadden put it, "What individual doesn't watch the Super Bowl?"

Within hours of the Feb. 5 victory, lives began to change. By the end of spring, soft-spoken tight end Heath Miller had his own candy bar, and several offensive linemen starred in a Campbell's Chunky Soup Commercial. Star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger - before his horrific motorcycle accident - conquered Switzerland, while Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward was becoming a national hero.

In South Korea.

Three starters parlayed the Super Bowl victory into surprisingly lucrative free-agent deals.
Others used their playoff winnings ($37,000 per man for the AFC title game; $73,000 per man for the Super Bowl) on automobiles or houses, and massive right tackle Max Starks got the key to Disney World upon his return from touring military bases in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf.

The team was invited to a joyous White House celebration. Offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt interviewed for the head coaching job with the Oakland Raiders, and Jerome Bettis took a high-profile analyst job at NBC.

Everybody's profile got a nice booster shot. That's what winning a Super Bowl will do.

"You're looked at it in a whole different light," said wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, who scored a stunning, $31 million contract with the Washington Redskins. "You had great character, great personality before. Now, you have a ring, and it's like people really look at you. I'd like to get a couple more."

With players set to report to training camp Friday in Latrobe, here's a look at the aftermath of winning the Super Bowl, through the eyes of several members of the Steelers organization:

L.A. Story

A Super Bowl title can ruin an offensive lineman's anonymity. Left tackle Marvel Smith doesn't mind. Folks began to notice him more in Los Angeles, where he makes his offseason home.

"In Pittsburgh, a lot of people recognize me when I go out, but I wasn't expecting that in L.A.," Smith said. "I'd go out and people were like, 'Marvel!' I mean, there's quote-unquote superstars all over Los Angeles. You don't expect people to recognize you. That was the one thing that surprised me and made me realize a lot of people watched the Super Bowl."

Not that Smith has totally escaped the anonymous life of a lineman. Asked if the Super Bowl led to any endorsement opportunities, he said, "Nope. That's still the same. Offensive linemen, nobody really wants to watch us."

This was before Roethlisberger and four of his linemen - Smith wasn't available - were asked to star in a Chunky Soup commercial. The linemen became the featured performers when Roethlisberger was unable to participate while recovering from his accident.

Said Smith: "If I find somebody to shoot my commercial, I'll do it. I think I'm the best-looking offensive lineman we got."

Mickey Mouse

Offensive tackle Max Starks got the key to his hometown of Orlando, Fla.

And, yes, it's an actual key.

"It's something I could physically show you," Starks said. "That was a pretty big thing to get that. You get the key to Disney World, Universal Studios. It's awesome."

The 6-foot-8, 337-pound Starks won't take advantage of his new privileges.

"I don't think they'd be too happy," Starks said, "but I could definitely hit up Cinderella's castle and hang out for a little while."

Home, sweet home

The Steelers might not have gotten as far as the AFC Championship Game if rookie cornerback Bryant McFadden hadn't broken up a late pass to the end zone against Indianapolis.

Two more games, including the Super Bowl victory, meant an extra $110,000 for McFadden.
That was equal to nearly half his base salary of $230,000 and enabled him to put down a nice chunk of change on a house in South Florida. He's from Hollywood, Fla.

"Buying a home is a big achievement for a young individual," said McFadden, who turns 25 this season.

Hot Wheels

Rookie guard Chris Kemoeatu parlayed the extra Super Bowl cash into a car for his sister and a Chevy SS for himself.

Kemoeatu returned home to Hawaii for a few weeks to spend time with his family, and they all wanted one thing.

"Everybody was asking to see the ring," he said.

Movin' on up

Before his accident, Roethlisberger spoke of the changes he'd experienced since Super Bowl XL, when he became the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl.

"It gives you more confidence, obviously, naturally, knowing that you've done something that even some of the greats have never done, something that people work for their whole lives," he said. "I've reached a couple goals that I set out for my life; I've reached them already. I had to go back and cross out some of those goals and make them a little loftier."

Can't take it away

Backup nose tackle Chris Hoke knows he'll never be looked at quite the same.

"You got that Super Bowl ring, you're a Super Bowl champion the rest of your life," Hoke said. "I don't know if it changed how I live my life day to day, but for the rest of my life, being a Super Bowl champion will be attached to Chris Hoke. It's a little humbling. Like coach (Bill Cowher) said the other day, 'Only 17 franchises have won that Super Bowl.'

"It's a big accomplishment, but with coach Cowher being our coach, there's no way our mindset is ever going to change. We're going to be out in Latrobe working hard in the heat, being physical and having a lot of contact. Nothing's going to change."

Did Hoke buy anything with his spoils?

"Oh, no, but I'm a big saver, though," he said. "I'm saving for a rainy day."

Star search

Willie Parker went from undrafted free agent to Super Bowl hero in a matter of two years. Parker had the longest run (75 yards) in Super Bowl history, so when people ask for his autograph, they want him to add something like, "Longest run in Super Bowl history."

"I've signed so many '75-yard' autographs, my hand's about to fall off," Parker said.
Did the price for his signature - and his appearances -- go up?

"Yeah," Parker said, smiling, "all that went up."

Winners' circle

Winning Super Bowls is old hat to offensive line coach Russ Grimm, who played on some great Washington Redskins teams.

Grimm believes that winning breeds winning.

"I think any time you win a championship at any level, the confidence of the players goes up, just knowing you've been there, you know what it takes to get there, you know what's expected," he said. "I know the first time it was kinda like, 'We gotta win this game, we gotta win this game.' You keep winning, you keep winning and then you win the big one."

Speaker of the house

Life got a lot busier for guard Kendall Simmons.

"That's really the thing that's changed," said Simmons. "You're speaking to a lot more groups. It's just constant, constant movement all the time because everybody wants to see you and talk to you, hoping you got your ring with you and all that kind of stuff. The spotlight is on right now."

Simmons said the demand for him to come speak to groups is picking up, and he believes that will continue as the season opener gets closer.

"Everybody wants to know your experience and what happened in the game," he said. "It's a good thing to share with folks because you want everyone to somewhat relive your experiences -- to a certain degree."

Nice ring

Backup quarterback Charlie Batch said winning the Super Bowl hasn't changed a thing in his life.
"Nothing, not at all," the Homestead native said.

C'mon Charlie, something had to happen. Better seats at the movie theater? Shorter waits in lines at Kennywood?

"Nope," he said. "People around here are used to seeing me. They figure, 'Hey, it's still Charlie.' "
But what about that Super Bowl ring - that big, diamond-studded showpiece?

Finally, Batch relented.

"Everybody wants to see the ring," he said. "That's probably the biggest difference. I try to carry it around with me, even though I'm not really wearing it, just so people can see it."
Asked if he carried the large piece of jewelry in his pocket, Batch smiled.
"Not there," he said. "I won't say where I keep it."

According to Batch, the reason life has been relatively normal in Steeler Nation - at least where he lives - is because the phenomenon had little room to grow.

"We've always been a big deal around here," Batch said. "The Super Bowl was great for everybody, but the fans have always cared about the Steelers."

Big Money

Ultra-quiet tight end Heath Miller wouldn't seem like a logical candidate to have a candy bar named after him, but, sure enough, food marketer PLB Sports Inc. of Robinson Township produced the 2.8-ounce "Heath's Big Money Bar," made from milk chocolate, toffee and crisped rice.

"It's pretty neat," Miller said.

On the line

Veteran guard Alan Faneca spent a lot more time on the phone than usual in the first few weeks after the big win.

"Lots of messages," he said. "Everybody was excited and just wanted to say hey and congratulations. It took several weeks to get back to everybody, and when I got back home everybody wanted to talk about it and hear about the experience first-hand."

Faneca had grown sick of seeing other teams glorified during the offseason, whether it be in Sports Illustrated ads or elsewhere.

"I'm used to seeing the Patriots (all over the television) and I'm ticked off, and now people have to watch us," Faneca said. "That brings a smile to my face.

Several months without football haven't dampened fans' enthusiasm and desire to talk about the game.

"People still ask about it," Faneca said. "People you don't know still want to come up and say things and that's fine. It happened and it's a real thing, so it's fine. It's good to talk about it. It's good to relive it as long as you keep it in the proper place."

On a mission

Troy Polamalu, the Steelers' spectacular strong safety, didn't feel an extra sense of elation or emptiness in the aftermath of Super XL. He felt pretty much the same as always.
"Some people need a ring or a Super Bowl or a Pro Bowl to validate themselves," he said.
"Obviously, from what you know about me, that's not the person I am."

Polamalu likes to win as much as the next guy, but ...

"My goal is not based on football," he said. "It's spirituality. It's life. You don't separate football from anywhere else in your life. Football's not my mission. The Super Bowl's not my mission. I think football does a great job in teaching people lessons about growing, just like any other occupation. My mission is life."

Patience rewarded

Backup defensive lineman Travis Kirschke waited nine years to win a Super Bowl.
"You start getting later in your career, you start wondering if it's ever going to happen," Kirschke said. "You look at most of the people in the league and they never even get a chance to get close to it. For me to be in the championship game last year and be able to be in the Super Bowl this year, it's just a true blessing to be a part of something like that."

Kirschke didn't go on any extravagant spending spree.

"I think the ring was enough," he said. "I have a tape of the game, I have my ring, and it was an honor to go to the White House. That was good enough for me."

Turning heads

Antwaan Randle El, who caught one touchdown pass during the regular season, turned his versatility into a $31 million contract with the Redskins.

Winning the Super Bowl might have saved him some money, too.

"It helps you out when you get pulled over," he said, laughing. "No, don't tell anybody that!"

-- Staff writers Mike Prisuta, Karen Price and Joe Bendel contributed to this story.

Joe Starkey can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com.

President Opens the Door of His House to Steelers

Saturday, June 03, 2006
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

More Coverage:
Full text of President Bush's remarks at Super Bowl XL champions ceremony

Steelers' Day at the Whitehouse Photo Journal
Mission accomplished for 2 Steelers

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, according to some polls, has only a 35 percent approval rate, something even the Steelers might appreciate after they pulled into the final four games of the 2005 regular season with a 7-5 record.

"Halfway through the season, a lot of people counted the Pittsburgh Steelers out, said you don't have a chance,'' Mr. Bush said during a 14-minute ceremony yesterday afternoon at the White House to honor the Super Bowl champions.

"I kind of know the feeling."

Mr. Bush lauded the Steelers for being "champions on the field and off the field,'' joked around with several of them and even threw a short pass to Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward in the East Room of the White House. The ceremony had been moved indoors because of thunderstorms around the nation's capital.

"You had a ring for every finger,'' Mr. Bush said, "and now you got one for the thumb.

"It's a tough brand of football. It wasn't always flashy, but you learned how to win and you're the kind of team that Pittsburgh Steelers fans like to watch -- hard-nosed football.''

Team President Art Rooney presented Mr. Bush with a black Steelers jersey with his name and the number 43 on the back to honor him as the 43rd president of the United States. Mr. Ward presented Mr. Bush with a Super Bowl XL football autographed by the team.

Sens. Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter, both R-Pa., and U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St.
Clair, attended, as did Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and former Pennsylvania Gov. Richard Thornburgh, a former U.S. attorney general

Also attending along with his family was the new CIA chief, Gen. Michael Hayden, a native of Pittsburgh's North Side. Gen. Hayden was once coached in youth football by Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney.

"You have no greater fan than the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency," Mr. Bush said.

The president alluded to the Steelers going after a second straight championship next year when he commented, "I'll be around here next year to see you come back."

As the ceremony ended, Mr. Bush threw a short pass back to Mr. Ward with the football.

"One hundred percent very accurate," Mr. Ward said afterward with a big smile. "It had a nice spiral to it."

Mr. Bush shook hands with many of the Steelers standing behind him, and singled out linebacker Joey Porter and nose tackle Casey Hampton, who threw his arm around the president as their photos were taken.

Mr. Porter, who joked two weeks ago that he would walk into the White House with a swagger, wore big dark sunglasses during the entire ceremony.

"You got a man known for his swagger," Mr. Bush said. "I've been looking forward to Joey Porter's new dance." Mr. Porter smiled, and the two shook hands.

Mr. Hampton, who played football at the University of Texas, used to lift weights at the school with Mr. Bush when he was Texas governor.

"You got a Longhorn -- we used to pump iron together," Mr. Bush said, prompting a round of laughter from the room. "His took, mine didn't."

The president did commit a faux pas, if you will, when he said he was a fan of the "Texas Cowboys." He quickly amended that to the Dallas Cowboys. Mr. Bush was once a part owner of baseball's Texas Rangers.

The Steelers filed into the East Room with chants from the crowd of "Here we go, Steelers, here we go.'' After hearing that, Mr. Bush remarked, "Sounds like some people have been drinking some Iron City Beer here."

The president praised Jerome Bettis for his charity work and Mr. Ward for his attempts to help fight racism in his native Korea, calling his trip to Seoul with his mother "an act of a champion."

Mr. Bush also poked fun at coach Bill Cowher's history of angry sideline displays.

"He has the most unusual expressions on the sideline,'' he said. "So I told the vice president I was going to be able to congratulate Coach Cowher in person. And he said get him to give me some tips on his scowl."

After the ceremony, Mr. Cowher said the visit, which included a tour of the White House for the team, will be "a day we will always remember."

Earlier, six players headed by Mr. Bettis visited wounded U.S. soldiers from Iraq at the Walter Reed Army Hospital.

Several players who left the Steelers as free agents, such as Antwaan Randle El, Kimo von Oelhoffen and Chris Hope rejoined their old teammates for the White House visit as did Willie Williams, who was released. Quarterback Tommy Maddox, also released, did not attend.

"It was an honor to be here,'' Mr. Cowher said. "It was a special year with a special group of guys and a chance to reflect on all of it."

(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3878. )

Memorable quotes from President Bush at Super Bowl XL champions ceremony

"Thank you all for coming. Please be seated. It sounds like some people have been drinking some Iron City beer here. It's such an honor to welcome the Pittsburgh Steelers here to the White House. Congratulations on being the champs. You had a ring for every finger; now you've got one for the thumb."

"I want to -- look, I was a Texas Cowboy fan, you know. Dallas Cowboy fan -- and -- yes, I know, I know. It's kind of hard for me to admit, but the Steeler franchise is one of the really great franchises in football history. And one of the reasons why is because of the Rooney family."

"[Cowher] is a -- he's an amazing coach. He's got the most unusual expressions on the sideline. So I told the vice president I was going to be able to congratulate coach Cowher in person, and he said, 'Well, get him to give me some tips on his scowl.'"

"About halfway through the season a lot of people were counting the Steelers out. They said you didn't have a chance. I kind of know the feeling. (Laughter.) But you won eight games in a row, including three on the road in the playoffs, and of course, Super Bowl XL in Detroit. You had some amazing unexpected players step up to help you play. You had the quarterback make an important tackle, and you had yourself a receiver make an important pass."

"Super Bowl XL included other entries in the record book -- Fast Willy Parker, 75-yard touchdown, the longest run in Super Bowl history. Looking sharp, too. Your quarterback was the youngest quarterback in history to win an NFL title. But the most amazing thing about the victory, it seemed like to me, and for a lot of other fans, was you had a fine man, a man you call "The Bus," retire in his home city of Detroit, with the Lombardi Trophy in his arms. It was a touching moment for football fans."

Steelers Set For Presidential Treatment

By Joe Bendel
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, June 2, 2006

Casey Hampton was going about his business in the University of Texas weight room one afternoon when the future president of the United States approached.

"He asked about an article that was written about me and my mom," Hampton said. "He was interested."

Hampton's conversation with George W. Bush -- governor of the Lone Star State while Hampton was starring at UT -- was no different from the many previous chats they'd had.

Bush was a big UT fan. Hampton was a big-time UT performer.

"He was cool, down to earth," Hampton said. "It was funny, because we always used to say, 'One day, that man's gonna be our president -- and we know him.' It's pretty wild."

At about 1:45 today, Hampton, along with the rest of the Steelers, will join Bush on the White House lawn to celebrate the team's Super Bowl victory over the Seattle Seahawks last February.
Former Steelers Antwaan Randle El, Kimo von Oelhoffen and Chris Hope, all of whom signed elsewhere after the season, are expected to be on hand, along with scouts, coaches and front-office personnel.

This marks the franchise's second White House visit, 27 years after the 1978 squad was honored by President Carter. The '74, '75 and '79 teams did not make the trek.

"The White House ..." backup center Chukky Okobi said, shaking his head. "This is when you start to realize how special winning the Super Bowl is."

Asked what he would say to the president, Okobi revealed a huge smile.

"What's up, George? How's it going?" he said, laughing. "Where are your daughters?"

Okobi paused.

"Just kidding," he said.

Okobi probably didn't want to stir up controversy, like the Northwestern women's lacrosse team did last summer when several players wore flip-flop sandals with their dresses and skirts. Critics believed the look was too casual for the White House.

A few weeks ago, Steelers linebacker Joey Porter elicited some reaction when he jokingly told media members that he had "something to say" to Bush. He didn't like the way the quotes came across in print and sent out a statement clarifying them.

The usually loquacious Porter has barely spoken with the media since.

"Joey was talking all crazy, just having fun," fellow outside linebacker Clark Haggans said. "That's all."

The Steelers were scheduled to touch down in Washington late this morning, tour the White House, then congregate on the lawn to be honored by the president. Most team members were anxiously awaiting the opportunity to celebrate their Super Bowl win with the commander in chief.

"I'll have my camcorder, so I can always remember it and show it to my kids," left tackle Marvel Smith said. "Just to be able to be a part of this, to be a part of a place with so much history, is an honor."

Indeed, Mr. Smith is going to Washington.

"I'm really looking forward to this," the big lineman said.

In recent years, Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel watched as other championship teams -- the New England Patriots, the Boston Red Sox, the Detroit Pistons -- celebrated on the White House lawn for all the world to see.

Now, it's his turn.

"When you see those other guys there, you think, 'Hey, they go there and get their picture taken, that's all it is,'" Keisel said. "But that's not right. It's one of the things that comes with being a champion, one of the things that make it special. I've been on the other side of the fence a few times, just checking things out. But to actually be in there, and being honored, it's going to be awesome. It really is."

Veteran center Jeff Hartings has experienced plenty during his 10 NFL seasons, and a trip to the White House will add one more powerful memory.

"I think it's a great privilege," Hartings said. "Politics aside, I think the opportunity to go to the White House is special. No. 1, we're going there because we're world champs. And whether you agree or disagree with the politics of the White House right now, I would hope everybody goes there with the feeling that it's a great privilege and honor that few get to experience."

As for Hampton, somebody asked if he expected Bush to single him out because of their history together.

"Probably not," Hampton said. "We'll see."

Joe Bendel can be reached at joecbendel@aol.com or (412) 320-7811.

Steelers to Visit the White House Today

Friday, June 02, 2006
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Alan Faneca has one goal this afternoon when he meets the President in the Rose Garden at the White House.

"Shake his hand, hopefully," Faneca said.

Two days later, Faneca and the rest of the Steelers might have to think twice before they shake anyone's hand. Sunday, they will receive their Super Bowl rings in a private ceremony in a lounge at Heinz Field. Big, tough football players have been brought to their knees by their reaction to wearing a Super Bowl ring, not because of the emotion it brings, but the pain.

Chuck Noll once said that he discontinued wearing any of his four Super Bowl rings because of the pain it caused when he shook someone's hand. And those rings were small by comparison to the gold and diamond hubcaps Super Bowl teams receive today.

The Steelers will issue at least 150 rings to players, coaches and members of the organization Sunday and, yes, they will be gaudy. They still have a reputation as a mom-and-pop franchise as far as NFL teams go, but the size of their Super Bowl ring will keep up with the Joneses.

Dan Rooney, with help from Jerome Bettis and Ben Roethlisberger, came up with the idea for the ring. Rooney's initial plan was to design a ring that separated this championship from the franchise's first four. But Bettis convinced him otherwise. The retired halfback told him that the modern Steelers played in the shadows of the 1970s teams for so long that they finally believed they belonged with them now. Bettis wanted a ring that would display that.

So the design team of Rooney, Bettis and Roethlisberger came up with a ring that will display five Vince Lombardi Trophies on its face, all in diamonds. Rooney, though, did reject one of the players' requests, that the ring be constructed of white gold. Perhaps that might have represented their four postseason victories on the road in their white shirts, but, as Rooney said, "We're the black and gold." Yellow, not white.

"It really looks good in gold," Rooney said. "I'm pleased with it, and they're pleased with it, too."

For Rooney and a handful of others in the organization, this will be one for the thumb, a fifth Super Bowl ring after a 26-year quest.

"It's been a long time since we won that fourth one," said Dick Hoak, who will receive his fifth ring in the same job that he earned his first, as the Steelers' running backs coach.

Unlike many who store their rings in safe-deposit boxes, Hoak wears his, not daily, but on many occasions. During the season, he would wear the third or fourth ring on the day before the game.
"I don't know why people win them and don't wear them," Hoak said. "What's the sense of winning one?

"What I'll do now is put one of those away and wear this one. I just have to decide which one to put away. I just may wear this one now. Those other two are from so far back."

Receiving the ring not only represents the culmination of a pursuit for a generation, but also the beginning of the next one.

"Once we get it, we can kind of really put this year behind us," Hines Ward said. "It's really been a memorable year, and this ring is kind of the icing on the cake, something we worked hard for.

"Once you get it you look at it, reflect back on the year and all the people who supported you along the way. Then, after the ring ceremony, it's time to focus on starting a new chapter in the upcoming season. We really can't live off the past."

NOTES -- Retired Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope was released from UPMC-Presbyterian after nearly a two-week stay for pneumonia.

(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3878. )

Ed Bouchette: Ward Still Basking in the MVP Glow

Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It's tough being Hines Ward, Super Bowl MVP, these days.

"I'm sick of these Super Bowl commercials you see for Sports Illustrated," Ward said yesterday, smiling widely for a man so ill from seeing himself on TV. "Everywhere I go, in a bar, people look up, they look at me, they look up, they look at me: 'Hey, that's Hines!'

"They have the camera phone. They're right here in your face. I'm like oh, geez, I can't do anything."

Then, the thought hits him.

"Hey, Peyton Manning isn't doing that now."

There's a price to pay for winning the Super Bowl and the game's MVP award, and Ward is delighted to pony up. If he's dreaming, don't pinch him, even though he's had little time for sleep. People say, 'What's it like?' I can't even describe it because it's been that phenomenal. It's been amazing, just everything.

"This is fun. I love the treatment. When you can walk in and see all the players from other teams, there's nothing they can say to you. You're on top that whole offseason. I've been all over, to L.A., to Vegas, to Miami and seen all the players from all over. Hey, Peyton Manning, I know you're great and all, but you don't have a ring. You can be all this, all world, but you don't have a ring. I have a ring. There's nothing you can say to me right now."

There were four golf tournaments, the trip to South Korea with his mom, the parade at Disney World, ESPN's Battle of the Gridiron Stars, Regis & Kelly, judging Miss USA, magazine covers and television interviews. Ward is featured in a Sports Illustrated story this week. His home town of Forest Park, Ga., honored him with a parade and named a street after him, Hines Ward Pass.

He will return to South Korea, this time with his whole family, on Memorial Day Weekend to help organize his The Helping Hands Foundation to benefit biracial children in his native Korea and the United States.

There also are many endorsement offers from companies in both this country and overseas.
"It's been wonderful, it's truly been," Ward said. "I'm really capitalizing on my opportunities as much as I can because it's truly a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It's a great experience. I'm going to enjoy it all I can. But once I get that ring, my season starts then."

The Super Bowl rings come June 2, the same day Ward and the rest of the Steelers visit the White House. He arrived in Pittsburgh last week to begin workouts with his teammates that become more formal with the start of a three-day minicamp Saturday, followed by 14 coaching sessions through June 8.

It feels good, Ward said, to get back to the game itself.

"I want to enjoy being with my teammates and reflecting on the year, and what a great year, and what are we going to do this year? Working out with your teammates, going through battles together, the camaraderie with teammates, that's what you need to be successful. That's why I'm here early."

In his wildest dreams, back to his days as a schoolboy, Ward never thought it would feel so good to win a Super Bowl. He also never dreamed he could use the game and his newfound celebrity as a platform to promote societal change in an entire country. His April visit to South Korea, scheduled long before the Super Bowl, was to be a quiet trip where his mother could introduce him to the land where he was born.

Then came the Steelers victory against Seattle and Ward's Super Bowl MVP award, and he became Korea's rock star. There, he discovered disturbing racism. He wants to seize the moment to help kids like himself, biracial, who are shunned, often officially, in that country.

"Because of the way the society views biracial kids, you can't get a job, nobody's going to accept you," said Ward, the son of a Korean mother and an African-American father who was stationed there. "If you do play athletics, your teammates treat you like [dirt]. For kids, me being over there helped provide a sense of hope. If I can do anything, as far as using my status, my accolades to help give them an opportunity, hopefully society will change its views."

Ward asked South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun to work on changing some laws and rules that affect biracial people.

"You can't even get into the military if you're biracial," Ward said. "That is their rule, 100 percent pure, you have to be pure Korean, it's the only way to be in the military. Korea's a great country, but it would be even a greater country if we could do things to help biracial kids because you may have the next Hines Ward, the next Tiger Woods waiting there, but he's never given an opportunity to do anything."

Ward said he saw such racism in effect.

"I met a young soccer player. By word of mouth, he was a pretty good soccer player. But his teammates treated him like crap, called him 'nappy-haired boy.' Coaches tell him he'll never have a chance, don't want to play him because he's biracial. Well, maybe you guys would win if he played. That's just their views and ways. That's the negative side of our culture that my mother hid from me so much. She still had animosity toward it and didn't want me to know."

Instead of getting angry, though, Ward became energized to help. He hopes it will be a lifelong crusade for him in honor of his Korean mother, Young He Ward, that elicits real change in Korea.

"It was a tribute to her, that's what I made the trip to Korea about, using the MVP award as a tribute to opening up opportunities and giving her something. I need to do something to help those biracial kids out and provide them with a sense of hope."

(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3878. )

Ward spins biracial roots into blessing

Posted 4/9/2006 10:53 PM

By Paul Wiseman, USA TODAY

SEOUL — At school, they taunted him for his looks — half-black, half-Asian. "Jackie Chan!" they'd say. "Bruce Lee-roy!" At home, he didn't understand why his mother struggled with English, couldn't help him with his homework and made him take his shoes off before he walked in the door.

"I was a lost child," Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward says. "I wasn't accepted in the black community because I was Korean, and I wasn't accepted in the Korean community because I was black." He blamed his Korean mother for the teasing he got on the playground in suburban Atlanta. "I was ashamed of the person who instilled everything in me. I let the kids get the better of me."

How different things are now. Ward, 30, describes his childhood while relaxing in the $6,300-a-night Royal Suite in Seoul's Lotte Hotel. His mother, Kim Young-hee, sits proudly beside him on an overstuffed couch, sunlight streaming through a window that offers a glorious view of the Seoul skyline and the mountains behind it.

Ward made it through adolescence, through the University of Georgia and into the NFL. He's a four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver and MVP of Super Bowl XL. His five catches for 123 yards and a touchdown led the Steelers to a 21-10 championship victory against the Seattle Seahawks in Detroit on Feb. 5.

Last week, he and the divorced mother who worked three jobs to support him returned in triumph to the country where he was born. He credits her for his transformation from confused, angry adolescent to confident NFL star. "She gave up so much," he says. "It's a great success story."

His mom still works at a high school cafeteria in suburban Atlanta; she tried retirement but gave up after two months.

Ward and his mother have been welcomed as heroes in South Korea, where kids like him — children of Korean women and American GIs — have been treated as pariahs, shunned, ridiculed and locked out of the best jobs and schools.

On this trip, Ward has met the president, thrown out the first pitch at a baseball game and endured camera crews hounding his every step as he tries to tour the city of his birth. At a news conference at the Lotte Hotel last Tuesday, 200 reporters and photographers filled a meeting hall with a capacity for 130, yelling at each other and jostling for position.

Ward even canceled some planned stops to escape. "It's been wild," he says. "I knew it was going to be crazy. But it's pandemonium crazy. I didn't know that."

The adulation is a little awkward. Ward knows if he'd grown up as a half-black child in South Korea he likely would have been relegated to a second-class existence. His Korean mother knows it too. She chose a tough, lonely life in the USA to spare him the ordeal.

"I enjoy the Korean community support," Ward says. "My mom is still leery: 'Is it because he's MVP, or do you really accept him?' "

Ward has teamed with Pearl S. Buck International, a Bucks County, Pa., organization, to support mixed-race children in South Korea. He's hoping his story will encourage South Koreans to show more tolerance. "They didn't have a choice to come into this world as a biracial kid," he says. "If you can welcome me — a guy who doesn't speak the language — you can do it for them."

South Korea's 5,000 Amerasian children born since the Korean War have struggled to fit into a society that takes prickly pride in its 99%-plus ethnic homogeneity.

Teased and bullied, 9.4% of Amerasian children drop out of elementary school; another 17.5% quit middle school, according to Pearl S. Buck International. As adults, more than 45% are unemployed or work odd jobs to get by, the Buck organization says.

Seven-year-old Ahn Arum, daughter of a Seoul woman and an absentee American father, refuses to study Korean at school. "She doesn't know why she should read Korean. She doesn't feel Korean," says her mother, Ahn Jin-hee, 29. "The boys tease her. They say she has curly hair; she is black; she is smelly. (Even) my parents didn't want to take their granddaughter outside because it was disgraceful."

Kim Su-bin, 20, says she goes to the salon every three months to straighten her curly hair, evidence that her absentee father is black. Just in case, she wears an Adidas cap: "I want to hide my frizzy hair."

For outcasts such as Ahn Arum and Kim Su-bin, Ward's celebrity is a godsend. Suddenly, their neighbors and classmates are rethinking their attitudes. "This Hines Ward phenomenon is very positive," says Seoul resident Jung Young-ja, 72. "We've been proud of our homogenous society. It's time to change."

South Korea has little choice: Already more than 10% of South Koreans marry foreigners — mostly brides imported from poorer Asian countries. The country has 35,000 "Kosians," offspring of a Korean and a parent from elsewhere in Asia; they are expected to emerge as a voting bloc over the next two decades, says Song Young-sun, a South Korean legislator.

So Ward is helping prepare South Korea for its multicultural future: "That guy has no idea how much good he's doing," says Janet Mintzer, president of Pearl S. Buck International.

Ward was born March 8, 1976. A year later, his American GI father took his Korean bride and his young son back to the USA. But the marriage quickly disintegrated. A court, convinced Kim Young-hee didn't have the language or job skills to support a child, gave custody to Ward's father.

But Kim didn't give up. She stayed in the USA, working three jobs and saving everything she could. When Ward was 7 or 8 years old, he came to live with her. The change was traumatic: He was moving from an all-black neighborhood to a mixed-race community in suburban Atlanta and into a household where he and his mother could barely communicate.

Ward excelled in athletics but still struggled to find an identity between two cultures. When he was a teenager, Kim recalls, Korean neighbors recruited him to join their basketball team for a tournament and excluded him from the celebration afterward. "They used him," she says. "I cussed them out."

Kim knew nothing about football during Ward's high school career — even when some of the top college coaches came calling, trying to woo the star from Forest Park High School. "Tom Osborne, Lou Holtz, Bobby Bowden were in our living room," Ward says. "My mom didn't know who they were."

Kim may not have known the big names or understood the X's and O's, but her values influenced the way her son played football. "You've got to be humble," she says. Sure enough, Ward won't take running plays off the way some star wide receivers do; he's a ferocious blocker. And his mom better not see him dancing after a touchdown. "I tell him don't do it," she says. "I can't stand it."

Over time, she's become a football fan. "She's like a coach now," Ward sighs. " 'You didn't do this. You dropped the ball. You should have gone for two points.' "

Kim didn't attend the Super Bowl, preferring to watch it at home with friends. She didn't want to miss the replays. When Ward called her after his MVP performance, she was fast asleep. She had to get up at 5 a.m. to go to her job in the school cafeteria.

Perception of Cowher Radically Altered

Perception of Cowher undergoes a radical transformation in wake of Super Bowl victory

Saturday, April 01, 2006
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


After 14 years as a head coach, Bill Cowher has become an overnight sensation. It's as if the first dirty dozen or so were a work in progress that was hailed in whole when he raised the Lombardi Trophy in Detroit.

From breakfast to meetings to lunch to golf to pool to dinner, Cowher shook countless hands and signed autographs at the annual NFL meetings. A year ago, he had a lounge chair by himself at the pool, occasionally accepting condolences for yet another loss in an AFC championship game.

Life may not be dramatically different for Cowher, but the perception of him certainly is. It's as if all those regular-season wins were validated by one Super Bowl victory.

"Now it happens, and you continue to get congratulations. I guess that's what keeps your mind on it," Cowher said of a crowning achievement that is nearly two months old. "I [want to] get back to being normal. ... But there's a lot more attention. I've had to adjust to that. It's been great, though. It's a lot better than ...'Oh, you guys still had a heck of a year.' "

How many more he will have in Pittsburgh he will not say, other than 2006 will be one of them. He and his wife, Kaye, bought a $2.5 million house in Raleigh, N.C., to go with a summer home they have at the beach in Bald Head Island, N.C. They have said the new home will not change anything, but there are reports their youngest daughter, Lindsay, will move to Raleigh and enroll in a private high school for her sophomore season and that Kaye will join her.

One source said the purchase of the home took most in the Steelers' organization by surprise and that, just as the public wonders about the motivation behind it, so, too, do the people up and down the hallways at their South Side offices.

Cowher said: "It really means nothing. It's irrelevant."

Perhaps it will become clearer as discussions take place on a contract extension for him. Art Rooney, the club's president, said those talks will begin soon. Cowher has two seasons left on his current deal, and the usual procedure would be to extend that by two or three years. But what if Cowher does not want an extension? He will say only that he takes things one year at a time.

"In this business, it's really important that you stay focused on the next year," Cowher said the past week during the NFL meetings that were held here.

Cowher, however, revealed he has adopted a different coaching strategy recently, going against a cliche in his business that you should never coach not to lose. Cowher said that is precisely what he did last season. It's something Terry Bradshaw has said drove him in Super Bowls because he was so afraid to lose.

"I guess the last few years I probably have refused to think about winning," Cowher said. "I probably was more afraid of losing because I've been so close."

In private moments, Cowher has talked about the frustration of losing so many close games in AFC championships, such as those to San Diego and Denver in the 1990s.

He spoke openly in the two weeks before the Feb. 5 Super Bowl about the pain of losing Super Bowl XXX to Dallas.

That pain is now gone. Cowher, who turns 49 years old May 8, has an opportunity to post numbers among the NFL's greatest coaches. He already ranks 14th in regular-season victories with a record of 141-82-1.

"Let's be honest," Cowher said. "Every year you sit back and reflect, and you think, 'How many times are you going to be asked the question: If you don't win the Super Bowl, will your career have been successful?' I've been very consistent in saying no, there'd be a void that would always be there."

He no longer gets those questions. Pats on the back have replaced them.

"A lot of coaches feel good for him," said his mentor, San Diego coach Marty Schottenheimer, who, for all his regular-season greatness, still is searching to make his first Super Bowl visit. "He and I were talking the other day, and I said it's harder now to win a championship in the NFL. It's hard, you have to get the stars aligned correctly."

Joe Gibbs, who won three Super Bowls in Washington, outlined the difficulty Cowher's Steelers will face next season.

"No. 1, the season goes a lot longer, and then when you get away to take a break, you probably have given up six weeks on everyone else," Gibbs said.

"And the way everyone looks at you. You are not going to have to tell the team anything if you are playing Pittsburgh, just you are playing Pittsburgh. So I think that is a real problem. And getting everyone settled down after a Super Bowl was one of the hardest things I had to deal with. There is a little bit of turmoil after a Super Bowl year that kind of hurts you."

It would surprise no one if Cowher coached the Steelers another 10 years or if he quit after the next one or two, moved to Raleigh and contemplated his future and possible return with another team. Many others have done it before him, including Schottenheimer and Dick Vermeil, the only two who coached him as a player in the NFL, along with Bill Parcells, Jimmy Johnson and even the great Vince Lombardi.

For now, though, his Steelers are stocked with enough talent to make a repeat run, and the prospect of winning two consecutive Super Bowls drives him.

"Whether we won it or lost it, to me it's about starting back over again and the challenges that go with that," Cowher said. "As long as we recognize it's not going to pick right back up where we left off, there's lot of hard work, sacrifice and a big commitment."

The commitment is there for 2006, perhaps even for 2007. Beyond that is anyone's guess.

(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3878. )

Joe Bendel: Ike Likes Disney World

Joe Bendel
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, March 27, 2006

ORLANDO -- Ike Taylor did not win the MVP of Super Bowl XL, but he still went to Disney World.

And he hasn't left.

The Steelers cornerback arrived here four days after the Steelers' 21-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks to train with renowned conditioning guru Tom Shaw at the palatial Wide World of Sports at Disney World.

"I could have taken a break, but I didn't want to let myself do that," Taylor said Sunday, his lone day off here. "The way I look at it is -- there's a draft every year, and in that draft, there's a guy who wants to take my job. I want to be the best. I don't want anybody taking my job."

Taylor trains a minimum of five hours a day, six days a week with Shaw, who's developed 77 first-round draft picks and is working with Steelers linebacker James Farrior, Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Shawn Barber and safety Darren Sharper of the Minnesota Vikings, among others.

Taylor's grueling regimen consists of speed and conditioning drills, lifting weights, training in state-of-the-art swimming pools and working on football-specific movements. The sparkling training facility is used by the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Taylor has not missed a workout since completing a 2005 season that saw him tie for the NFL lead in pass breakups with 25, while also contributing 95 tackles (the most by a Steelers cornerback since Rod Woodson in 1992). He also held 18 of the 20 wide receivers he faced without a touchdown, and two of his three interceptions (counting the postseason) occurred in the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl.

One of Taylor's missions this offseason is to improve on his interception numbers. He estimates he dropped up to 12 last season, which is why he catches 100 or more passes a day out of a JUGS gun.

"There are days that I'd rather not do this, just like I'm sure there are days for people in the business world when they'd rather not get up and go to work," said Taylor, who was clocked at 4.34 seconds immediately after the season. "But you have to be focused; you have to be hungry. That's where my thoughts about the draft come in. I know I need to keep getting better."

Taylor, 6-foot-1, 191 pounds, signed a one-year, $1.55 million tender as a restricted free agent with the Steelers earlier this month. That assured the Steelers that they would receive a first-round draft pick as compensation if another team signs Taylor to an offer sheet and the Steelers decide not to match it.

There is interest in Taylor around the league. Kansas City and New England are two franchises that would like to fortify their cornerback position and could risk a first-round draft pick -- they select 20 and 21, respectively -- for a player of Taylor's skills.

No team, however, has made an offer. And history suggests that it could remain that way. The most recent time a team signed a restricted free agent with a high tender such as Taylor's was in 2003, when the Washington Redskins signed wideout Laveranues Coles from the New York Jets.

The deadline for Taylor to sign an offer sheet from another team is April 21.

Taylor would like to receive a long-term deal from the Steelers at some point, but he appreciates the business side of the NFL.

"It's a great feeling to know that I'm in a position that another team, maybe, would be willing to give up something to try to get me, but I'm not worried about that," Taylor said. "I want to be a consistent football player and known as a great cornerback.

"I love the coaching staff in Pittsburgh. I love the Rooney family and coach (Bill) Cowher, and his staff has been great to me. I have no reason to leave. But it's definitely a business, and that's how you have to look at things."

Taylor's agent, Scott Smith of X-A-M Sports, said Taylor has set his sights on staying with the Steelers, but he added that "we have received inquiries from several teams about Ike as a free agent."

"I don't like to deal in speculation, but we are hopeful and optimistic that Ike can reach a long-term agreement with the Steelers this year," Smith said.

Shaw, who works around the clock here, began working with Taylor when the latter was a middle-school student in New Orleans. Shaw said Taylor is one of the more unique players he's trained, not only because of his on-field skills, but how he conducts himself away from the game.
"He wants to win another Super Bowl; he has that drive in him," Shaw said yesterday from the Wide World of Sports facilities. "I was with the Patriots the last six years, and players from other teams would see those guys coming in right after the Super Bowl and say, 'They're starting already?'

"Well, the players on the Patriots learned what it takes to come back and (repeat). After they won that first Super Bowl, there were guys saying, 'We were just here; now, we have to do it again?' But after they went 9-7 following that first Super Bowl, they learned they had to work harder and sooner. That's when they won another one, and that's when we had no problems getting back to work.

"That's the way Ike and James Farrior are approaching this. They want to get right back to the Super Bowl."

Joe Bendel can be reached at joecbendel@aol.com or (412) 320-7811.