Daily Globe (Newspaper) - February 6, 2006, Ironwood, Michigan Do you have sports Call Larry Holcombe at 123 or email to THE DAILY GLOBE MONDAY FEBRUARY 6 2006 9 Associated Press Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward leaps into the end zone past Seattle Seahawks cornerback Marcus Trufant on a down pass from wide receiver Randle El in the fourth quarter during Super Bowl XL Sunday in Detroit Steelers Stones find satisfaction By BARRY WILNER AP Football Writer DETROIT AP Nearly all the Pittsburgh Steelers split the driving on this super Bus ride From Willie Parker's setting run to the dle Ward trickery from coach tion to Ike Taylor's key tion everyone contributed His teammates did so well in Sunday's Super Bowl ry over the Seattle Seahawks that Jerome Bettis barely was needed during his homecoming and farewell That doesn't mean his tion of an NFL championship was muted No Bettis got as much satisfaction as anyone at Ford Field including Mick ger who rocked to his signature song at halftime then saw the Steelers roll to their first title in 26 years This is why I started 13 years ago on this Bettis said Along the way I amassed a lot of yards and a lot of Pro Bowls but none of that was significant because it wasn't the team goals The team goal has always been to win a championship and now I have a championship And finally on Cowher The Jaw got an NFL title in his 14th season as Pittsburgh's coach the longest tenure in the NFL The tough guy who lost his only pre- vious Super Bowl 10 years ago to Dallas teared up as he walked to midfield Terrible Towels waving everywhere around him and embraced Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren It's a very humbling ence right Cowher said It's surreal I'm going to tell you this is a special group of coaches a special group of players I was one small part of this Ward the MVP and everyone else had a big hand in earning the Steelers fifth Super Bowl crown matching San Francisco and Dallas The other four were won in the Steel tain era led by the likes of Mean Joe Greene Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris These Steelers don't have Hall of like that outside of owner Dan Rooney and in er five years Bettis the No 5 rusher Indeed they didn't have a player in the lineup Sunday who'd ever appeared in a Super Bowl But they had Parker the runner who brought speed to the field Moments after the Rolling Stones rollicking show Associated Press Pittsburgh Steelers Casey Hampton sacks Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XL Sunday in Detroit Parker broke a record touchdown run for a lead To be able to make those quick strikes and zap them a bit gave us a said guard Alan Faneca whose block cleared Parker's way Taylor's interception and yard runback of Matt beck's poor pass early in the fourth quarter set up the most dynamic play Versatile wideout Randle El a quarterback in college took a handoff from Parker sprinted right and threw perfectly to Ward for a TD with remaining It was the first Super Bowl touchdown pass by a er With the way the Seahawks were that was more than enough for eighth straight victory The first sixth seed to win a Super Bowl the Steelers beat the top four Cincinnati Indianapolis Denver and tle all away from home The Steelers were the homo team Sunday but chose to wear white because Cowher said It was an away game We didn't play at Heinz Field Perhaps at Hines field though Ward had five receptions for 123 yards and the clinching touchdown It could have been better Ward admitted citing some dropped pusses including what would have been first touchdown and failing to stop Michael ware's interception Yeah because the great ones don't miss balls in the Super he said and I want to be considered one of the greats To be MVP is a great honor but I left some plays on the field So did Ben Roethlisberger at 23 the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl Yet he did not botch as many plays as Seattle did While NFL MVP Shaun Alexander did his part by ning for 95 yards the Seahawks looked nothing like a team that rampaged through the NFC They had four penalties for 40 yards in the opening half one that nullified a touchdown pass The second half wasn't much better the only highlight a record interception return by Kelly Herndon that set up TD pass to ramy Stevens I told them they've played better before than they played said Holmgren who failed to become the first coach to win Super Bowls with two franchises We did some things that were uncharacteristic of us So did the Steelers but they were resourceful enough to over- come tile errors scored on a yard dive late in the first half needing instant replay to make the touchdown stand And it was the QB and not lis who made the key runs Inte in the game Bettis wound up with 43 yards on 14 carries in his final game I decided to come back to win a championship and mission he said So with that I have to bid farewell We brought the championship back home Super Bowl XL At Detroit Seattle 307 0 10 Pittsburgh 077 7 SI First Quarter Brown 47 Second Quarter I run Reed Third Quarter 75 run Reed 16 pass from Hasselbeck Brown Fourth Quarter 43 pass trom Randle El Reed Sea Pit First downs 20 14 Total Net Yards 396 339 Passing 259 158 Punt Returns Returns Interceptions Ret tost Punts 0-0 0-0 Time ol Possession 26.58 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Alexander Hasselbeck Strong Pittsburgh Parker Bettis 43 Ward Haynes Hasselbeck burgh Randle El 43 Engram Jurevicius 93 Jackson Stevens Strong nam Alexander Morris Pittsburgh Ward Randle El Wilson Parker MISSED FIELD Brown 54 50 Steelers Ward off Seahawks By JOE KAY AP Sports Writer DETROIT AP Ben pass floated right toward his hands Hines Ward made sure he got both feet down in the end zone then started closing his fingers around the ball Remarkably he dropped it No excuses The Pittsburgh Steelers top receiver flat-out dropped it The great ones don't miss balls in the Super Ward said And I want to be ered one of the great ones Before this Super Bowl ended Ward would get more chances to prove he deserves to be counted among the greats And he bumble those chances away Ward completed an MVP Sunday by catching a touchdown pass from receiver Randle El a trick play that became the deci- sive play in the Steelers victory over the Seattle hawks Pittsburgh's Lynn Swann won the Super Bowl MVP in 1976 for making one big catch after another against Dallas ing a diving grab of a tipped ball that makes all of the Super Bowl highlight reels Ward's game wasn't nearly as memorable that end zone drop was just his most glaring take but it was good enough to win the MVP award in a ragged game that came down to two big plays To be named MVP is a great honor but I still left some plays out on the Ward said I could have had an even better day Same for Roethlisberger who at age 23 became the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl even though he finished with the worst passer rating by any ning quarterback 22.6 after play he played down to his age Jerome Bettis Detroit's favorite son gained only 43 yards in what turned out to be his final game a nondescript by one of football's most unforgettable runners In fact the entire Pittsburgh offense had little to crow about other than two plays that were enough to bring coach Cowher his first championship The first was some Hand the ball off and clear a path Pulling left guard Alan Faneca opened a huge hole for Willie Parker on the second play of the second half setting up a down run that was the longest in Super Bowl history It was a great play when it was Parker said They called it at the right time Faneca just paved the way That play alone could have been enough should have been enough But Roethlisberger up to it throwing an tion near the goal line with a chance to put it away The Steelers would need one more score And Ward would get it by teaming with the Steelers most versatile player Randle El was the in Super Bowl XL the college terback turned receiver who can catch the ball run with it or throw it He had already thrown a touchdown pass this season in a victory over land Offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt decided to include the same play in his Super Bowl playbook and Pittsburgh waited for the perfect time to call it The Steelers had gone all game getting away from the approach that helped them win three playoffs games on the road The last thing the Seahawks expected was a trick play with everything in the balance When we called it my eyes lit up and I had to try to not give it Randle El said Parker took a pitchout from Roethlisberger who then turned himself into a blocker Randle El got the ball from Parker and ran to his right making it look like a reverse The Seahawks fell for it Ward ran down the field and right past the duped safeties who were convinced it was a run By the time they figured out what was happening Ward had run by them This one was easy Certainly this is a team that uses guys like Randle El said That's what we do use all the versatility we have on this team to get it done It was the first Super Bowl touchdown pass thrown by a receiver taking its place on the list of title game trickery Dallas closed out a win over ver in 1978 with Robert house's option pass to Golden Richards And the guy who caught it took his place among the Super best Swann and John worth those are the guys that made spectacular catches in the Super Ward said And I wanted to be compared to those guys I think you can put me on the list now with those guys Pittsburgh Steelers Jerome Bettis and Hines Ward celebrate alter the Steelers win over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL day in Detroit Ward was named most valuable player ol the game
