The Steelers will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Super Bowl XL later this year when the team hosts the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 2, but on Saturday the team opened a year-long exhibit to honor that piece of history at the Hall of Honor Museum at Acrisure Stadium.
The exhibit, which opens to the public on Sunday, August 17 and runs through next summer, will take fans on the magical ride that was the 2005 season. It was a year filled with challenges, ones that the Steelers overcame to ultimately defeat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL at Ford Field.
Steelers President Art Rooney II and former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger were on hand for the opening of the exhibit prior to the Steelers game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"As we get ready to start the journey of the 2025 season, we look back 20 years to a very special journey of the 2005 season," said Rooney. "It really was an unusual season in a lot of different ways. We came close to getting eliminated from the playoffs and had to go on an amazing run there in the last month of the season. We were able to get in as a sixth seed.
"And then there were not too many seasons where one of the most famous plays of the season is your quarterback making a tackle. But it was a great game in Indianapolis, a playoff game that we won, and obviously we went on and it was a special day in Detroit."
The tackle Rooney was referring to happened in the AFC Divisional Playoff Game against the Indianapolis Colts. With 1:20 to play in the game, running back Jerome Bettis was called upon to do what he does best … close out the game from the two-yard line.
Instead, he did what he never does and fumbled near the goal line. Bettis was hit by linebacker Gary Brackett, forcing a fumble and cornerback Nick Harper recovered in stride, and looked like he was headed to the opposite end zone.
It would be Roethlisberger, the unlikeliest of heroes, who made what would become known as 'The Tackle.' Roethlisberger got Harper with the shoestring tackle at the Colts 42-yard line and the Steelers went on to the AFC Championship game.
The play saved the game for the Steelers, and also helped Roethlisberger fulfill a promise he made to Bettis the year before. When the 2004 season ended with a loss in the AFC Championship game, Bettis considered retirement. Roethlisberger told him if he came back for one more year he would get him to the Super Bowl in his hometown of Detroit.
" Yeah, 20 years makes you feel really old, especially when as I'm walking in someone reminds me they were in high school when (Super Bowl XL) happened," said Roethlisberger. "But it's an honor to be here to remember an amazing season, team and obviously also the game.
"As I'm older now, I think back to what a silly, young, dumb thing it was to promise Jerome Bettis if he came back for one more year, we would win the Super Bowl. But looking back now, it's a great story.
"So many great memories from that season, like Mr. Rooney said. Getting in as a sixth seed and not expecting a sixth seed to ever go all the way because it never happened. And being able to get there and then, as Mr. Rooney said, as a quarterback, you don't usually want to be remembered for making a tackle. Luckily, it wasn't on an interception, so I can tease Jerome about that all the time.
"But being able go back to Detroit to get him a Super Bowl was really special."
A photo and descriptive timeline at the exhibit walks fans through the journey, beginning at the end of the 2004 season when the team lost in the AFC Championship game. It touches on a Monday Night Football win over the Los Angeles Chargers, to Troy Polamalu stepping up big with two takeaways, including a 77-yard touchdown, in a win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 9.
One game that will always be in the mind of Steelers fans is the Week 14 game against the Chicago Bears. With a 7-5 record, and a win a necessity, Jerome Bettis had 16 carries for 100 yards in the second half, including running through Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher for a touchdown in the 21-9 win.
The literal road to Super Bowl XL, which included three road games, paves the way for the story of the win over the Seahawks in a game that gave the Steelers their fifth Super Bowl title, their first since the 1970s.
"There was such a long drought between Super Bowls for this city," said Roethlisberger. "And obviously, I was young, only my second year here. So there were a lot of veteran guys that had been trying so long to break through and get that.
"So, to be able to do that really meant a lot for this City, for this organization, for the Rooney family. That's kind of what made it extra special. Obviously, Jerome and Detroit made it even more, but that's what made it extra special was that I think the drought between the last one and this one."
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