The Pittsburgh Steelers will battle the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl 43. The TV execs may not be thrilled to have the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl for ratings but the Pittsburgh Steelers have been and still are one of the NFL's most followed franchises. Steeler shirts and hats are always among the NFL's top merchandise sellers. The Steelers are as old school as it gets. The Rooney's do things the Old Fashioned way always have and always will. The Steelers organization has often been called cheap as you never see them go after the big name free agents. No the Rooney's although they have the money to spend, spend it very wisely.

They have a knack for talent and always seem to find bargains in the draft.  But when the time comes to pay that talent they step up and pay it what it's worth. Ben Roethlisberger was a QB that was taken after Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers. In a very short time Big Ben has accomplished a lot, winning a Super Bowl in his second year in the league. Now he is going back for another shot at a ring. Last March the Steelers although they got maybe the best QB out of that years draft at a great price stepped up and rewarded their prize QB last March with a 8 year 102 million dollar contract with 36 million of it guaranteed.

Finding gems in the draft is only part of the Steelers success. The most impressive stat about the Steelers is their ability to find great coaches.  I am 47 years old and lived in Pittsburgh for 46 of those years. From the time I was a kid I followed the Steelers so from the time I was able to remember Steeler Games the Pittsburgh Steelers had 3 Coaches in 40 years. Think about that for a minute 3 coaches in 40 years.  Chuck Noll for 23 years, Bill Cowher for 15 Years and Mike Tomlin for 2 years and counting.

Winning decisions make winning franchises and clearly selecting a coach is the most important one a franchise can make. The Steelers are head and shoulders about the league in that regard. The interesting twist to this years Super Bowl is the fact that when Bill Cowher retired the Steelers started their search for their new head coach and one of the leading candidates was Ken Wishenhunt.  Ken Wishenhunt was the offensive coordinator under Bill Cowher. When the Steelers went with Tomlin Arizona quickly picked up Wishenhunt who took Russ Grimm along with him. Russ Grimm also interviewed for the Steeler Head Coaching job.

So the Steelers liked Tomlin that much to hire him over Wishenhunt and Grimm who went on to get Arizona to the Super Bowl. Both coaches did fantastic jobs with their teams but I will have to admit Wishenhunt didn't have the talent to start with that Tomlin had so his coaching job might be slightly more impressive. You also have to figure a little added motivation from both Wishenhunt and Grimm as they were passed over by the Rooney's. Either way this is going to be a very entertaining game as we will have the clash of the titans. One of the best defensive teams of all time vs one of the most talented offenses in the league.

I know I can't wait!!