TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Derek Jeter’s picking the Pittsburgh Steelers, and it has nothing to do with how good he thinks the AFC champions are.
“I’m not a football expert, but I’ll just take Pittsburgh,” said the New York Yankees captain, who lives in Tampa during the offseason and hosted a celebrity golf tournament during Super Bowl week.
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and retired Steelers running back Jerome Bettis have both supported Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation, so his pick for Sunday’s NFL championship game was based on that.
“I pull for guys I know,” the Yankees shortstop said.
Former New York Giants linebacker Harry Carson and one-time Chicago Bears defensive star Richard Dent were among the big names participating in Jeter’s golf tournament in nearby Wesley Chapel.
Both were part of teams that won Super Bowls.
“My best Super Bowl memory was Super Bowl 21 when Bill Parcells had me walk out for the coin toss by myself,” Carson said.
That sticks out to me because as that sole, solitary captain I was representing the Giants’ organization and representing all of my teammates,” he added. “I felt honored.”
Dent recalls the Bears beating the Los Angeles Rams in the 1985 NFC championship game more than their lopsided victory over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
“The road to get in is the road that you never forget. It’s important to take the time and enjoy yourself,” said Dent, who picks Arizona to win Sunday.
“I like what I see of the Cardinals. They’ve got big receivers. You’ve got a quarterback that’s been there a couple times,” Dent said. “Obviously Pittsburgh, normally defense wins championships. But I like (Arizona general manager) Rod Graves, a guy who was with me in Chicago, I’d like to see him win a Super Bowl.”
Former Yankees and New York Mets outfielder Darryl Strawberry is happy to see Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner back in the title game, saying people underestimated him and his ability to still play at a high level.
“You’ve got to be happy for a guy like Kurt. He’s a wonderful guy, and he does wonderful things,” Strawberry said. “To see him in the spotlight again is great.”
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Bowl.
“We’ve come a long way,” said Dungy, who six years ago was one of just two black coaches in the league. There were seven during the 2007 season and currently six.
Two years ago, Dungy and Chicago’s Lovie Smith became the first blacks to coach in a Super Bowl. Both spent much of the week before the game, won by Dungy’s Indianapolis Colts, answering questions about their race.
Dungy said Friday he attributes much of the progress to the “Rooney rule” named after Steelers owner Dan Rooney, for whom he once played and coached. It requires every team with a coaching vacancy to interview at least one minority for the job.
He believes that even though there’s been progress in minority hiring, the rule should be retained. The 36-year-old Tomlin is a graduate of the NFL’s minority internship program and got his first pro job in 2001 when Dungy hired him as Tampa Bay’s defensive backs coach.
“I think it’s great that he’s being asked about his age but not much about his race,” Dungy says. “It shows how far we’ve come.”
The 53-year-old Dungy announced his retirement as coach of the Colts this month after taking his team to the playoffs for an NFL record 10 straight seasons in Tampa Bay and Indianapolis. He reiterated plans to spend time working with disadvantaged young men and with prison ministries.
ite a book and now I’ve written three. So I’ve learned to never say never.”
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COIN TOSS: Gen. David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, will toss the coin in a special ceremony before the start of Sunday’s Super Bowl. He will be joined on the field by John Elway, Roger Craig and Lynn Swann, stars of the NFL title games of 10, 20 and 30 years ago.
The NFL also plans to recognize the crew of US Airways Flight 1549 for helping rescue 150 passengers after an emergency landing on New York’s Hudson River last month.
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FRIENDLY WAGERS: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has accepted a Super Bowl wager from her Pennsylvania counterpart Ed Rendell to have the losing team’s state provide a three-day vacation to a resident of the state with the winning team.
Meals and accommodations would be donated by private companies, but travel is not included, according to Brewer’s office.
An Arizonan would go to Pittsburgh to stay at a hotel, go to a home game of the Pirates, Steelers or Penguins, and visit attractions such as the Andy Warhol Museum. A Pennsylvanian would stay at a resort, play golf and go to a game of the Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Coyotes or Suns.
Meanwhile, there’s also a friendly bet between the Pittsburgh Opera and Arizona Opera. The loser’s artistic director and board chair must wear the jersey of the winning team.
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n is set to announce the top 10 winners of “Sacks for CF” scholarships awarded by the Boomer Esiason Foundation to students with cystic fibrosis.
Esiason’s foundation raised money for the scholarships through a partnership with Solvay Pharmaceuticals, which donated $1,000 to “Sacks for CF” for each time a quarterback was sacked during select NFL games broadcast on Westwood One Radio Network this season.
A total of $180,000 was donated, and scholarships presented to the top 10 winners will be worth $10,000. Additional students will be awarded smaller amounts.
Esiason will announce the top 10 Sunday during Westwood One’s radio broadcast of the Super Bowl.
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BULLET BOB: The late Bob Hayes is one of 17 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and former Dallas Cowboys teammate Roger Staubach hopes this is the year Hayes finally gets elected.
“We’re pulling real hard. If I was voting he’d have my vote,” said Staubach, a Hall of Famer himself.
Hayes, once known as the world’s fastest human, won two gold medals in the 1964 Olympics and had 371 receptions for 7,414 yards and 71 touchdowns while playing for the Cowboys from 1965-74 and the San Francisco 49ers in 1975.
to release it much quicker than anybody else,” Staubach said.
“We had Jack Snow on that team, Roy Jefferson. We had some good receivers. Today, Bob Hayes would be the fastest guy in the NFL. Back then it was absurd.”
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AP Football Writer Dave Goldberg and AP freelance writer Mark Didtler contributed to this report.
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