Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers honored the Super Bowl XL team ahead of Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts. This year marks the 20-year anniversary of the heroic “One for the Thumb” season that ended with Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in his hometown of Detroit after defeating the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10.
Bettis, also known as “The Bus,” announced after the game that his last ride was in Detroit. It was a storybook ending for the Motor City native.
“It was at the forefront of everybody’s mind. It was very important. That was our mission in life that whole season was everything we did was to get Jerome there and get him a ring,” former Steelers left guard and Hall of Famer Alan Faneca said.
Rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger promised Bettis after the loss to the New England Patriots in the 2004 AFC Championship Game that he would get him to the promised land. Bettis was considering retiring but he returned because teammates reminded him that Super Bowl XL was in his hometown of Detroit.
“You don’t necessarily think about the promise the year before, you hear it and you process it, but at that time you’re on to different things,” Bettis explained. “But when he started to give me game ball after game ball, you started to realize, ‘Oh man, this is real. This is actually happening.’ For him to give me the game ball after Cincinnati, after Indianapolis and after Denver, it was like ‘woah.’ We got one more game. And for him to give me the game ball after Super Bowl 40 it was special. Just a testament to the person that Ben Roethlisberger is.”
Bettis, who was 33 at the time, rushed for 43 yards on 14 attempts in Super Bowl XL.
The difference in the game was two big plays by the Steelers — a 75-yard rushing touchdown by Willie Parker at the beginning of the third quarter and a 43-yard touchdown pass by wide receiver Antwaan Randle El to Hines Ward to seal the game in the fourth quarter. Ward was named Super Bowl MVP with five receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown. He also had 18 yards on one rush.
Parker’s 75-yard rushing touchdown remains a Super Bowl record.
“We thought Willie was going to win that battle in space. It was a check for the whole game,” Faneca said. “And we come out after halftime. Coaches are pumped, ‘They’re like, they’re going to do it, they’re going to do it.” If we were getting the ball enough to Antwaan Randle El over there to kind of annoy them. We come out and they do it. They slide over. I remember (thinking) in my stance, ‘Holy shit, here we go.’ Ben makes the check and the rest is history.”
The Super Bowl XL team will be honored on the field at halftime of Sunday’s game.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: [Steelers Celebrate 20th Anniversary...
