Bettis will get to play his first Super Bowl in his hometown, and then is expected to retire, a fitting conclusion to a 13-year career for the man who is fifth on the NFL's career rushing list.
Pittsburgh has the incentive to win one for their full back. Detroit embraced the prodigal son by presenting him with a key to the city and declaring this "Jerome Bettis Week."
"I think it's been my work ethic. I've just been a hard worker, a guy that's always trying to be positive and put a positive swing on things sometimes even in the darkest moments," Bettis says. "My game is a blue-collar game. Three yards and a cloud of dust and get up and do it again. I think people relate to that."
Asked what he thinks of Troy Polamalu's wild, cascading hair, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck took off his baseball cap and swiped a hand over his balding head.
"I'm jealous," he said. "I'm really jealous."
Envy. Admiration. Disdain. Polomalu, the Pittsburgh Steelers safety, has received a lot of Super Bowl notice for his unbridled hair style.
And everyone but Polamalu seems to have an opinion about it.
"He didn't cut it, did he?" said NBA Detroit Pistons center Ben Wallace, who loves to tease his own hair to distinctive heights. "Good. I like that hair. I'm rolling with him."
Players in all sports have forged an identity with their 'dos.
Dennis Rodman took NBA coiffures into uncharted territory by dyeing his hair every imaginable hue -- a fashion statement few would emulate. And running back Ricky Williams forced the NFL to clarify its rule on tackling -- yes, it's OK to pull someone down by their dreadlocks.
Not that anyone would try it with Polamalu, a Pro Bowl defender who does the tackling instead of the other way around. He said no one has yanked on his hair during a game.
"If I have the ball, I'm sure they could and they'd have the right to," he said. "But if I have the ball, that's a good thing."
The American Samoan decided to let it grow about four years ago, and hasn't touched it since. No one else has, either.
His coaches aren't about to tell him to pick up a scissors, either.
"I'm not sure how much that hair weighs," Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said, laughing. "As long as it doesn't slow him down, I don't care. He can grow it another foot if he can get another interception."
Regardless of how the Super Bowl turns out, Polamalu has no barber in his future.
"I don't know when I'll cut it again," he said.
RSS