Pittsburgh Steelers -2- Martes 27/1/09

Super Bowl XLIII – Tuesday, January 27, 2009

QUOTES FROM PITTSBURGH STEELERS MEDIA DAY


QB COACH KEN ANDERSON

(on Ben Roethlisberger’s leadership skills at his age) “He’s a special quarterback. He’s showed it since his rookie year when he stepped in and won a whole lot of football games. In his second year he goes to the AFC Championship Game and then he wins the Super Bowl. So like I said, he’s a special quarterback.”


(on what he has been most impressed about Roethlisberger over the years) “I think his decision making. He sees the field so well. You look at the plays he makes out of the pocket and it’s not easy to see where everybody’s at and know where to go with the football and he’s done a tremendous job with that.”


(on if he can learn anything from Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner) “I think he learns something from every quarterback from around the league. I think that Ben is a unique quarterback with the style that he plays and we’re happy to have him.”


(on how impressed he is with Roethlisberger’s toughness) “He doesn’t come out of games. He’s been banged up a little bit, but he’s a tough kid. He’s a tremendous competitor and the thing that you love about him is that when the game is on the line and when it comes down to it, he wants the ball in his hands. And in that situation, he’s been very successful for us.”


(on if one game stood out to him the most about Roethlisberger’s ability to win the game) “You go back to the Baltimore (Ravens) game where we’re down and we’ve got it on our own eight-yard line with four minutes to go and we’re down by three. He then finds a way to take the team down and score a touchdown in what turns out to be a big victory for us.”


(on if great quarterbacks should be judged based on wins and losses more so then stats) “A quarterback’s job is to go out and win games for his team. Coach (Mike) Tomlin talks about how there’s no style points; it’s always how you finish up at the end of the game on the scoreboard. You look at the number of wins that this kid has had in his five years in the league, and you see that he’s a pretty special guy.”


(on if he’s an easy player to coach) “Yes. He’s a great guy that loves to go out and practice and works hard at it. He has very good leadership skills. He’s not hard to coach at all.”


(on the importance of being a leader as an NFL quarterback) “I think the other 10 guys in the huddle have to look in and get their confidence from the quarterback, and this guy exudes confidence in the way that he goes out and plays. He’s never out of it, no matter how the game’s going, he’s going to find a way and he’s been very successful doing it.”


(on what he thinks Roethlisberger is most comfortable in in the offensive system) “You’d have to ask him that, but he’s been successful in all forms whether it’s dropping back and throwing or breaking the pocket and making a play.”


(on how important it’s been having Byron Leftwich as a backup) “A lot of times, when the starting quarterback goes out there’s a letdown, but Byron give us a guy that our team has a lot of confidence in. They know that if Byron is called on that he’s going to go out and play well and help us win.”


(on how he sees third quarterback Dennis Dixon coming along) “He’s a puppy; he’s growing. It’s been great for him to be around this year, not having to play and watch how Ben operates and watch how Byron operates and be around (injured reserve quarterback) Charlie Batch to watch how these guys get ready prepare and get ready for games. It’s been a big learning thing with him and as with all young quarterbacks, this offseason’s going to be an important offseason for him where he has a chance to go in and get more reps in the offseason and get ready for training camp.”


(on the biggest thing he asks his quarterbacks as a coach and as a teacher) “I think they’ve just got to prepare themselves and be ready to go. You have to do a lot of it on your own, and these guys work well and they’re ready for games and they go out and compete.”



OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BRUCE ARIANS

(On being at the Super Bowl) “It is a great honor to be here. Everybody’s excited and ready to go.”


(On QB Ben Roethlisberger’s determination to want to erase the last Super Bowl) “I think anytime you get on the big stage and you don’t do what you dreamt about as he said about nerves - you never expect him to be that way because he is so calm. So, I would think we will try to keep it low key so there isn’t any ‘I have to make a play to erase that thing.’ We have talked about it a little bit and we will talk about it more this week.”


(On how dangerous it would be for Ben Roethlisberger to think he has to win this game by himself) “Yes, that would be dangerous and that doesn’t have to happen. He has ten guys out there with him every time on every play and let them all do their job. And I think that is what he’s done so well this whole season – let the game come to him, don’t force it. Even in the no huddle he has done a great job of managing it and attacking. One thing is playing scared and another is playing smart and he plays smart.”


(On Arizona’s Defensive Coordinator Clancy Pendergast and Arizona’s defense being underrated) “Clancy has done a great job with them. They have a lot of team speed. Guys are flying around. They have played outstanding, taking the ball away at an unbelievable rate which is something we are really going to have to guard against. We can’t turn the ball over to their offense. I don’t think Clancy gets the recognition he deserves for turning that defense around. It all starts by them stopping the run and they do a very good job of it.”


(On Arizona’s defensive backs) “They’re solid; you’ve watched the corners grow. (Roderick) Hood has been a solid guy, but you have watched (Dominique) Rodgers-Cromartie really grow from September, October to now where he is a shut down type guy and one of the best.


(On how much Ben Roethlisberger has matured since the last Super Bowl) “Light years. He was a member of that team and he’s a leader of this team. His play has shown that, his preparation and everything else. He has carried us to this point.”


(On the progress Ben Roethlisberger has made) “We started in the Super Bowl run asking him to win games for us and he did it. Ever since then he’s been able to continue to evolve and that is letting him do more and more. We had some strong, older leaders when he was on the team like Jerome Bettis and Alan Faneca and now it’s his offense. It’s his offensive line; they hang out together all the time. He is the guy they look to. When we come to the sideline Hines [Ward] is still there in a powerful force, but it’s Ben’s offense now.


(On being proud of how much Ben Roethlisberger has grown) “I think for all of us as coaches, that’s why we do it. We are teachers first. The message gets across and the guy goes out and plays to his potential, you think you put him in the right spot and that’s all that you can do. And he has done a fantastic job.”


(On young coaches like Ken Whisenhunt and Mike Tomlin having success in the NFL) “I think in both cases ‘Whis’ has surrounded himself with an outstanding staff, guys that he trusted and knows well. Mike (Tomlin) has done a fantastic job. They communicate with their players. They are straight forward and honest. I know working with Mike, what he says is what he means and you can book it. They have great communication skills and direction for their team and they let their coaches coach. I think when Bill put together the staff that we were on for the Super Bowl was one of the strongest coaching staffs I have ever been apart of. I think ‘Whis’ and Mike have both duplicated that.”


(On Pittsburgh’s offensive line) “We rebuilt it back in the spring and in the summer and then we lost two key ingredients and had to redo the whole thing. These were the guys that were sitting in the back of the room for a couple of years when (Alan) Faneca and all those guys were starting in the Super Bowl. They have a nice bond. I think when you get to the offensive line cohesiveness is sometimes overlooked because people want to talk so much about talent, but those guys are so close. They are all tough and they are all smart. That closeness is something, I think, that has brought that success. They watch film at each others houses and do some extra stuff. They enjoy being together and take a lot of pride in protecting the quarterback. They got beat up a lot in September and October and I think they have taken a lot of pride in proving people wrong - that they can do it and they played extremely well in the playoffs.”


(On the injuries Pittsburgh faced in the beginning of the season and how it affected play calling) “I think more the injuries at running back affected what we were doing. Each week we had a different group. Whether it was the offensive line and Willie (Parker) goes down and Rashard (Mendenhall) goes down, then we started spreading the field. That helped our running game feed off of the passing game and then we were able to get Willie back. We got Heath Miller back and we were able to get back into some bigger sets with two or three tight ends. Willie is healthy and is as fresh as he’s been going into the playoffs. So, it was a struggle there trying to put an offense each week out there by different faces, but now has kind of gelled.”


(On how the Pittsburgh receivers compliment each other) “You can talk about all three. Hines (Ward) is obviously the leader and brings a heartbeat to our football team. He is a money player. In money games, he’s going to show up big. Our playoff game last year against Jacksonville he shouldn’t even have been playing. He needed knee surgery. He put it off and catches 11 balls for 100 plus yards. He’s special. Santonio Holmes is blossoming into the player we hoped he would be. He is a threat down the field but he is as big of a threat on a short pass that he can take to the house. Nate Washington has filled in and played well for us. He can take the top off the coverage. That group - we play three wides a lot - I think is an underrated group around the league. Hines gets most of the notoriety because the other two guys are just coming on.”


(On TE Sean McHugh) “Sean was a godsend to us. Carey Davis was being our fullback and he was doing a good job, but he would fight getting big enough to be a fullback and still being able to run fast enough to cover special teams stuff and be our third or fourth runner. So, when Sean was available we got him and he has given us that thumping lead blocker in a tight end body. He is really a fullback. He played fullback at Penn State. I get criticized all the time for not playing a fullback, but he’s a fullback. But, he happens to be in a tight end body, which gives you more flexibility. When Heath (Miller) was down he stepped in and played extremely well at tight end for us and we’re a two tight end team. He also gave us the ability to put him back in the backfield and lead on people. He’s been a good addition to our offense.”


(On match-ups in the huddle) “So many young defensive coordinators are all about computers. In this personnel group they do this and in this formation they do that. Well, if it’s two tight ends and they get into all those formations they have to call the game now by down and distance. What do they do on second and seven? What do they do on third and six after a pass or after a run because the personnel is not changing. Now we may go to three wides and take a tight end, we may leave the tight end and spread him out or he may be in the backfield. It gives you flexibility for them to just play defense.


(On Arizona’s Defensive Coordinator Clancy Pendergast and Arizona’s defense) “I think they are attacking extremely well and stopping the run. Adrian (Wilson) is a great safety. I know Clancy pretty well. We worked together in Cleveland. He studies the game and tries to have his guys in the best position for a lot of different sets. It will be a challenge. They are playing the run extremely well and we have to run the football.”


(On watching film on Arizona) “If you try and watch 16 games you aren’t going to learn anything. I think the last month they played extremely good football, so why would you change it and go back to what you were doing in October. Those things are what you can anticipate. They have done a great job in the pressure package on third down and there will be new pressure packages. In two weeks there will be a bunch of new pressure packages, but they can only come in so many spots. We played the Baltimore (Ravens) and the (San Diego) Chargers and we have seen enough blitzing. They might come up with a new one but it probably won’t be one we haven’t seen. They do a great job of bringing guys from different spots.”



S RYAN CLARK

(on if he touched base with New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker after controversial hit during game against the Patriots) “Well, after the game on the news, he said that he didn’t expect to hear from me. Once he said it was ok, and that it was all in football, it was fine. I think there were some rumblings that it was a dirty hit and you never want to leave that impression. But once he said he was cool, and it was all in football, you let those things go.”


(on if he contacted Baltimore Ravens running back Willis McGahee after a hit in the AFC Championship Game that left McGahee unconscious) “No. It’s another one of those things. He said he didn’t expect to hear from me. I think if he would have had to stay in Pittsburgh longer, I would have had to check on him. I know what it’s like to be stuck in the hospital, without your team or your family. It was really a blessing to know he was released. He said it was all in football and a part of the game. He understands that and so do I.”


(on if he has ever called a player after a hit like McGahee’s) “No, but a running back has never called me after running me over either. I think it is something that I understand. It’s all in football and you are not intending to hurt anyone. Those two hits got a lot of media coverage. There was so much debate on whether they were dirty hits or not, you sometimes feel you need to call the player to clear your name. But once you hear the player come out and say everything is ok, you can let it go.”


(on if he felt the hits were borderline) “No. I think it’s almost a compliment when hits are discussed as borderline, when they are in fact within the rules. When your play is within the rules, but it’s hard enough hit that people talk about it as being that way, it’s almost a compliment. People who don’t understand the rules and watch the game on television are going to take it the wrong way. They are going to listen to the media and how things are portrayed. When they hear that, they begin to believe it.”


(on if he strives for those types of hits) “No. I just strive to get the man on the ground. These guys are so talented in this league that when I’m going to make a tackle, I’m just hoping to get them to the ground. My goal is to get to them fast enough so they can not put a move on me. I guess those two plays this year were such hard hits that I got a lot of recognition. But that’s not the type of recognition you are looking for, not that way.”


(on if there are times he makes a hit that is possibly illegal and doesn’t realize it) “I can honestly say I’ve never had that feeling. That’s probably because I know the intent in which I do things. One thing I noticed in watching those hits is that I’ve turned to the side on each hit. I’m not trying to lead with my head and that’s probably why I’ve had two dislocated shoulders this season. At times things do get iffy back at the free safety position. Balls get tipped, or overthrown, and there are snap decisions. But for the most part I do ok. I did not think the two hits in question were dirty.”


(on if the team’s foundation of faith helps them) “I think one of the biggest honors to have is the pre-game prayer. The guys allow me to get into the circle and say a prayer. We honor God and we praise him. I think when you go through something like what I went through last year in losing two organs (spleen, gall bladder), or have a brush with death, you understand that without God none of this is possible. You understand that you are not going to play football or you may not live, the reason we are here is because of the gifts that God has given us. It’s a big part of our team because we have strong men of faith. Even being back there in the secondary with Troy (Polamalu) I know it plays a huge part in our conversations and relationship. We draw upon that in the way we relate to each other. When teams are built on that foundation good things happen.”


(on how his health issues affected his overall life) “At the time I stopped caring about football. That really wasn’t my focus at the time. I just cared about being healthy enough to pick up my daughter, drive my kids to school and being there for my wife. It just got to the point where the football part didn’t matter anymore. Once they removed my spleen and took out my gall bladder a month later, they told me I would have an opportunity to play again. I knew it would come down to how hard I worked, how hard I prayed, and if it was meant to be it would happen.”


(on if players feel they have expectations to meet based on the Steelers past success) “We have expectations of being great because that’s what we strive for. The Steel Curtain was a once in a lifetime defense. I think it was the 1974 NFL Draft where four players who were drafted are now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There are many players from that defense who are now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and I don’t know if we are that type of team. We have players who deserve to go but I don’t know if they will. I think we are more of a team unit and they had stars. We have Troy (Polamalu) and James (Harrison) is becoming a star, but for the most part we do it as a team and with great coaching. We are probably not as athletically blessed as those guys were.”


(on Steelers’ Defensive Coordinator Dick LeBeau) “I think he is the best football coach I’ve been around. Just as a person and for the liveliness he brings to work every morning. For a guy to be 71 years old, the first thing he says every morning is, ‘It’s a great day to be alive.’ Up until last year, I never thought about dying. Sometimes you feel like you are going to live forever. For a man to be 71 and that lively, to watch him doing push ups on the field and talking about how good he is at golf, it’s just awesome. I think that’s one of the reasons we play the way we play, because we have a guy like that who is so well respected and appreciates us so much.”


(on if it takes a special type of personality to be a safety) “I don’t know. I’ve always not been very big or the fastest guy. My high school coach wouldn’t let us tackle bigger players low. He wanted you to hit everyone high and in the face, so it has been instilled in me to play that way. When you play on this defense, you have to do something to make the guys respect you. I remember when I got here I just wanted to fit in. They accept you with open arms, but it wasn’t until the third game of my first season here when I hit Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry that James Harrison said I was officially one of the Steelers. Those are the types of guys they want out on the field.”


(on if his hits make opposing players more aware of where he is on the field) “I don’t think so. I don’t think they pay that much attention to it because these guys are professionals and great players. I think if anything, if they hear it a lot, they would get tired of hearing it and try to run me over. I don’t think they care. Receivers trust that their quarterback won’t put them in that position and running backs feel like they have enough talent not to get caught in that position. I don’t think it plays on their psyche, it’s just a part of football.”


(on his overall awareness after hitting Ravens running back Willis McGahee) “They told me I was smiling, so I guess that is always a good sign. I was pretty dazed. I thank God that I wasn’t to the point where he was in being knocked out. I remember Troy Polamalu put my hat on me once we won the game, but I wasn’t paying attention. It was pretty bad. I had a headache the next morning but I did well on my test and all my symptoms were gone by Tuesday.”


(on when he became aware of McGahee’s condition) “When I sat down, I asked the trainers if I could get up to go check on him and they said I wasn’t in any condition to check on anyone. I checked the next morning to see if they were going to release him from the hospital. Once I got the confirmation that he was going to be ok I let it be.”


(on Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner) “I think he is one of the most accurate passers in the game right now. A lot of times, (Larry) Fitzgerald, (Anquan) Boldin, and (Steve) Breaston are covered, and he knows exactly what spot to place the ball where only his receivers can catch it. He was very accurate on his drives against Philadelphia the other week, making sure all his throws were where they were supposed to be. We’ve known this about him for a long time. He’s unbelievable and I think he is going to be a huge challenge for us. He is a guy who can put the ball anywhere he wants to at anytime. It’s almost like having a guy like Greg Maddux. He may not throw a fireball each time but it’s going to be in the right place.”


(on his overall condition last season) “I’ve known I’ve had the sickle-cell trait for some time now. It never becomes a problem for most people who have it. My doctor told me only one percent of people who have the trait will have the type of reaction I had to the altitude. The altitude causes blood to sickle and part of my spleen didn’t receive enough oxygen. As for prevention, I can’t go to exotic places that may have non-U.S. illnesses. I take a lot of vaccinations, and other than that, I just live. The doctors said I should be fine and I’m praying that it would be so.”



DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL OPERATIONS KEVIN COLBERT

(on selecting successful first round draft picks and how it feels to be in the Super Bowl for a second time) “When you talk about the success of the draft, the only way you can judge it is by your team’s success on the field. We don’t get into how many picks make it or who makes it from what round. It’s more based on our success as a team. We’ve won the ultimate game and now we’re in the ultimate game again so hopefully we can win it. If we’re able to do that, that’s satisfaction in and of itself.”


(on not having high draft selections and on the success the Steelers have had in selecting from the bottom on the first round in previous drafts) “I don’t think it’s anything impossible when picking lower. In any draft, there’s going to be 22, 28, 32 guys, you just have to try to pick the best who’s going to be available at that point. Sometimes the players that are picked lower work out better and sometimes guys who are free agents are better than guys who are picked in the first round. There’s no guarantee that just because you are picking higher that you’re going to get a better player. We just have to do the best that we can with the slots that we end up in.”


(on if there is a prototypical player that the Steelers are looking to draft) “We just want to get a player who’s going to give us a chance to win games. Obviously we want good players who are smart, who are tough guys, and who are good community guys. If you can get that in a player or in all your players, then you’ve got something going. That’s really the general outline that we look for from any player.”


(on Ike Taylor, a fourth round pick, and what he saw in Ike after only playing one year in college) “There was just a lot of physical ability in Ike when we looked at his size and his speed and he hadn’t had an opportunity to really produce at the college level because he had played several different positions. Experience wasn’t in Ike’s favor when we drafted him.”


(on if Ike developed the way he thought he would develop) “He developed the way we had hoped he would develop because he had the physical skill set that you look for in a corner, and actually his physical skill set would have allowed him to be drafted higher but because he didn’t have that experience, he probably went lower. I think his production has now caught up to his potential.”


(on his success with the Steelers and why he doesn’t think he has had many General Manager interviews) “I don’t worry about that at all. I’m plenty satisfied and happy just having a winning experience here in Pittsburgh and hope that we can continue it.”


(on why several people on his staff haven’t received more attention with other job opportunities) “We have a good staff head, guys like Doug Whaley who have been a part of our staff for a long time. He’s learned what we do and he’s been part of our success here. I wish guys like Doug would get some more opportunities. Ronnie Hughes was my mentor and still works for us today. Ronnie is not really interested in moving on at this point. At this point in his career, he’s happy doing what he’s doing. You hope that guys like Doug will get their chance somewhere along the line.”


(on Ronnie Hughes as a mentor) “Ronnie taught us a system that they had developed in Detroit of evaluation, of organization, of draft development. I was working under him for ten years and when I came here to Pittsburgh, we followed the same system that we used there. We added a few things here and there but basically it’s Ron’s system that we continue to work under today.”


(on specifics about the system) “The things we talked about earlier. Obviously we want productive players that are smart, tough guys, and good character guys. Again, it’s a hard thing to get all four, but if you can, then you are probably going to have a good chance of winning.”


(on his preliminary evaluation of this year’s draft class) “I think with any draft, ask me after three years whether they’ve helped us win or not. There are numerous examples of that. Of course Ben (Roethlisberger) goes against the grain of that thinking because of his early success, but quite honestly, we didn’t expect that at that point because Ben was a junior who came out early and we weren’t planning on him playing. Then Tommy Maddox got hurt and Ben had to step up and he exceeded our expectations early. To me, the young guys coming in - especially if you have a successful team - it’s going to be harder for young guys to come in and contribute immediately and you are always looking for improvement the longer they’re with you.”


(on his feeling about this year’s draft class) “Time will tell. That draft is a part of this team and this team is one step away from the ultimate success, so they’ve helped some way or some how. I told Rashard Mendenhall the other day, I said, ‘you are a part of this, you helped us win games early in the season.’ The way Limas Sweed practices, he pushes and works. Maybe their contributions aren’t seen but their work behind… on the practice field helps us as a team and that’s all we worry about.”


(on getting players that fit into the team concept) “You have to feel that a certain player will be a good fit. If you’re bringing in a player from the outside in either free agency or the draft, you have to feel that they can fit into your current group of players. You know the personality of your team and you’re looking for a personality that may be able to add to that.”


(on former Falcons General Manager Rich McKay’s comments about how devastating it can be to miss on first round draft picks) “You really can’t afford to miss on the old first day (picks) - the first, second and third round guys - because you are picking them at a certain point that you feel they are going to produce for you and if they don’t then you are going to have that draft in there. You have to have a certain amount of those guys contributing because of the salary cap. If they don’t contribute, then you hope you get lucky on a later pick or a free agent who can fill in. You hope that and you expect that. We kind of live by the adage that the more you’re given, the more you’re expected to contribute. Obviously when a guy gets picked high, you felt really good about his ability to do that and if he does, that’s what he’s supposed to do and if he doesn’t, we misevaluated him.”


(on if he feels fortunate that his draft picks have, for the most part, avoided missing playing time) “I think that’s what’s expected. When you are taking a guy with the 20th pick, you’ve had a chance to compare him to hundreds of other players and you’ve said that this guy is worthy of this pick. Again, you expect him to produce to that level and if he doesn’t, it’s not his fault; it’s our fault because we probably expected him to be better than he was. If a top pick fails, it’s not the player’s fault, it’s the people who said he was a top pick. He didn’t say he was a top pick, we did. It would fall on us if he doesn’t produce.”


(on the formula the Steelers have used to take mid-level players and turn them into productive players as opposed to signing free agents to very large contracts) “We always say we are spending money on our own players. For us, when we sign back one of our players, that is a big free agent signing. We like to reinvest in our own. We have stepped outside of that to sign Jeff Hartings who was a starter on the other Super Bowl team. James Farrior is a signing for us back in ‘02. Obviously he is still a great player for us at this point. For the most part, if you sign your own, you don’t have a lot of salary cap left to work with so then you have to do a good job and maybe get a Keyaron Fox who comes in and does his role on special teams. You kind of know what you’re looking for and then just try to find that right guy to fit.”


(on having consistency through the head coaching change from Bill Cowher to Mike Tomlin) “To Coach Tomlin’s credit, he stayed pretty much (the same). Defensively we didn’t change. Offensively, we are almost the same as we were with Coach Cowher. It makes evaluation a lot easier because we are finding players who fit a certain system and you’re developing a James Harrison behind a Joey Porter, so that if Joey moves on like he did, then we have other stars ready to come up. It makes it a lot easier from a personnel standpoint.”



TACKLE WILLIE COLON

(On videotaping Media Day) “We were in the locker room fooling around with some of our teammates trying to put these tight jerseys that we have on. We are just having fun with it and are trying to capture all the memories. I am blessed to be here.”


(On if it has sunk in that he is at the Super Bowl) “No, it really hasn’t. There was so much talk about us not even being in the playoffs, but to be here standing tall is a blessing.”


(On what goes on behind the scenes that only the team gets to experience) “I don’t know. They document everything. For the first two days we are trying to soak it all in. But, once we get ready for practice that’s what we will be focused on.”


(On Mike Tomlin’s calmness) “I think he is calm. He has been there before being with Tampa and winning the Super Bowl. He’s seen the mountain top. For him to be a head coach and bring us to the mountain top he has a lot to be proud of. I am very proud of him as a coach. A lot of people didn’t want to be the coach, but he stepped in there and led us. I am happy he’s our coach.”


(On Guard Darnell Stapleton coming into play week four) “That was an extreme role for him. From a standpoint, he played all three positions and wasn’t considered to do anything but be a back up. There were a lot of high expectations for him. For him to come, in and him and I gel as well as we do and have the communication that we have, it talks volumes for the kid and I love him like a brother.”


(On spending more time with Guard Darnell Stapleton to work on their communication) “I think we do a great job of understanding where we need to be and where we have to get to. We understand that to be a strong right side we have to workout together and in the film room we have to study together. There was a lot we had to walk through this year together to be good and we’ve made it so far.”


(On the part of the game Guard Darnell Stapleton has improved on in the last year) I think his mental game. For him being the center I think he’s been able to see both perspectives and it’s helped him a lot. He’s a smart kid.”


(On if this Super Bowl is the making of a dynasty) “I don’t know if you can say that yet. You can say that with the Patriots, but we will have to get here a couple more times for us to say that.”


(On RB Willie Parker’s playing ability) “I think he’s a threat. I think you have to respect his speed. If he gets hot, he will cradle all day. When we block it up right then he gets to the hole. He gets the offense grooving in their rhythm. That’s what we try to do. We try to get a rhythm. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”


(On RB Willie Parker making the team better when he is healthy) “I think it’s the guys we have up front. We like running the ball. We understand and have the ability to wear guys out. I will tell everybody, you put us in front of anybody in the league and we will fight for four quarters. Once we get that going, that’s when he opens up and get’s going.”


(On if there will be butterflies on Sunday) “There are probably going to be a few butterflies. I am just going to try and not hyperventilate too much, keep my composure and have fun. I’m excited.”


(On the many Pittsburgh fans that will be at the game) “Steeler Nation – that’s what it’s all about. They come out and support us. Why wouldn’t you want to be a fan of the black and gold?”


(On all the injuries Pittsburgh has overcome) It’s perseverance. It’s all about seeing the big picture and being able to get it done. I think for the most part we understand it isn’t what the outside world thinks about us, it’s about us believing in each other. Anything is possible.



LB LARRY FOOTE

(on LB James Harrison’s ability to cause fumbles) “He blows by guys so he has time to think and be aware of the ball. He understands it is a momentum swing to cause a turnover. He works on the strip with the bags at practice every day. The strip-sack is his platinum move.”


(on the team’s mentality on causing turnovers) “The team that takes care of the ball and forces the most turnovers normally wins. You want to increases your chances of winning and the best way to do that is by getting off the field and giving your offense the ball.”


(on why he didn’t get a booth for Media Day) “I don’t know. I think Ben (Roethlisberger) took my booth. They put my name on it first but then Ben took it. I am fine where I am - enjoying the sunshine and relaxing.”


(on if he has toured Tampa Bay since he arrived) “No, I don’t know what has been going on. We are here to do a job. That is to win the game - nothing else.”


(on why Pittsburgh’s defense has developed so many good linebackers) “They have developed outside linebackers well. In the 3-4 (defense) you have to have two good pass rushers. That is what we have. If you want to develop the 3-4 you better have some good linebackers that can rush the passer and cover. I think it starts with the outside linebackers.”


(On what it takes to play inside linebacker) “(James) Farrior and I aren’t the biggest guys but we have to react fast. We have to be that much faster because offensive linemen are coming hard and we need to react faster than them.”


(On representing the University of Michigan at the Super Bowl) “We have a number of guys from Michigan. We have LaMarr Woodley and about six other guys from the University of Michigan. ‘Go Blue’ nation is going crazy right now.”



NT CASEY HAMPTON

(on how head coach Mike Tomlin has been able to win over the locker room) “I think the main thing is just that this year, he’s done a better job of listening to his vets. I think last year he was just feeling guys out and doing his own thing and going with his gut. Now, I think he does a really good job of listening to his veteran guys and asking his veteran guys what the team’s feeling about this or that. I think that’s helped out a whole lot because we feel like he’s with us instead of just being out there and doing his own thing.”


(on S Troy Polamalu’s personality and if he is quiet and reserved) “That’s just around you guys. He’s a prankster and a jokester. He picks and chooses his times to speak out and things like that. He’s just really soft spoken that makes him seem like a quiet guy.”


(on Polamalu not being quiet at all) “I think when he first got into the league he was a little more quiet, but now he’s come out of his shell a little bit more than he has in the past.”


(on the release of Joey Porter and how it was taken by the locker room) “It was tough losing Joey. He had been here for a long time, (he was) a good friend. We were definitely unhappy when it happened, but at the same time, we know what the deal is and we know that guys come and go all the time and nobody is above being let go or forced to leave the team.”


(on how they will stop the Cardinals offense) “We’re going to try to make them one-dimensional, stop the run and make them try to pass the ball and get after the quarterback like we always do.”


(on what the ‘Steeler Tradition’ means to him) “It means a whole lot. The tradition of the Steelers is great. They always have a great defense and are hard-nosed. That’s how it is and that’s always been how it is.”


(on if he believes that defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau should be in the Hall of Fame) “They’ve been doing Coach Lebeau wrong for a long time. It’s not even a question. He should have been (in the Hall of Fame) as a player a long time ago and definitely as a coach as well. They’ve been doing him wrong for a long time but hopefully he’ll make it soon.”


(on if Hampton can come up with a reason why LeBeau hasn’t made it yet) “We talk about it all the time and we say that Coach LeBeau must have been dirty back in the day or something. He must have rubbed somebody the wrong way and he must have been a dirty player to get snubbed like that. It has to be something like that because his stats speak for themselves.”


(on how LeBeau has helped with his development as a player) “I think his main thing is that he does a good job of when he coaches, he never gets too high or too low. He played the game so when you make a mistake or things like that, he won’t get on you and act like you aren’t supposed to make mistakes, because he played. I think that’s why guys respect him and go out there and play hard for him, because he’s a former player and he knows that you’re trying to do the right thing every time and you’re not trying to mess up.”


(on if LeBeau ever tells the players how good he was when he played in the NFL) “No question. Every chance he gets. He has no problem telling how many picks that he had back in the day. He had something like 62 or something like that. Believe me, he tells stories all the time about that.”


(on some stories LeBeau tells to his defense about when he played) “He’ll tell the DBs to add all of their picks up and together they still don’t have as many as him. If everybody on the whole team added theirs up, they don’ have as many as him. He’s a cool guy. He’s the best story-teller that I know. He has a story about everything and he’s been through a whole lot.”


(on facing off against Cardinals C Lyle Sendlein, a fellow former University of Texas player) “I’m just going to go out there and do my thing. I met him a couple of times but I don’t really know him too well. He’s going to be the enemy come Sunday.”


(on Aaron Smith missing a week and then showing up a few hours before the Giants game and what that was like in the locker room) “It was nice seeing him out there. Aaron definitely wanted to go to battle with us. He’s going to do everything that he can to be out there with us. With him having gone through the things that he had gone through at the time and then to come out there, it just makes you want to go out there and do it even more.”


(on why the Steelers beat the Browns twice every year) “Don’t even get me started talking about the Browns. I don’t know. We have a good team. I just think the Browns have a young team and I think they’re getting better. I think once they get some older guys who actually know how to win and learn how to win, they’ll be ok okay because they definitely have the talent, but the talent with all young guys. They really don’t have any older guys who are the better players on the team.”


(on if he feels confident that they can stop the Cardinals run game) “That’s what we do. This game won’t be any different than any other. We’re going to go out there, stop the run, and make them one-dimensional and that’s what we do.”


(on what it means to back in the Super Bowl) “That’s what we dream about all the time. People always say that they dream about it but it’s a lot of hard work and dedication in order to get here. You can’t take it for granted.”


(on the possibility of being distracted in the Super Bowl and those distractions affecting your play) “I don’t see how you can do that. You work too hard to get to that point to let anything distract you or get in your way of you taking care of the business ahead. If you let anything distract you this week, there’s something wrong.”



LB JAMES HARRISON

(on his plight to make it onto an NFL roster) “It’s not like I have anything bad to say about anyone. There are 32 teams out there and as long as one likes you, you’re good. Pittsburgh liked me enough to keep bringing me back so I’m happy with that.”


(on personality of the Steelers defense) “We’re a group that sticks together. Every guy does his job and we play hard. We play like every snap is going to be our last. We’re not a legendary defense yet. The team that wins the Super Bowl will be the team that’s legendary.”


(on where he came from versus where he is now) “I had to give a lot of credit to my linebackers coach, Keith Butler, and to Coach (Dick) LeBeau. I feel like every time I go out there that I have to prove that I’m good enough to be out there. If you go out there believing every thing that you’ve heard said about you or written about you, then you’re trying to play on your legend and that doesn’t work very well.”


(on if he had a moment when he realized that he was an important part of the team) “Every guy on this team is an important part of this team. We go out there and we play with 11 players on offense and 11 players on defense. Whoever may be out there at the time, it doesn’t matter…they’re still an important part of this team.”


(on trying to replace Joey Porter on Media Day) “I’m not trying to replace Joey Porter. I’m just trying to be me.”


(on Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner) “He’s a great quarterback. He’s slinging the ball everywhere. He’s reading the mail, he’s looking at defense’s blitzes, he’s getting the ball out. He never gives up.”


(on Arizona offense) “As a whole, they do everything well. The offensive line run blocks well and they pass block well. (Kurt) Warner is getting the ball where it needs to be when it needs to be there. They have got receivers who are just catching anything that he throws. And you’ve got (Larry) Fitzgerald who is just jumping out of the gym right now. So we’re just going to have to go in there and try to contain them.”


(on Pittsburgh’s great tradition of linebackers) “Everybody wants to be included in a group of elite people, whether it’s linemen, linebackers or whatever it may be. You just want to come in and try to hold up the tradition. You don’t want to be the guy who comes in and slacks down. When they say that ‘Pittsburgh comes in with a great set of linebackers except for so-and-so,’ you don’t want to be that guy.”


(on whether Pittsburgh’s defensive scheme brings out the best in their linebackers) “It’s built somewhat around the linebackers. If your linebackers play good (in this defense), then normally you have a good day. The scheme is 3-4. You wouldn’t put Tom Brady in an offense where he has to hand the ball off 70 times a game because that’s not his strength. So you go and get players who are built to the strength of the scheme of the defense.”


(on who he grew up admiring) “I didn’t grow up admiring anybody. I really don’t watch sports. I still don’t watch sports. I go home and I watch cartoons 24/7. I couldn’t tell you what’s on ESPN or NFL Network or whatever it may be. Like this (Media Day) right here? I won’t see this. I don’t have a favorite cartoon but I have a group of cartoons that I like to watch like Adult Swim, Family Guy, American Dad and stuff like that. Or I can go old-school with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and a little bit of Pink Panther.”


(on the one thing that the public doesn’t know about him) “One thing they don’t know? There’s not too much they don’t know about me anymore. They (media) have asked me so many questions that I’ve told everything to somebody somewhere.”


(on almost becoming a bus driver if NFL career had not worked out) “I almost quit to become a bus driver. It’s not like I said, ‘You know what, I’m here, I’ve made it, I’m going to quit and go drive a bus.’ That would be foolish. If I didn’t get in (to the NFL), then I was going to get a regular job like everyone else.”


(on establishing himself in NFL) “It came down to getting the opportunity. Once I got the opportunity, it came down to getting better at my craft. If you get a guy who is a first or a second round pick, he’s going to get a year, two or maybe three years to develop. If you get a guy who’s undrafted, if he doesn’t come into camp and do something spectacular, he may have the opportunity to play on special teams or be on the practice squad. It’s a long road to go and I just thank God that I was able to make it.”


(on living up to the history of the Steelers) “It’s not really something that’s constantly brought up to us. We feel it, we know of it and we just want to try to live up to it, or get somewhere near it.”


(on Pittsburgh Head Coach Mike Tomlin) “Coach Tomlin is a guy who is going to shoot it to you like it is. He’s not going to beat around the bush about anything. He’s only 36 years old so he’s not too far removed from being a guy who would have played in the league. He really understands and can talk to us. Just being able to do that puts us a lot closer to him.”


(on his biggest concern with regards to Arizona’s offense) “Trying to stop the run game and getting a grip on the three receivers they have out there. We’re going to try to get pressure on Kurt Warner and see if we can slow him down.”


(on what Coach Tomlin did to earn players’ respect upon his arrival) “He kind of took the respect the first year. Everything was his way. There was no negotiating of anything. We were in full pads hitting and banging until week 15 or 16. This year, he came in and he started to take care of us. He got us out of pads early in the season and that helps your body out down the road. I think him changing from the things he did last year, I guess he may have learned a little bit from there until now.”


(on process of making an NFL roster) “About a week before training camp started (when he wasn’t with an NFL team), I was thinking that if I don’t get picked up, I’m just going to give it up. I’m not going to be one of those guys who is dragging around for three or five years from team to team just trying to get an opportunity to play. This (being in the Super Bowl) is gravy…it’s cool.”


(on why he is able to succeed in NFL now after not succeeding earlier) “The difference is maturity. I handled situations a lot differently now than I would have when I got here my rookie year. The way I took coaching, the way I talked to coaches and just getting an opportunity to go out there and show what I could do…that was all different. I had to change all of that because it was basically the last hurrah. I just wanted to come in here, give it a shot and do everything that I can. I wanted to know that I gave everything that I could. I wanted to know that I tried to learn the defense to the best of my abilities, that I handled situations with coaches differently, that I treated them the way they treated me, and then, if I didn’t make it, I would have done everything that I could.”


(on if anyone with the Steelers spoke to him to get him to revise his outlook and attitude) “It was just something that I had set in my mind. I’m not the type of person who’s going to do something because you tell me to do it. If you tell me to do it, I may not. If it’s something you tell me I can’t do, then I damn sure want to prove you wrong. Sometimes you get somewhere, and you’re young and you’re stubborn and you just want to do things your own way. That’s just not the way it’s going to work.”


(on what his own personal game plan for the Super Bowl would be like) “My own personal game plan for me? I get to rush every play, I never drop into coverage and I don’t have any responsibilities.”



C JUSTIN HARTWIG

(on possibility of playing in London) “During our regular season, we have a regular routine. We don’t have a lot of time during the week. We’re working all week long and for us to possibly fly across the pond, that would be tough on us. Having to make that adjustment of going to play on another continent would be difficult. I’m all for the NFL expanding and broadening our horizons, but I just think it would be difficult to actually go over to London to play.”


(on G Darnell Stapleton) “He was very green at the beginning of the year. He was a glorified rookie being out there, having never played before. He’s done an outstanding job and made tremendous progress throughout the season. He’s developed from a young guy who doesn’t say much.”


(on the development of the offensive line) “It’s been a gradual process, especially with me coming in as my first year as a starter. We had a couple of injuries early in the season and we got some young guys in there. It’s been a matter of us playing more and more together as the season went on and getting used to each other. I think we are playing our best football of the year. I think we struggled a little bit against Baltimore running the football, but we are committed to it at this point in the season. It’s definitely going to be key for us to run the ball and I feel good about the offensive line and where we are. We had a couple of tough losses late in the season that really got us down. We go in there and we work hard every day. We are practicing hard but we spend a lot of time together off the field. We’ve been getting together during the week at my house and watching film and just talking through it without any of the coaches there. I think that’s helped us out a lot.”


(on facing Arizona’s defense) “I think we’ve definitely faced the NFL’s best defenses week in and week out. You can look at the statistics and it says that they are the 20th ranked defense in the league or something. But we don’t look at that. We are going to show up every week, it doesn’t matter who we are playing against. Last week we played against Baltimore and they are an extremely tough defense. It’s great training for us. We’ve played them three times. We’ve played the best defenses in the league and we feel pretty good about where we stack up.”


(on being a new center on the line) “The center has a lot of responsibility in our offense, but that continuity from playing together and understanding where the guy next to you is going to be has been really key for us.”


(on the team’s blue collar mentality) “That is certainly my mentality. I grew up in the Midwest. I know that Ben Roethlisberger grew up in Ohio. You have that mentality among guys on our team. We are not a flashy group. We stick together and that has a lot to do with it.”


(on playing a good offensive team in Arizona versus a good defensive team in Baltimore) “It doesn’t change our mentality. We have to do the same thing week in and week out. We have to do what we’ve been doing all year and prepare hard. Obviously, Baltimore presented different challenges than Arizona, but despite the fact that Arizona might be ranked in the 20’s on defense and we’ve been playing the Baltimores and beaten them, it doesn’t matter. We don’t take anybody lightly. We have to bring our A game.”


(on if the Steelers will run the ball more at the outset) “I think we have to run the ball more. We have been able to do it when we’ve had to do it. There are obviously those times when we haven’t gotten it done, but I think that does have to be our game plan. We have to run the ball, we have to account for Adrian Wilson coming down in the box. Hopefully our defense will shut down their offense. Arizona is probably going to score some points. That is just the way it is. We are definitely going to have to step it up on offense.”


(on the approach of the Steelers’ receivers against Arizona’s secondary) “Those guys have to make plays. That’s what it comes down to. That’s what separates average teams from great teams. Guys have to make plays on the outside, and so do we. We have to make plays up front, and Willie Parker has to break tackles. The thing about the Arizona defense is that they don’t have a lot of big-name guys on their team. They are playing really well right now. They are coming off the ball with a sense of urgency. That’s what you need to do if you want to be good come playoff time.”


(on Ben Roethlisberger rebounding from a bad performance in Super Bowl XL) “From what I know about Ben, I think he was a rookie at the time and a little nervous going into the big game. He’s played in enough big games since then, and I’ve been playing with him throughout these playoffs. He struggled a little bit during the season, but when the playoffs came along, he stepped his game up big-time. He’s really cool, calm and collected. You can just sense it. He’s just out there playing ball. He’s not getting caught up in all this hype. He’s focused, and that’s what we need.”


(on experience as a factor) “I think experience is huge. Guys talk about the last Super Bowl in Detroit and how they were a little bit freaked out by the big game. Everyone is just enjoying it now. We are preparing. We’re prepared to play. As far as experience, I think it will be a huge factor. All those guys got their jitters out of the way. I might not have mine out of the way yet, but I will come game time. I’m going to show up and play.”



WR SANTONIO HOLMES

(on what the difference has been in his increase in production in his second season) “I think it has been just the opportunities and me making plays, and all that’s come with our team doing well. I’ve been more focused this season, I put in a lot of hard work in the off-season, and it’s all starting to pay off more for me this year. The thing that I really worked on the most was my conditioning; I knew I had the ability to make plays at any time, and the speed was always there, but I wanted to have the endurance to continue to play through 16 games and throughout the postseason, and I think the conditioning that I did throughout the off-season has helped thus far.”


(on what he thinks his chances are to be the Super Bowl MVP) “That’d be a big accomplishment right there. If I do all of the necessary things to help this team win, and Lord willing the opportunity comes for me to be the MVP, then I will definitely accept it, but it will definitely be on behalf of all the guys that allowed me to make the plays and helped me make those plays.”


(on his first impressions of the Arizona Cardinals’ secondary) “They’re a good group of guys; they’ve been making plays throughout the whole postseason and it has gotten them this far to be in the Super Bowl. We know they’re going to come and be ready to be very aggressive with us, but we know we’ve got to be focused and be ready to make plays against them.”


(on what he sees in Cardinals’ cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie) “He’s a good athlete. You don’t get to see too many cornerbacks at his position that are over six-feet tall. That gives him a good advantage to play the ball very well and to be an aggressive player, because he can use his size to his advantage and his speed also helps out a lot.”


(on his hometown) “Man, Bell Glade, Florida, it’s probably one of the smallest towns here in Florida, and we didn’t have much to do there. There’s a high school, a couple of elementary schools and a middle school. We chase rabbits for a living. We did it for fun, but for the majority of the people we know, we did it for survival. I can remember it clearly that up until my sophomore year of high school, that’s what I did. Every Saturday and every Sunday after church, that’s what we would do: we would go rabbit hunting.”


(on the culture of football in Belle Glade) “It runs throughout the ‘Muck City,’ that’s the little nickname that we have for our town. There are quite a few athletes who have been through our town, so it’s a great line of blood that breeds football players and athletes.”


(on what advice veteran players gave him in regards to his approach to Media Day) “They just told me to try and answer all of the questions with kindness, but to be alert for some of the crazy questions that you are probably going to be asked. You want to try to be a smart guy and not give the other team any bulletin board material to feed off. Overall I think you just have fun and enjoy the day.”


(on players he looked up to growing up) “That can really only be two guys: Michael Irvin and Jerry Rice. Those are two guys that I’ve looked up to over the years, growing up and watching in the NFL. I feel like trying to model your game after those guys is the only way to become great.”


(on his knack for making the biggest plays at the biggest moments) “I think I embraced that when I started playing little league football. A lot of people may look at it and say, ‘How do you even think about stuff like that?’ But I think it’s just that I was the type of guy that didn’t want to be hit, so I felt that if I caught the football and ran for a touchdown, there was no way that anybody could hit me. That was the type of attitude that I wanted to bring into my game when I stepped onto the field week-in and week-out.”


(on if he envisions himself making a play similar to David Tyree’s catch in Super Bowl XLII) “I wouldn’t think about making that particular play, but if it happened to be the fourth quarter with 20 seconds or 30 seconds on the clock, and the quarterback wanted to get rid of the ball, I would be the guy in the huddle that was tapping him in the side saying, ‘Hey, I will make this play for you.’ That’s type of guy that I want to be.”


(on which lesser known players on the Steelers’ offense could have an impact in the Super Bowl) “85, Nate Washington. I think a lot of people are also doubting Limas Sweed because in the opportunities he has had, he dropped the ball, but I guarantee if he gets an opportunity to play in this Super Bowl, he’s going to make one of those flash plays that makes everybody forget about what he may have done in previous games.”


(on if he ever faced Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin in high school) “I think I had one opportunity to play against him; I was a freshman his senior year, and they ended up beating us, and he won his last game against us. Everybody from the town we grew up in has been calling me, telling me that this is like a ‘Super Muck Bowl Super Bowl.’ It’s a reuniting thing for me and Anquan, being from pretty much the same area and both getting the opportunity to play on the biggest stage of our careers in the NFL. Having that rival throughout high school and getting the opportunity to play against the same high school every year, brought a lot of attention onto everybody. He (Boldin) was an extraordinary athlete; he played basketball also, and being that he was a quarterback, he was able to make plays all over the field and he was one of those ‘Super 11’ players in the Palm Beach County that everyone was looking out for.”


(on the publicized practice of kids in Belle Glade chasing rabbits) “I chased rabbits up until my sophomore year of high school. I actually did it a couple of times during my freshman year of college; I came home and had some free time to lounge around, and I went out to chase rabbits just to see if I still had it. That was something that we did to pass time and to make money as kids, because jobs were very scarce where I’m from in Belle Glade. The opportunity to catch rabbits and sell them to people in the area allowed us to make money and to take care of ourselves. On a single day we would probably get between 30 and 40 rabbits and we would sell them for two or three dollars and make money that way.”


(on the Steelers’ successful punt return unit in the playoffs) “The punt return game has been open all season and it has been that one guy making a play to stop us from going all the way. I got a chance to return a punt, and there was that one guy at the end right there stopping me. In the postseason, the guys have really turned it on and have helped me a lot by blocking, giving me the opportunities to make big returns. I told those guys, ‘If you guys give me a crease, I’m definitely going to make that play for us,’ and the postseason has just been the right time.”


(on what he has seen of Cardinals punter Ben Graham and how he will adjust to his end-over-end style of kicking) “I haven’t done much on him, but once we start our week of practicing and watching film, I’ll definitely be studying up on him. I think it’s a part of my game to catch the football. No matter how it’s being kicked or thrown at me, it allows me to catch the ball and make plays.”


(on if he feels overlooked because of the attention being given to Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald) “Not at all; if he wants that attention, he can have it, because I’m just a guy that wants to show up on the field, do what I have to do, and go home. If I can be the guy that’s behind the spotlight, and have a camera pointing at me every so often, I would accept that. I don’t need all of the cameras or everybody talking about, ‘Man, this guy is going to do this,’ because I think that kind of takes your focus away from the game and makes you feel like you have to prove something to everybody.”


(on the extra week of practice the team had before arriving in Tampa) “Coach (Tomlin) gave us a lot of time off. We thought we were going to have time off to just relax and then come in this week and be ready, but he was like, ‘We’re going to practice this week because we need to continue doing everything we’ve been doing up to this point and not change anything.’”


(on how he has gone about handling ticket requests being that he is a Florida native) “The family kind of took care of the situation for me. Only about 12 guys are going to come to the game and we’re going to keep it at that. For those that didn’t want to come up to Pittsburgh when it was freezing cold, they can’t come to Tampa when it gets warm.”



DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR DICK LeBEAU

(on working against Ken Whisenhunt in practice) “That’s why I always appreciated working with Coach Whisenhunt because of all his shifts and motion and rapid personnel changes. We both feel like we won’t see anything we haven’t seen, and yet when I look at some video to get ready for this one I see some things he didn’t shown me. It was a good combination.”


(on the Cardinals’ trick plays) “I used to love those trick plays. They got us a Super Bowl championship, but now I’m not so sure I’m such a big fan of them.”


(on the matchup against the Cardinals wide receivers) “All those guys have over 1,000 yards, and (Anquan) Boldin missed a bunch of games. I don’t know how many yards he’d have if he played the whole season. They’ve got a talented offense. You’ve got good running backs, and nobody talks about their tight ends. They’re both big guys who can really catch the ball, so they’ve got all the complements.”


(on how to use the blitz against QB Kurt Warner) “You always try to surprise the quarterback a little bit but when you get a veteran like that, it’s a tough challenge. They’ll try and move him around a little bit, which he’s very good at.”


(on LB James Harrison and his ability to strip the ball) “That’s an innate talent. The thing that is outstanding about him is his ability to get into position to make that play. It comes from his strength, his body mass, and he’s faster than people think. He’s short, but in his case that’s a real plus because he’s got so much talent. The offensive players are taller, and he’s underneath them most of the time. Then, with his strength, he can use that to his advantage, and he’s got enough speed that they have to honor that too. He’s got the combination of strength and speed, and that’s whats unique about James. He never stops on any play, never gives up in any game.”


(on the potential to strip QB Kurt Warner) “When I see (Kurt) Warner, I look at all his productivity: where his numbers are, his completion percentage, and how he moves an offense every place he’s ever been. I think anybody who has to sit in that pocket and have guys come from all angles, they’re going to lose the ball every now and again. I’ve never looked at him as an accident-prone quarterback at all. He’s just a real productive guy.”


(on if LB James Harrison is the product of the system) “James Harrison would be a tremendous player in anybody’s scheme. He’s just a great competitor. He’s a young man who has been told ‘no’ a couple of times and I think that fueled him to be successful. There’s no question in my mind that he would be good in anybody’s system.”


(on if it’s odd to see a pass-heavy offense in Arizona when Whisenhunt was run oriented in Pittsburgh) “If you look at them in the playoffs, they’ve got three backs that they rotate in there and they’re all in the top five in postseason productivity, so they’re running the ball very well right now. Coach Whisenhunt will do whatever he thinks he can do to move the football. I just look at their numbers, and their numbers are tremendous. We respect the ability of their offense.”


(on who the familiarity of the coaching staffs helps more this week) “I like to think it will be a wash. We know each other pretty well, no question about that, but at this level, by the time you play the game, coaches on both sides of the field have an idea of what they’ve got to try to work against and stop. Sometimes it’s a heck of a big difference between knowing what and how to do it. It will come down to how our players play. I think a lot will be said of that, but it’ll probably be a wash in the end.”


(on last year’s regular season game) “They beat us. It was a close game, and that’s probably what it will be this time, a one- or two-play game. Most NFL games are like that, and I expect it to be that kind of a game.”


(on if knowing personnel is an advantage) “In the Super Bowl you rarely do know (the other team) because you’re playing from opposite conferences and don’t ever play each other on a real regular basis. We didn’t play each other this year, but we did play last year and that’s probably as familiar as you’re going to be. When you’re playing in your own conference, you know the teams a little bit better.”


(on the system turning out so many great linebackers and what traits they must posses) “We have an advantage in that we can take the tweener, the hybrid if you will. There are more and more spots now for the 270-pound defensive end. It used to be there wasn’t much place for him in the 4-3, but teams are utilizing that guy now. We used to get our pick of all of those guys who maybe weren’t quite big enough to be a 4-3 defensive end and maybe not quite athletic enough to be a 3-4 linebacker. We’ve just had some good luck with those kinds of guys over the years. Our scouts and front office people do a good job of identifying the players who can play in our system.”


(on QB Kurt Warner’s ability to handle the blitz) “You don’t play in the league as long as he’s played and have the success that he’s had without being able to handle anything the defense does. He’s comfortable against the pressure, comfortable against max coverage. Our feeling is that offenses in general don’t play quite as well against pressure, so we’ll be trying to search for a way to do that.”


(on the beginning of the zone blitz) “It was an evolution really, a way of getting your guys in better position. The run-and-shoot was becoming pretty prevalent in the league, and we were in the division with Houston and they were the best at it. They were tremendous with (Warren) Moon and company. Then the West Coast offense really spread throughout the league, and that was all quick, get the ball out of your hands and cut up the defense passes. We were just looking for a way to get pressure without exposing our defensive backs to have to cover the whole field all of the time.”



TE HEATH MILLER

(on what he learned from the last Super Bowl that he can apply to this one) “You try to deal with all the side stuff leading up to the game the best of you can and get that out of the way. After today, it’s kind of back to the grind and back to business and just getting ready for Sunday.”


(on how you get pumped up for a game like this) “I don’t think you need to anything to get pumped up. It’s the Super Bowl. It’s going to be there, you’re going to be excited and you’re going to have to try to control those emotions and funnel them into positive energy.”


(on where his level of focus is on the day of the game) “I think you want to focus during the week to prepare just how you would for any other game and do what you normally do. That way, by the time you get to Sunday it’s back to the same thing you’ve done for the past 20 weeks.”


(on if he has any expectations for Sunday) “We know that the Cardinals are a great team and that they’re capable of scoring a lot of points and getting turnovers on defense. We’ve just got to execute as best as we can and things will work out in our favor.”


(on what Coach Ken Whisenhunt meant to him early in his career) “Obviously, he’s a great offensive coordinator and he did a great job in Pittsburgh and as a result of that he’s been awarded with a head coaching job in Arizona and he’s done a great job there. I think that’s kind of stating the obvious with what kind of coach he is.”


(on if he would have been okay if Whisenhunt had become head coach of the Steelers) “I think during the whole process you trust ownership and especially in the Steelers case where they’ve done a good job picking head coaches, so we knew whoever they chose to lead us would be qualified and was going to do a great job with it.”


(on how being a former quarterback like Hines Ward can help in this offense) “I think it helps maybe a little bit in understanding the grand scheme of things and in the passing game. Hines (Ward) used to play quarterback, so I think it helps him. For me, even though I really didn’t play quarterback that long in college, I appreciate the difficulty of the position and everything Ben (Roethlisberger) has to do and I understand truly how great of a player he is.”


(on getting ready to play in this game) “It will be hard to describe. This is the grand stage and the stage that everybody wants to play on and dreams to play on that’s ever played football. We’re going to try to get our work done during the week so we can play that way. Our emotions are going to be there. You don’t have to worry about that.”


(on the evolution of the tight end in NFL offenses) “I think the tight end plays a big role in pretty much every offense of every team in the NFL. Guys aren’t just used to block anymore; they’re used in the passing game. Every team in the NFL has a good tight end that’s capable of doing good things and there seems to be a little bit more value put on it now.”


(on if being a quarterback has helped him communicate with Roethlisberger better in the offense) “I’m not sure how it helps me and Ben. I was a quarterback in high school, so obviously the game changes a lot since high school to college, and then college to this level. But I think just understanding the nature of communication also helps.”


(on if he has a desire to throw a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl) “Maybe I’ll lobby for that a little bit this week. But if it happened, they’d have to be wide open.”


(on if former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher had ever gotten on him in the past) “Yes. He got me a couple of times while he was here. But you just shake your head, say ‘Yes sir’ and go out and fix it the next time.”


(on if a heated discussion between player and coach can be productive) “I think it’s all about what the relationship dictates. Guys communicate the delays and as long as you don’t carry it off the field and let it linger on, it’s okay. Some guys communicate in different ways. Coach Cowher’s way was in your face and let you know what was wrong. That’s the way he communicated and guys understood that.”


(on what it’s like going against a team like the Cardinals who have never played in a Super Bowl) “I don’t think it makes much of a difference, to be honest with you. They’re playing great football right now, offensively and defensively. They are definitely deserving of being here, so I don’t think that has anything to do with it.”


(on how he sees the Steelers offense against the Cardinals defense) “I think we have to execute as best as we can and we have to hold onto the football. Their defense has really been getting after the quarterback, sacking the quarterback all season and forcing a lot of turnovers. They seem to be very opportunistic flying to the ball, so we’ve got to match their intensity on offense and hopefully hold onto the ball.”


(on how Coach Mike Tomlin has been during this playoff run for the Steelers) “He’s been the same guy. He’s always going to be the same guy and take the same approach, week-in and week-out. If we had a huge win, or didn’t play so well, he’d be the same guy on Monday in the team meeting. That’s what we expect of him and that’s why we respect him.”


(on if Ben Roethlisberger is an elite quarterback) “I think that should be judged by wins and losses, and when you do that, he’s certainly at the top. When you have a quarterback who just wins, then why wouldn’t you want him on your team?”


(on being a Christian athlete) “I feel very blessed to be put in this situation and blessed to be part of this team. We’ve got a lot of guys who know how to be real men and guys who I can look up to and learn from.”


(on how many ticket requests he’s had from his family and friends) “I don’t know. I’ve sent a message home of how many tickets I had and told them that was it and for them to handle it. I kind of delegated and got it out of my hands.”


(on what the transition has been like from Cowher to Tomlin) “I think within your relationships, the more time you’re around each other, the more opportunities you get to know each other, the closer you’re going to come. I think that’s certainly the case here. Coach Tomlin’s been here going on his second year now and guys know what they’re going to get from him, they know what to expect from him and we’ve all become more comfortable around each other.”


(on how instrumental Tomlin’s been in upholding the Steelers tradition) “He’s been a huge part of it. For a guy to step into his position and really not blink and tell us not to blink during a game and during the season, is definitely the mantra that he carries into a head coaching job. He steps in, he is who he is and he’s going to treat the things the way he thinks is best for the team and obviously he’s done a great job.”