Gritty Super Bowl a perfect fit for Steelers
DETROIT (AP) — Jerome Bettis called it a career and the Pittsburgh Steelers got their long-awaited “ One for the Thumb” in a gritty, blue-collar game befitting both the winners and the city where they won.
Style points were hard to come by on this Super Bowl Sunday, but the Steelers wouldn’t have had it any other way. They defeated the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 to send Bettis out a winner after a game played only a few miles from where he grew up.
“ I hope they appreciate me, because we just brought a championship home,” Bettis said. “One for the Thumb!”
After the game, Bettis said he was retiring, figuring there was no better exclamation point to put on a 13-year career that included all the accolades — except the title.
His finale won’t be remembered as a masterpiece, by any means. In fact, Mick Jagger moved up and down the field at halftime more easily than the Pittsburgh offense did most of the game.
But the Steelers did it, getting a handful of big plays and good enough defense to win their fifth title and their first since 1980.
“ It’s almost unreal right now,” coach Bill Cowher said.
This marked the first title for the jut-jawed coach in his 14 years. When it was over, Cowher’s stern face turned teary, as he hugged his wife and daughters _ a much different scene than the one 10 years ago, when the Steelers lost in their last Super Bowl appearance and Cowher had to do most of the consoling.
“ I’ve been waiting a long time to do this. This is yours, man,” Cowher said, as he proudly handed the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Steelers owner Dan Rooney.
On a day in which Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was less than mediocre, two plays made a difference: Willie Parker’s record-setting 75-yard run for a touchdown right after halftime and receiver Antwaan Randle El’s 43-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward on a trick play that put the Steelers up by 11 early in the fourth quarter.
Before that, it was Jagger and the Rolling Stones making the best moves.
Jagger strutted his stuff during a three-song set, two of which contained foul language that the NFL chose to bleep out. Jagger showed a little tummy during his finale, “ Satisfaction,” but there was no reprisal of the Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” this year thanks to the NFL censorship, along with ABC’s decision to air the game on a five-second delay.
The Stones were stars of a halftime show the NFL had longed for for years. The league took heat for choosing the Stones instead of a celebration of the Motown sound that has long defined Detroit.
Still, Detroit got its due and Bettis was a great host.
He brought his teammates to dinner at his folks’ house one night, hosted a charity bowling event another and, for the capper, won the Super Bowl.
“ To hear the ovation from the crowd, and to hear people I grew up with cheering for me in the Super Bowl, it was incredible,” Bettis said of his hometown, a city that was staggered last month when Ford announced up to 30,000 job cuts. “It’s better than I ever thought it would be.”
In between the Stones, Pittsburgh’s big plays and a few nice rumbles by Bettis, America’s 140 million viewers got their taste of the always anticipated Super Bowl commercials, aired at a cost of $2.5 million per 30 seconds.