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Wins Like This Are Just What The Steelers Do

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 2, 2009

TAMPA - The Super Bowl trophies and rings, numerous as they are, don't tell the real story of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are outward signs of something you have to look a little closer to see, to a state of mind at a time when the stakes couldn't be greater.

So we take you to Raymond James Stadium late Sunday, to the sideline of a team that had just taken a gut punch in the fourth quarter from the Arizona Cardinals. A 64-yard TD pass from Arizona's Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald put the Steelers in a 3-point hole with 2:37 remaining.

Catastrophe?

"I was basically over it by the time he crossed the goal line," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.

That's how they think.

"Steeler football is 60 minutes," said the man who calls himself blessed to coach a team and work for an organization such as this. And so it was that only 35 seconds from the conclusion of the 60th minute, the Steelers once again displayed why they are the best organization in professional football.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger rolled right and kept the play alive until Santonio Holmes could create just enough space between himself and three defenders. Roethlisberger put the pass where only Holmes could catch it. Holmes put both feet in the only patch of grass that was between them and the out-of-bounds line. He put 10 fingers on the football.

History will record it was a 6-yard touchdown pass that concluded a 78-yard drive and gave Pittsburgh a 27-23 win. It was a strike that crossed decades and made the Steelers Super Bowl champions for the sixth time - more than any organization.

Games like this are what the Steelers do.

Tomlin, Steelers Showed Resolve

It's easy to forget that Pittsburgh wasn't supposed to be here, not this season. The Steelers were too young and they were playing the toughest schedule in the league. Plus, Tomlin was just in his second year as head coach.

But there he was as the victory celebration went on around him, now the youngest coach to lead a Super Bowl champion.

Just a couple of years ago, everyone made a big deal about Tony Dungy becoming the first black coach to win a Super Bowl. Tomlin is the second, but his story is less about labels and more about the resolve he and his team showed when the game threatened to be getting away.

"That's been our story all year," he said. "We've got a team that doesn't blink in the face of adversity. It's never going to be pretty or perfect, if you will, but they've got a great deal of belief in each other."

Arizona had trailed by 13 points entering the final quarter. To get an idea of what the Cardinals were trying to accomplish, the Steelers were 152-1-1 since 1988 when they led by at least 11 points. If Fitzgerald's score had held up, the Cardinals would have pulled off the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history.

"I can't do anything but give credit to the Steelers," Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner said. "That's what championship teams are all about."

Taking Their Place

So now this team and coach take their place among the champions that came before. Tomlin stands beside Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher. Roethlisberger, just five years in the league, has two rings. Tomlin hadn't even touched the trophy by the time he met the media for postgame interviews.

"I see five of 'em every day. I know what they look like," he said. "I'm just glad I could contribute to one in that trophy case."

The sixth one will tell the story of a Pittsburgh team built for nights like this. It will stand in tribute to a team and organization that thrives in the greatest challenges the game can provide. And everyone who sees it will remember a night when the best Super Bowl game ever was played.

The best organization in football won that game, because that's what the Steelers do.

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