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ARTICLE
JEROME BETTIS POST-GAME QUOTES RB JEROME BETTIS Q. Jerome,
all those summer workouts with Bob, was it
worthwhile?
JEROME BETTIS: It makes it worthwhile. It makes it everything we as a team
have had to go through, and personally, myself, I have had to go through,
through the course of my career, it makes it all worth it.
Q. Going back to
JEROME BETTIS: You know the possibility exists. We had been on the
doorstep a couple of times, but we were really thinking that we had something
special when we went into the playoffs. We knew we had a good football
team.
Because of the situation we were faced with, we were going to be on the road,
and we dialed it in and said, it's fine, we haven't had a problem in the
road. Once we got to the playoffs, we knew it was a realistic
possibility.
Q. At 7 and 5 after those losses, were you getting nervous
JEROME BETTIS: Yeah, no question about it. At 7‑5 the only way we can get
in now is wild card. We've got to win all of our games but Coach
Cowher, sensed that everybody was a little bit nervous, and he brought
us in and calmed everybody down and showed us, hey, it's one game at a time.
It's not about where we're going to figure in. Let's just win one game and
see what happens. That was the philosophy from that point until now.
It's been just about one game.
Q. Talk about what did you tell your teammates last
night?
JEROME BETTIS: I told them ‑‑ I asked them for two things. I asked
them to give me 110 percent, and if you walk away from this game giving that,
I'm going to say thank you, shake your hand, and give you a big hug and tell you
how much I appreciate it. The second thing I told them was get me
home.
Q. How was your quarterback today?
JEROME BETTIS: He was incredible. He did everything he had to do, and, you
know, from last year to this year, he's a different quarterback. You know,
he has an understanding of what he needs to do to manage his football team and
the plays he makes with his feet and throwing the ball. He's
amazing. He's definitely our leader.
Q. Jerome, he said on the field that he told you last year he was
going to get you to
JEROME BETTIS: It was in the middle of tears. We were on the sideline of
the AFC game and the clock was winding down, and it was obvious we
had lost the game, and he was boo‑hooing, and he turned to me and said "Come
back, I'll get you to the Super Bowl. Just come back,
give me one more year," and it meant a lot.
Q. Was Bill different this time around than he had been in the
previous playoff runs? Did you notice anything
different?
JEROME BETTIS: No, no, no, I think we had different circumstances. So, it
made for a different set of thoughts in term of what he had to do, and how he
had to present the information to us, so I think the circumstances being
different, I think that was the benefit for us.
I think us at 7‑5, understanding that every game at that point is going to be a
playoff game got us battle‑tested, ready for the playoffs a lot earlier because
we turned it on in the latter part of the season we were in playoff mode, and
that's the way we worked on it.
Q. Tell us, what's great about
JEROME BETTIS: What's great about
The people of
Q. How much did you guys want to get to the Super Bowl for
Coach Cowher?
JEROME BETTIS: That was big. He's been criticized for not being able to
win the big one, and not being able to get back to the Super Bowl,
so I think it's great. That was a thought for us, too. We wanted to
come out and play for him. He's been our leader, and, you know, he's been
supportive of us when, you know, we failed, and didn't get things done, and he's
been, you know, the number one supporter, and it's just great that we're able to
win and get another opportunity to give him another opportunity and another
crack at that elusive Super Bowl ring.
Q. Will the Super Bowl be your last
game?
JEROME BETTIS: That's a great question. I don't know. I'll look at
it. The last thing I want to do is diminish anything by even thinking
about that. I think this is an incredible opportunity we have so I'm going
to wait until after the Super Bowl and think about
it.
Q. What's it been like hearing that silence from these
crowds?
JEROME BETTIS: It's been incredible. Actually, that's been fueling our
fire to hear that crowd. Everybody is saying, this is the loudest outdoor
stadium so they're going to get a little bit different. We're thinking,
okay, all right. That's great. The first quarter, loud; second
quarter, a little louder; third quarter, little louder; and fourth quarter,
can't really hear them. We take pride.
Q. Jerome, what did you tell the team last
night?
JEROME BETTIS: There was two things I told them. I told them to give me
110 percent. If they can do that, that's all I can ever ask for, and the
second one, I asked them to get me back to
Q. What makes the Steelers team different than ones of the past few
years?
JEROME BETTIS: I think we've learned from the mistakes of the past, and we
haven't been overconfident and taking anybody for granted. I think that's
because of the position we were in, working our way up from the bottom, knowing
we can't take anybody for granted.
Everybody is supposed to beat us. It's us against the world, and that
locker room, we really gelled and felt that we could get it done. Only the
guys in the locker room believe that and that was enough.
Q. Do you think the team was even better this
year?
JEROME BETTIS: No question, I think it's a lot easier when there's no
expectations. Look at the coaches, they had a lot of expectations on them.
Last year we were 15‑1 with a lot of expectations, so we were in that situation
before. We know what it feels like to have that pressure on you, and we
came out, hey, it's us against everybody. Nobody expects us to win, nobody
is picking us to win, that's fine. As long as we believe it and the
coaches give us a great game plan, we'll execute it and come out on top.
Q. When you decided two years ago to accept the diminished role and stay
in
JEROME BETTIS: I knew we had a great football team. I wasn't selfish in
the sense that I had to be the starter. I understood that team concept, I
could still provide a lot for this football team, and I was confident in my
abilities, but I knew the opportunity would present itself for me, and I wanted
to stay in
Q. Everybody said there's a big difference between Ben from last
year to this year. If you had to measure two things, what would they
be?
JEROME BETTIS: The first thing is him managing the football team and
understanding he doesn't have to go out and win the football game. The
first time you're in the big game, and you look back at the legends of the game
and the Elways and
What you don't realize is that was during the process of the game. It's
things they had done all year long. I think he understood that the second
time around.
Going to the first time he wanted to win the game and that's not the way you
approach the playoffs, so I think from that standpoint it was one, and this
year, he's been incredible and he hasn't faltered at all, and he's been
incredible.
He made a proposal to me a while ago to get me some footballs of all these
games. He was going to get me the game ball of every game, and he's kept
his promise. He promised me last year he was going to get me to the
Super Bowl and every game ball, so he's 100 percent of his
promises. So, he's special in my book, I'll tell you that.
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