Thousands of Steelers fans, some holding signs that simply said "Thanks!," crowded Pittsburgh's downtown streets on Tuesday for a parade honoring the team's Super Bowl win.
Coach Bill Cowher and the players, dressed in gray Super Bowl champion sweat shirts, slowly rode along the route. Retiring running back Jerome Bettis, sitting in a convertible with the top down, carried the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
"I was here with you in the '70s and all we kept hearing was how great it was," said Cowher, referring to the team's four Super Bowl wins in that decade. "All I can say to you now -- how great it is. We don't have to hear from anyone else anymore. We are living it, baby."
The Steelers won their fifth Super Bowl title on Sunday, beating the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 at Detroit, in the team's first Super Bowl win since 1980.
Many fans twirled Terrible Towels in the air as they stood in chilly temperatures and snow flurries. Several held signs with a photo of Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr., who died in 1988, and the words "We remember." Others wore black-and-gold hard hats.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger echoed the feelings of many fans.
"This has been a dream come true for all of us," he said.
Team owner Dan Rooney held up a sign saying "Thanks."
Mayor Bob O'Connor rode along too, sporting a white Bettis jersey. Even state Governor Ed Rendell, a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan, came to cheer on the team.
Crowds lined the 1.6km-long parade route, where police officers riding on horseback swirled the Terrible Towel above their heads. Sightseeing boats crowded with fans in Steelers gear ferried people from the city's South Side to downtown for the parade.
Jeff and Stacy Krieger traveled 3 hours from York County to Pittsburgh on Monday to be at the parade with their 9-year-old son, Dylan, and 6-year-old daughter, Makensey.
"It's been 25 years or however long it's been," said Jeff Krieger, a construction foreman. "It might be another 25 years. You never know."
The NFL defended the officiating in the Super Bowl, and Joe Montana defended himself.
Two days after the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 in the NFL title game, the league said the game in Detroit was "properly officiated."
"Including, as in most NFL games, some tight plays that produced disagreement about the calls made by the officials," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.
Meanwhile, three-time Super Bowl MVP Montana denied reports he had asked for US$100,000 to appear with other past MVPs at pre-game ceremonies. He left Detroit on Friday, and returned home to attend his sons' weekend basketball games.
"I had told them both [sons] that I'd be there for their games and that we'd watch the Super Bowl together," Montana said in an interview with ESPN. Later, Montana added, "The Super Bowl is important to a lot of people but, to me, it was more important that I was home with my boys."
Two-time MVP Terry Bradshaw and Miami's Jake Scott were the only other MVPs who didn't attend. Bradshaw reportedly want to be with his family, and Scott was traveling in Australia.
The officiating, though, has been a the major topic of discussion since Sunday's game. Right after the game, Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren suggested that a first-quarter offensive interference call on the Seahawks' Darrell Jackson, negating what would have been the game's first touchdown, probably should have been "a no call."
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