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The Super Bowl Media Day has come and gone…without one good soundbite. We all love a good controversy, or a telling storyline. I remember Super Bowl XL and there were some great stories involved in that Super Bowl. Cowher had another chance to get the monkey off his back. Jerome Bettis was back in his home town. The Steelers were a 6th seed winning on the road finally landing in Detroit. And Joey Porter…he stole the show.
Ah yes, Joey Porter. One of the biggest loud mouths I can ever remember on the Steelers roster. Talk about a guy who had something for an opposing teams bulletin board each and every week. Problem was, he could back up what he said each and every week on the playing field.
As I watched Media Day yesterday, everyone said the right things, everyone was respectful, and nobody crossed the line.
Where’s the fun in that?
If you look at both rosters, there really isn’t anyone who sticks out. Sure, there are players that stand out, but there’s a difference between those that talk the talk, and those that walk the walk. Hines Ward is one of the best all around football players you’ll ever see on a football field. The man not only has the all time Steelers record for receptions, overshadowing both John Stallworth and Lynn Swann, but the man can land one of the most devastating blocks you will see from ANY NFL player on ANY field. He also excelled at every position he was asked to play at Georgia while he was here.
But has he really made any headlines in regards to a comment or quote? Not really, he’s to soft spoken, and if you met the guy in person you would have no idea that man could wallop the punch he does as a future Hall of Fame receiver.
Look at the drastic difference in Coach’s between XL and XLIII. Nobody would dare get in front of Cowher during a game because if his extruding chin didn’t get you, the spit coming out of his mouth would. Tomlin on the other hand is one of the coolest customers I’ve ever seen, and other than Tony Dungy, have never seen a more steady, level headed Coach. (Although, unlike Dungy, I have seen some great passion on the sidelines on game day.)
Then there’s Big Ben who spent a considerable amount of time answering questions presented by a 10 year old and got into talking about Madden Football rather than a 2nd Super Bowl ring.
On the other side of the field you have Curt Warner. A man that’s heading to his 3rd Super Bowl and has captained two teams who had done nothing for years before he got there. But again, as a football player, he’s known for “The Greatest Show on Turf” not smack off the field. Fitzgerald is one of the brightest talents in the NFL when it comes to receivers and truly see him as one of the best in the game. About the only controversy anyone can come up with this week is wide receiver Anquan Boldin and the outburst on the sidelines with Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley in the NFC Championship game. Haley by the way was a ball boy back in the 70′s during Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl runs. His father Dick Haley was responsible for drafting Hall of Famers Franco Harris, Mel Blount, Mike Webster, Jack Lambert, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth.
We also can’t forget the other Steeler connection here, Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm who were with the Steelers during Super Bowl XL before they defected to Arizona after Cowher retired from Coaching. But I think there was more hype last year during the regular season over who made the right choice when the two teams met in Arizona, and Arizona won.
My hope is that this will be one of those games or the ages. I know that’s going to be hard to do two years in a row. Last years Super Bowl was one of the best I had ever seen. (Even if Pittsburgh wasn’t involved.) Come to think of it, that one had a ton of drama without many Media Day sound bites. Patriots had a chance to go undefeated, and that’s what made it a highly charged, and most viewed Super Bowl in history.
This you can sure of. Pittsburgh has a very loyal and extremely large following. It’s by far the best traveled fans in the NFL. There really isn’t even a good second place team you can think of, that’s how drastic it is. (Take a look at the sea of Terrible Towls in Super Bowl XL on the next highlight re-run if you don’t believe me.) Both the Cardanals and the Steelers are two of the oldest in the NFL, although Arizona wasn’t their home back in 1933, Chicago was. (Greenbay, and NY Giants the only two other teams around back then.) With the Cardinals moving from Chicago to St. Louis, and then to Arizona, they never really had a chance for multiple generations to follow them like Pittsburgh did. And don’t think that we Steelers fan’s who have moved out of Pittsburgh are bringing up a new generation with anyone other than the Steelers.
You can take the boy out of the city, but you can never take the Steelers out of the boy.
I guess well have to wait for the game at this point. I will tell you that I’m thoroughly enjoying all the old Super Bowl re-runs on the NFL Network. Night before last they played back to back Steelers Super Bowls that lasted 2 1/2 hours. Sure I have them all on DVD, but seeing them broadcast so everyone, especially Dallas fans who took a beating as “America’s Team’ back then, has a special meaning.
Hey…if you can’t find a sound bite, create one, right?!
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