The Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XL and finally, after a quarter century, got one for the thumb. Ben Roethlisberger and Jerome Bettis played a huge role in helping the team get to the big game. However, when they arrived in Detroit, Willie Parker, Antwaan Randle El, and the MVP of Super Bowl XLV, Hines Ward, were the stars of the show on offense.
Damien Strohmeyer / Sports Illustrated
A classic Steelers run play set Parker off on his record touchdown scamper in Super Bowl XL.
The Steelers held off the Seattle Seahawks 21-10. Roethlisberger fulfilled his promise to the Steelers Hall of Fame running back to get him to the Super Bowl and win if he would play one more season. It was a great moment in Steelers' history that will be discussed for years. It's an actual storybook ending to a Hall of Fame career.
Bettis joined his former teammate and Spencer Te’o on the 36th episode of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger asked Bettis how close he was to retiring after the 2004 AFC Championship game. The second-leading rusher in Steelers history intimated that the magical moment might not have been as special as it has been previously built up to be in his decison making.
“Here is my recollection. We are right there on the sidelines. I remember you saying, ‘Give me one more chance. I’ll get you to the Super Bowl.’ If your a** hadn’t thrown two interceptions, we’d be in the Super Bowl. What do you mean, get me to the Super Bowl.”
Bettis, Te’o, and Roethlisberger were hysterical with laughter at this point. It was a painful moment in both of their legendary Steelers careers, but it was two decades ago. The Super Bowl XL victory made up for a 2004 AFC Championship loss. Roethlisberger wasn’t quite ready to assume all the blame, though.
“Hey, to be fair, the Patriots cheated,” A suddenly more serious Roethlisberger responded.
Roethlisberger's revelation was slightly more direct than his previous statements when discussing Spygate and the New England Patriots victory in the 2004 AFC Championship game.
Photo by Andy Lyons / Getty Images
The Pittsburgh Steelers went 15-1 during the 2004 season only to lose to the Patriots. New England has been accused of cheating during that game by many players.
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Spygate has been a controversial subject for Steeler Nation for nearly 20 years. The players involved have been less forgiving than Bill Cowher. The former Steelers head coach has been kinder in his treatment of Bill Belichick and the Patriots regarding Spygate. The players not working on a weekly CBS Sports studio show can be freer with their feelings about the infamous incident.
“For sure they did,” Bettis quickly responded. “It’s not even a question in my mind. It was fourth and one, they called timeout. First of all, the coach did [a hand gesture]. This meant counter. They called timeout. Who normally goes to the sideline on a timeout? The defensive captains. They pulled the nose guard to the sidelines. Big 400-pound guy, he don’t want to go the sidelines and all the way back. We run the play, and he loops into the hole. They stop us on fourth down.”
The fourth down play in question was on the Steelers' second possession of the football game. Pittsburgh was trailing by a field goal and was just inside the Patriots 40-yard line. The Steelers elected to go for it on fourth and one and were stopped. One play later, Tom Brady threw a 60-yard bomb to Deion Branch, and the Steelers were down 10 points.
“That’s a critical play in the game,” Bettis concluded. “They called a timeout to get them ready for that play because they knew it was coming. No question in my mind. I remember vividly because I thought, 'Why is this big dude going to the sideline?'”
Roethlisberger and Bettis turned their attention back to the iconic moment on the sidelines after the game. The future Steelers Hall of Fame quarterback lamented that Bettis was mad at him and potentially harboring a grudge. The former All-Pro burst the bubble that Roethlisberger had anything to do with his decision to play one more season.
“I’m joking,” Bettis blurted. “I was done. It wasn’t at that moment I was done, it's when I went back home that night, and I slept on it. I was just like, physically, I can’t do it no more. I was resigned to my fate. I’m never going to get to the Super Bowl. I asked Coach if I could address the team. That’s when I got up and said, 'Thanks guys, for everything.' That was it.”
Bettis was a battering ram of a running back. He had played a dozen seasons and absorbed an astonishing amount of punishment during his career. The Steelers legend had amassed over 13,000 yards rushing and posted an amazing career. Physically, he was spent, but then a serendipitous event did change his mind.
“Luckily, I was the first alternate for the Pro Bowl, and Corey Dillon broke his ribs in the Super Bowl,” Bettis concluded. “I got to go, and that year we were like 15-1, so we had like eight guys in the Pro Bowl. That’s when Larry Foote and Clark Haggans, we had a Steeler Luau at the Pro Bowl. That’s when they told me the Super Bowl was in Detroit. If it wasn’t in Detroit, I would not have come back.”
The physical punishment of his long career and Spygate's open wound were enough to make Bettis comfortable with his retirement decision. Steelers lore says it was Roethlisberger who changed his mind, but two linebackers who knew how significant the Super Bowl’s location would be to Bettis were the catalysts for a decision that changed Steelers' history.
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Steelers' Jerome Bettis runs over Brian Urlacher to help lift the Steelers to 8-5.
Bettis was a different player, but he had crucial moments for the Steelers to get them back to the playoffs. Parker was the unquestioned lead running back, but whenever the Steelers needed a crucial yard throughout the season, Bettis picked it up. In Chicago, facing a must-win with the team sitting at 7-5, Bettis posted his final 100-yard game and two touchdowns to start the eight-game win streak ending in his hometown of Detroit with a Super Bowl ring.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Are you surprised that the Steelers linebackers, not Roethlisberger, talked him out of retirement with essentially a road map? Please comment below or on my Twitter/X: @thebubbasq.
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