Friday SB XLIII highlights

In reverse order, here are some highlights of Friday's spate of press conferences surrounding Super Bowl XLIII, here in (suddenly chilly) Tampa.

Commissioner Roger Goodell held a press conference before a packed room of media and various NFL luminaries, adressing a variety of topics including the state of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the player's union, the league's current approach to international play, and the possibility of changes to the overtime rules.

Goodell's tack on the CBA issue does not bode particularly well for negotiations, though we have been down this road before. The commissioner characterized the study released yesterday by the NFLPA and conducted by the independent group Chicago Partners, titled "The Economics of NFL Team Ownership," as "fiction." Specifically, Goodell took issue with the study's analysis that NFL teams make an average annual profit of more than $24 million each, though he also didn't volunteer to open up the books to reveal where those inaccuracies might lie. Essentially, Goodell is getting behind the owners who are crying poor, which is what commissioners - who work at the behest of the owners - always do. Stay tuned for a showdown.

The NFL Man of the Year finalists held a press conference, with Vikings center Matt Birk, Eagles safety Brian Dawkins, and Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner - represented by wife Brenda - all facing the media to discuss their thoughts on being named finalists for the award, which honors charitable works within the community. The winner of the award will be named on NBC on Sunday, prior to the start of Super Bowl XLIII.

The day began with press conferences from head coaches Ken Whisenhunt and Mike Tomlin, who - as expected - played it relatively close to the vest. Whisenhunt discussed the fact that the crowd at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday will be decidedly pro-Steelers.

"I don't think that we're under any illusion that there's going to be a number of Steelers fans here. I've seen that. I've experienced it on the other side. I know what kind of group of fans that that is. I know how they travel. We're preparing with that thought in mind. It's not going to be a lot different for us (than) going into Carolina like we did. I don't know if it's going to be that hostile, if there's going to be that many fans, but ... we've been able to do that once in the playoffs. We have gone into a situation where there's been a lot more fans than our fans there, where it was a little bit noisy, but we were able to still keep our focus. That's something that this team hasn't always been able to do. So I feel comfortable in the fact that we're prepared, that we know what it's going to be like. We're ready to handle that."

Tomlin, in a new revelation (at least to me), discussed the one-time possibility that he would leave coaching to attend law school.

"It is true. Like a lot of other young people, I considered things that other people thought were appropriate for me as opposed to what I thought was appropriate for me. I knew right away that coaching was something that I was meant to do – something that I wanted to do. But, I didn’t give some consideration to law school. It didn’t require much bribing from [then-Memphis] coach [Rip] Scherer to pull me in that direction. As a consolation prize, I could tell my parents that I was going to graduate school...It was just on the radar. It was something, again, that I thought I was supposed to do. Maybe the people that were around me and the people that were influential in my life wanted to see me do great things, my mother being central in that. But I think in hindsight, she likes what I’m doing right now.”

Tomlin also talked about the injury status of Ben Roethlisberger (back) and Hines Ward (knee).

"Ben is fine, he is going to play. Hines looked pretty good yesterday. We will see where he is at today and continue to push forward towards Sunday. As for the mentality regarding Hines, it has not changed. He is intent on playing in the football game. I have been here with this guy before under these circumstances through the injury he had to deal with last year in the playoffs. It was questionable whether he could perform in the game. We didn’t win the game, but he went out and played great football. I have a level of expectation for him to deal with this situation. It is not going to be an excuse for us, it is not an excuse for him, and I really expect him to be Hines Ward on Sunday.”