Bus My Life in and Out of a Helmet

First Quarter January 15, 2006 AFC Divisional Playoff Pittsburgh Steelers v. Indianapolis Colts RCA Dome Indianapolis, Ind. Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt sat nervously in the visiting team coaches booth of the RCA Dome. A once earsplitting sellout crowd of 57,449 was now strangely subdued, as if their mouths had been ducttaped shut. Only eighty seconds stood between the Steelers and a second consecutive trip to the AFC Championship game. Pittsburgh led, 2118, and had the ball on the Colts'2yard line. The reality of the situation had become depressingly clear to the hometown fans. Not only did the Steelers have four downs to cover just 2 yards for the gameclinching score, but the mass transit system known as Jerome"The Bus"Bettis was jogging toward the Pittsburgh huddle. It was over. The Colts, favored by as many as ten points by the Las Vegas wise guys, were going to lose. It would take the Colts the football equivalent of Pittsburgh's fabled 1972 Immaculate Reception, to save them. Whisenhunt discussed the Steelers'options with head coach Bill Cowher. There were two choices: Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger could take three snaps and then take a knee three consecutive times, forcing the Colts to use each of their remaining timeouts. Then the Steelers could kick a chip-shot field goal on fourth down, meaning Colts quarterback Peyton Manning would have about a minute, maybe less, to attempt a touchdown drive with no timeouts remaining against the AFC's No. 1 defense. Or they could do what they had done for years: Give the ball to Bettis. Whisenhunt knew if the Steelers scored to move ahead by ten the Colts couldn't possibly recover. Whisenhunt recommended the Steelers board the Bus. "You give the ball to Jerome because Jerome doesn't fumble,"he told Cowher and the other offensive assistants."We're OK because Jerome doesn't fumble." Cowher agreed. Whisenhunt called for a goalline formation. The play was a nobrainer: Counter 38 Power. Bettis could run it with his eyes squeezed shut. Nobody in Steelers history has run that play better than Bettis. Of his 10,000plus yards gained in a Pittsburgh uniform, it would be fair to say that at least a third of those yards had come on Counter 38 Power. The Steelers offense took the field. The safest rushing play in the team's Old Testamentthick playbook had been called. In a nearby broadcast booth, the team of WBGG-AM radio play-by-play announcer Bill Hillgrove, who had spent twelve years as"The Voice of the Steelers,"and analyst Tunch Ilkin, a former Pittsburgh AllPro offensive tackle, told their listeners on the fortysevenstation, threestatewide Steelers network that the game was done. The last eighty seconds? A formality, nothing more. As the Steelers broke the huddle, Hillgrove described the action. Hillgrove: Now the ball's at the 2yard line. It's gone over on downs to Pittsburgh. They have a first and goal and they've got Jerome Bettis in that lineup. Ilkin: For all you fantasy football players out there that have Jerome you've got to be very excited right now. Hillgrove: Wouldn't it be nice for him to get his second touchdown of the game? Here's the give to Jerome. He has it andWojciechowski, Gene is the author of 'Bus My Life in and Out of a Helmet', published 2007 under ISBN 9780385520614 and ISBN 0385520611.