The Man of Steel

Nobody owns a town the way Ben Roethlisberger, the rookie quarterback for the Steelers, owns Pittsburgh, Pa. Not Bill Ford in Detroit. Not Steve Wynn in Las Vegas. Not even Broadway Joe Namath in New York City during his glory years. So when Roethlisberger, who shattered an NFL record by winning the first 13 starts of his career, looks to unwind, he can command a choice table at any upscale joint along Pittsburgh's revitalized Strip. But most Monday nights he and a few friends hold court at Jack's, a dive on the city's South Side, where a bottle of Iron City costs two bucks. Jack's is the kind of place where former steelworkers drink and tip as if they were still making $20 an hour. "Roethlisberger's entourage is not a bunch of hot chicks," says Jack's co-manager Scott McGrath. "It's usually about four guys, big guys. Bodyguard-type guys."

The flourishing mills and the four Super Bowl titles of the 1970s are distant memories in western Pennsylvania. But an energetic blue-collar ethos still engulfs the Steelers. At 6 ft. 5 in. and 241 lbs., the quarterback, 22, is built like a linebacker, or millworker, and fits in with the patrons at Jack's. Veteran running back Jerome Bettis took a $3.5 million pay cut so he could finish his career in Pittsburgh. And at a time when teams are bought and sold like ingots and coaches are fired at the drop of a pass, Steelers chairman Dan Rooney--whose father Art founded the team in 1933 and whose son Art II is team president--gave Steelers coach Bill Cowher a contract extension after last season's 6-10 performance. Cowher, 47, is in his 13th year with the Steelers, who have made the playoffs in nine of those years. Over the past 36 years, the team has had just two coaches, Cowher and Chuck Noll. During that time, the Indianapolis, né Baltimore, Colts have gone through 15.

That stability is paying off. Despite injuries to several top players, Pittsburgh, at 14-1, entered the last weekend of the regular season with the best record in the NFL. Assured of home-field advantage throughout the AFC play-offs, the Steelers have their best shot at a Super Bowl title since the Steel Curtain era of the '70s. "This team has grown up this season, meeting every challenge every single week," says former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski, now an ESPN analyst. "Pittsburgh is the best team in football, without a doubt."

In this season of mediocrity, the Steelers are certainly the best story of town and team. The defending champion, the New England Patriots--a class act that's still the team to beat--is a regional entity that plays midway between Boston and nowhere. The Colts own the game's most heralded star, quarterback Peyton Manning--but also have owners whose local loyalty is suspect. The surprising Chargers, featuring the game's most unheralded star, running back LaDainian Tomlinson, are fair-weather favorites, though that's never a bad bet in San Diego. And the Philadelphia Eagles, with their own legions of long-suffering devotees, seem capable of winning their first championship since 1960.