I woke up this morning, somewhat delirious from the aftershock of what’s being called the “Refinance Boom” that has me working 12 hour days. I added the filter, and two saving scoops of Caribou Coffee, and as I chugged a glass of orange juice, I honestly needed to stop for a second to realize that today is February 5.

Two years ago today, the Pittsburgh Steelers - OUR Pittsburgh Steelers - won Super Bowl XL.

Since I never got the chance to post this anywhere (long story), I always saved it with the idea that I wanted to get it out somewhere for people to read, and this seems like a good place to do that.

So the following was written on Feb. 6, 2006:
From the movie “Major League”:
“…And the Indians win it! The Indians win it! Oh my God, the Indians WIN IT!”

The Shot Heard ‘Round The World:
“The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!”

From the movie “Hoosiers”:
“SWISH!” (Hickory defeats highly-favored South Bend Central with a Jimmy Chitwood 15-footer at the buzzer.)

Is Pittsburgh’s 21-10 win over Seattle in Super Bowl XL as dramatic as these games? No. Probably not as good, either (or even close to as good). But I’ve watched these movies and heard these lines countless times, and after every single time, I thought to myself what I would do if Pittsburgh won a Super Bowl. Would I rush the field like in Major League? Would I weep for joy like Barbara Hershey in Hoosiers?

Up until Feb. 5, 2006, I didn’t think I ever had to worry about it.  I never really thought it was going to happen. A team based on heart, toughness and determination proved me wrong Feb. 5 – and I’ll never forget it. Even if I did bang my head on a table after falling over when Antwaan Randle-El hit Hines Ward for the difference-making touchdown.

The only sentence I was able to say after the final gun sounded was “we won the Super Bowl!” The Starting Gate Bar in St. Paul chanted “COW-ER! COW-ER! COW-ER!” Then “WHO RIDE? WE RIDE!” as led by SteelersBro. Champagne stung our eyes, hugs flew everywhere, some guy even gave me $10 after he spilt my $3 beer on the table.

I have never sustained a yell longer than I did after Jerramy Stevens dropped yet another pass on that final 4th down. The lack of oxygen and completely overtaxed lungs forced me to sit down for a bit. I didn’t see the final snap. I didn’t see Bill Cowher get doused with Gatorade. Maybe I had just seen these things in my dreams for so long, I ruined the suspense for myself.

But what I did see is the most bittersweet moment a Steelers fan will ever have. The Bus, the most popular player – and one of the best players – in Steelers history, announce the rumor that everyone already knew. Detroit was the final bus stop.

As I sat there in silent and unaccepted celebration, a man wearing a Polamalu jersey and a kid wearing a Bettis jersey patted me on the back when they walked through the door.

The kid was around 11-years-old. Eleven! Just as I didn’t get to celebrate the Steelers previous four championships, this kid missed The Bus in his prime.

I was actually RIDING the bus to school when the soon-to-be-named Bus was traded to Pittsburgh. I had a walkman and KFAN radio in Minneapolis announced that Jerome Bettis and a third-round pick had been traded from the Los Angeles Rams to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a second-round and a fourth round pick.
The 10th overall pick out of Notre Dame was more fullback than halfback, but with quick feet and a harder head than Rocky Balboa’s, people everywhere couldn’t help but think this deal was heavily tilted in favor of Pittsburgh.

It wasn’t long before Bettis became as Pittsburgh as Primanti’s. Fans started imitating Bus’s dance after a big run (or maybe just me, I dunno). Engraved in our minds is the massive width between his legs when he gets the hand-off, that classic barrel roll he does to gain a yard and how difficult it was to knock him for a loss.

He went to enough Pro Bowls and bowled over enough would-be tacklers to earn a spot of immortality in Steel City by the time his first AFC title game loss (vs. Denver) came. He rushed for 1,665 yards that year, but not enough to move on.

I had a Myron Cope sound byte of a run he had that season as my computer’s start up notification my freshman year of college.

“…TOUCH-DAHNN!!! TOUCH-DAHNN!!! TOCHDAHNN STILERS! JER-OME BETTIS! AND THIS PLACE IS GOING BERZERK!”

Gives me goosebumps just remembering Cope’s thick Pittsburgh accent completely losing control of any emotion on the air. But that’s what Bettis did back then. Not to say he wasn’t capable of this now, but with his impending retirement over the last three seasons, everything had a much more somber air around it. It wasn’t the same feeling you got when he and the offensive line were running down hill, just preying on small defensive backs in the open field much like Ashley Ambrose of the Bengals in 2001 (if you don’t remember that, it was the camera shot of Bettis running toward you, Ambrose got in Bettis’ path and was leveled like a shopping cart in front of a semi).

There was the “emergence” of Amos Zereoue, and how he filled in for the injured Bettis in 2001 – which would have been Bus’s best season as a pro had he not missed the last five games of the regular season. The cortisone shot that went awry. The Patriots upset.

In this time, Bettis started feeling all those carries. He and everyone else on the Steelers except for Joey Porter flat-out sucked in 2003. There were calls for his retirement. They restructured his deal giving him less money. You could tell if Pittsburgh didn’t win in 2004, Bettis was either going to follow Franco Harris and retire in some other jersey or just retire with that sour taste in all our mouths.

As soon as the slide started, it ended. Bus runs for the most inspiring 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns in the history of the game (973 yards, but who’s counting?) while replacing Deactivated Duce Staley. Falling short again in ‘04, 2005 was the last year. He would retire a legendary Steeler, or a legendary running back. That ring is the difference between the two.

And we did it. We won the Super Bowl.

I thought of all of this when I saw that kid wearing Bettis’ jersey. We’ve got the mandatory five years until he’s elected into Canton. Maybe another two after that to start officially calling his jersey a throwback. A lifetime of Ambrose-like highlights. Those halfback passes, those fights with Ray Lewis.

But no more Bus. He can be Jerome, as he begins a sure-fire great broadcasting career on NBC. We’ll see a few more pictures of the Bus holding up the Lombardi Trophy, soaked in sweat and champagne as confetti is strewn about those shoulders that carried the morale of this franchise for the last 10 years.

We’ll think of all that and say, “whine all you want about poor officiating. The Bus took what’s his.”

And no one can take that away from him or from SteelerNation.

Maybe that 11-year-old kid with the Bettis jersey will be in the same position I was in 2016 for Super Bowl…uh…whatever 50 would be. Maybe he’ll be crouched over, clutching his never-washed Terrible Towel, trying to let the idea of his biggest hope coming true turn into reality. Maybe he’ll see a kid with a Ben Roethlisberger jersey or a Troy Polamalu jersey and feel that same bit of pride. Not the pride of winning the Super Bowl. The pride of knowing he was able to watch one of the greatest players in the game retire a champion.

And maybe, like me, the only thing he’ll be able to say is “We won the Super Bowl!”