On The Line: Thoughts on my Super Bowl memories, AB, Le'Veon, more taken in Hendersonville, Tenn. (Steelers)

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The Buccaneers’ Antonio Brown.

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. -- It’s been a few weeks since the disappointing end to the Steelers’ season so I wanted to share some thoughts on a variety of topics. 

• This time of year always puts me in a reflective mood. It reminds me how fortunate I was to play in football’s greatest showcase with the Steelers and how painful it was to come so close without getting my hands on that sticky Lombardi. I will remember Super XLV forever. Packers 31, Steelers 25. Although I haven’t watched the game in its entirety since I played in it, the outcome still makes me sick to this day.  

• As the confetti fell on the newly crowned champs in Arlington, Texas, the words that came from my mouth were, “I’ll be back.” Ten years later, if we are being honest with each other — fans and players alike — we haven’t truly sniffed the Big One. Six trips to the playoffs, but only once advancing as far as the AFC Championship Game. 

• The team that raised the trophy that night at Jerry World in 2011 also expected to make returns to the Super Bowl. The Packers might have been even better equipped for another run. Everyone gushed over All-World quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Unfortunately for them and for him, the State Farm Rodgers Rate hasn’t include coverage for games ending in Roman numerals. Eight trips to the playoffs. Four NFC Championship Game appearances. No Super Bowl berths. We know their pain. 

• It’s not like the Steelers haven’t had talent throughout the last decade. We’ve been blessed with some great players, and two of them will appear in Sunday’s big game, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell. They have taken a circuitous route to the Super Bowl after leaving the South Side training facility. For Brown, it’s his second shot at a title. He was there with me at Super Bowl XLV. The wide receiver has made stops in Oakland and New England before hooking up with Tampa Bay. Bell left Pittsburgh for the Jets before joining the Chiefs.  

• My first thought is that it’s an awesome feat and it shows a real pursuit of the trophy. At the end of the day, guys want good health and the opportunity to be called a Hall or Famer or world champion. The route they took wasn’t the most ideal when it comes to how they got to their respective conference championship teams. But can you blame them? When I saw Ray Lewis and the Ravens win Super Bowl XLVII and walk off into the sunset, that’s all you ever want as a player. End your time in the league as a champion. Be the last one on the hill as the world hands you flowers while you’re still alive. That’s a picture John Elway, Peyton Manning and Lewis painted perfectly.

• Either Bell or Brown will be bathed in confetti at the end of Sunday night. I know some Steelers’ fans will watch with a grudge, but I’ll be excited for them. Plain and simple, we missed our shot in Pittsburgh. The stars didn’t align for us. Injuries hit at the wrong time. And sometimes we were just the second-best team in high-stakes games against the Jaguars and Patriots at a time we should have been at our strongest. Writing those last few sentences is akin to a fresh blade across the arm. It stings when having to face that reality.

• AB and Bell no longer have starring roles like the ones they played in Pittsburgh. But they are still roles, and the winner will collect one of the largest rings in NFL history. Bell and Brown still possess talent even as it only comes out in the occasional flash. Brown has three catches and a touchdown in the postseason with the Buccaneers. Bell has two rushes for six yards in the Chiefs’ playoff run. Humble stats aside, I want to congratulate both of my former teammates for getting to the Super Bowl. That said, I know not everyone is as forgiving as I am. 

Let’s move on.

• What a matchup at quarterback. Patrick Mahomes is the prototype of the new-age passer. He’s facing the 43-year-old “Walking Gold Jacket.” Tom Brady has been to 10 Super Bowls by himself— more than any NFL organization. We never got LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan in the NBA Finals or Tiger Woods vs. Arnold Palmer in the last pairing at Augusta. (Admit it, you thought I was gonna say Jack Nicklaus. Always repping Latrobe in this column.) But sports fans now have Mahomes vs. Brady in a battle of generational greats.

• The Buccaneers have Steelers’ connections in the coaching ranks. There’s Bruce Arians, Byron Leftwich and Larry Foote. Best of luck to them.   

• On my morning show in Nashville, one topic that’s frequently discussed is maximizing your chance to win before the “window closes.” For example, the Chiefs allowed Dee Ford and his 13 sacks to walk in free agency after the 2018 season to sign a more potent and disciplined Frank Clark. The Buccaneers lured Rob Gronkowski out of retirement. In hopes of getting back to the Super Bowl, the Rams have traded for Matthew Stafford in a blockbuster deal with the Lions that sent Jared Goff to Motown. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it backfires as it did with the Saints, who are now in salary-cap purgatory. 

• Risks are taken and rightfully so when everyone is searching to be the last man or team standing at the end of year. Change can be good. Matt Canada taking over the Steelers’ play-calling duties is something we all expected to be done when given the opportunity. Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert signed off on him as a hire for those reasons a year ago. Offenses have changed, and it will be interesting to see if management falls in line with the rest of the league. 

• I’ll stand on a table for the Steelers’ new offensive line coach Adrien Klemm. Damn good hire. He’s a guy who demands the most out of the players he’s developing. He’s searching for a different identity inside the dark room with the blue light shining from the projector and the constant smell of offensive linemen passing gas. A commitment to the run game with streaks of creativity is a Pittsburgh tradition. It will have a different spice like lemon pepper wings. It may not be the traditional buffalo flavor, but it is equally good.

• The list of contenders for next season’s title is a deep one: Steelers, Bills, Titans, Chiefs, Ravens, Packers, Rams, Saints. Even the Browns will be in the mix. What are the Steelers willing to do before their window closes? There are good pieces in place, but for how long? Ben Roethlisberger and Maurkice Pouncey are nearing, or at the end. How quickly can the Steelers make changes on both sides of the ball while pushing the cap to the limit? How many of those good defenders can they keep? We will start getting those answers soon. 

• I want to conclude this column by sending my condolences to the Rooney family over the lost of their matriarch, Mrs. Patricia Rooney. May we all aspire to be as genuine and good to each other as they have been to Pittsburgh. May she forever wave her heavenly Terrible Towel from above! 

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