Great Steeler Article

We know...we know...the Superbowl is over and WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS. But, I was sent this awesome article from a Florida paper from numerous friends that found it circulating the internet. It is a few weeks dated, but worth the read. Read and enjoy! By MIKE BIANCHI First published in print: Monday, February 2, 2009 TAMPA , Fla. — One of the heroes of the game nearly became a bus driver. The owner of the team walks to work every day. The fans of the team drink Iron City beer, wave dish towels and ignored the slumping economy to make their pigskin pilgrimage and turn the Super Bowl into a Sunshine State version of the Steel City. This is why we should all be glad that Pittsburgh is now the home of more Super Bowl championships than any franchise in the history of pro football: Because the players are hungry, the owner is humble and the fans are loyal. What more could you want out of the NFL's champion of champions? And what more could you want from a Super Bowl? From Jennifer Hudson's remarkable rendition of the national anthem Sunday to the Boss bringing down the house at halftime to Santonio Holmes making one of the greatest catches in NFL history for the winning touchdown with 35 seconds left, this will go down as a Super Bowl for the ages. The Steelers, by virtue of their unbelievable, inconceivable 27-23 defeat of the Arizona Cardinals, have now won a record sixth Super Bowl and their second in four years. They are a small-market team that doesn't pay big-time salaries and yet they continue to win ... and win ... and win. In these trying economic times, how can you not feel good that it's the Steelers who have become the model franchise in all of professional sports. Some other of the NFL's other dynastic franchises have come and gone , but the Steelers just keep coming. The Green Bay Packers? They haven't won a Super Bowl in more than a decade. The San Francisco 49ers? They haven't had a winning season in six years and haven't been to a Super Bowl in 15. The Dallas Cowboys? They make headlines because their quarterback dates Jessica Simpson and their wide receiver is a team cancer, but they haven't won a playoff game in a dozen years. In contrast, Pittsburgh's quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is the youngest quarterback (26) to ever win two Super Bowls, and the only controversy star wide receiver Hines Ward has been involved in is that opposing defenses complain that he plays too physical. The Steelers are the New York Yankees of the NFL—without the arrogance and the payroll. George Steinbrenner buys championships; the Rooney family builds them. Every one of Pittsburgh's star players—Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu, Willie Parker, Hines Ward and James Harrison—were either drafted by the team or discovered off the street. Harrison , with his spectacular 100-yard interception return at the end of the first half, made one the greatest plays in Super Bowl history Sunday. He was undrafted out of college, signed as a rookie free agent by the Steelers in 2002 and nearly quit football during his struggling early years to become a Greyhound bus driver. This is why the Steelers should be celebrated. They win without the knuckleheads that dot so many professional rosters. As great a story as it was for the New York Giants to upset the undefeated Patriots in last year's Super Bowl, the star of that Giants team was knucklehead wide receiver Plaxico Burress. Yes, the same Burress who couldn't cut it in Pittsburgh because Pittsburgh doesn't tolerate knuckleheads. When Burress left town, the Steelers simply drafted Holmes and plugged him into Burress' spot. They were rewarded Sunday. With 35 seconds left, Roethlisberger drilled the ball into triple coverage in the corner of the end zone. Somehow, Holmes was able to come down with the ball and barely get both of his tippy-toes in bounds for the touchdown. This is the Steelers, a franchise built on patience and principal. Is it any wonder President Barack Obama made the unusual move of endorsing Pittsburgh this week? Proof positive that if you can't appreciate the Pittsburgh Steelers, you are simply un-American. Mike Bianchi writes for the Orlando Sentinel.