Yet Another Steelers Story

Mr. Furious passed along this ESPN blog entry (I can’t believe there was something on the web about the Steelers or the Super Bowl that I missed):

But let me tell you a story.

I have a friend named Ellen Shafer, and she knows nothing about football. A few months ago, she traveled to Pittsburgh to see a play; while she was there, Ellen went to a restaurant with a British woman who knows even less about football than she does. They found themselves seated directly next to a man and a woman who were polite and soft-spoken; the man was swarthy, handsome, and had very long hair.

Much to Ellen’s surprise, strangers constantly walked up to this unknown man and asked for his autograph. At first, Ellen assumed this person must be a rock star; he looked a little like Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett. But after awhile, Ellen deduced this fellow must be a professional football player, because so many of his admirers mentioned admiration for his ability to hit people with extreme prejudice.

Eventually, Ellen introduced herself. “I have no idea who you are,” she said, “but your wife has amazing shoes.” This statement made the long-haired man very happy. He introduced himself: He said his name was Troy Polamalu.

For the next hour, these four people made casual conversation, never discussing sports or celebrity. Ellen found him to be amazingly friendly and relentlessly humble.

Eventually, the long-haired man (and his wife) exited the restaurant. Ellen and her friend chatted about how affable the pair had been, and how cool it was that Mr. Polamalu had seem so legitimately interested in their own boring lives.

Ellen and her friend signaled the waiter for the check, curious about how much money they owed. But when the waiter came over to their table, he told them everything was taken care of: The long-haired stranger had quietly paid the totality of their bill.

Now, I realize Troy Polamalu is rich. And I realize that — to him — this encounter probably means nothing. He might not even remember that it happened. But I’m rooting for the Steelers. And I’m rooting for them for the same reason I skipped the Maxim party: Humanity deserves respect, rockers.

Classy kid.

Finally, via Jim Henley, comes this piece with former NFL official Jerry Markbreit (Bug Me Not) explaining some of the ‘controversial’ calls:

Near the end of the first half of the Super Bowl, the Seahawk receiver was ruled out of bounds. On replay, he gets his left foot in and his right shin grazes the pylon, it actually starts falling before his left leg kicks it. Is this not a touchdown? –Dan, Ashburn, Va.

The rule states that a receiver must get both feet inbounds with the ball in his possession to complete a catch. In the play in question, his left foot did get in, but the second foot hit the pylon, which is out of bounds in the end zone; thus, making the play an incomplete pass. These are very tight plays and this one was ruled correctly by the onfield official and confirmed by the replay official, which is why the play was not challenged from the replay booth.

Glad that is finally settled. Also, this great news:

After having a good visit Wednesday with Raiders boss Al Davis, Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt informed the Raiders that he would stay with the Steelers.

That music you hear in the background? The Hallelujah chorus. I didn’t want the offense and Ben to have to get used to a new coordinator, and losing Ron Earhardt after Super Bowl XXX really hurt the Steelers in the short run, I think.

Additionally, here is a link to pictures of all previous Super Bowl rings. It seems that since 1997, they no longer have the team name around the edges, and instead just have “world Champions.” I wonder why.