Sentimental Journey

Anybody remember the 1993 NBA All-Star Game? Of course you don't.

The game was played in Salt Lake City, where the Jazz had opened the sparkling new Delta Center just eighteen months prior. Utah's John Stockton had 15 assists - not exactly an historic performance, given that All-Stars are allergic to defense, but a nice showing nonetheless - and Jazz teammate Karl Malone scored 28 points to lead the West to a 135-132 win over the East. As a result, Stockton and Malone became the first teammates ever named co-MVP's of an NBA All-Star Game.

I bring this up in anticipation of this weekend's Super Bowl, where the Steelers' Jerome Bettis will play perhaps his final NFL game in front of his hometown fans in Detroit. On Monday's "Sports Talk Live," I opined that Bettis is the prohibitive favorite to win this year's Super Bowl MVP award. All he has to do, in my view, is score maybe one key touchdown and run for anything approaching 100 yards. Do that, and it's a no-brainer.

Does anyone even remember that Bettis played three seasons for the Rams? He was their leading rusher as a rookie in 1993. In Los Angeles. From those humble beginnings with the Rams - a 16-32 record in his first three seasons - Bettis has become the NFL's fifth-best rusher in history.

Bettis was dealt from the Rams to the Steelers in 1996, as LA sent Bettis with a third-round draft pick to Pittsburgh in exchange for a '96 second rounder and a '97 fourth rounder. If my research is correct, the Rams used those two draft picks on quarterback Tony Banks ('96) and tackle Ryan Tucker ('97). Tucker spent five years with the Rams before moving to the Cleveland Browns, where he remains the starting right tackle. Banks has spent the last four seasons as a backup for the Houston Texans.

How does THAT trade look right now?

Over the course of a decade, Bettis has become the heart and soul of the Steelers, one of football's most storied franchises. This Sunday, he plays (potentially) the final game of a Hall of Fame career. In his hometown. At the Super Bowl.

You watch. If Bettis shows up even a little bit, the nine million credentialed media members at Ford Field will be tripping over themselves in their haste to hand him the MVP. Not that it's a bad thing, mind you. Just eminently predictable.

Does Pittsburgh have to win to guarantee Bettis the award? Probably. Only once in the 39-year history of the Super Bowl has an MVP come from the losing team. That would be Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley, who was MVP of Super Bowl V in January of 1971, when he earned the award despite Dallas's 16-13 loss to Baltimore at the Orange Bowl.

Interesting parallels between Howley and Bettis, by the way. Howley played only three more seasons after his MVP performance, finishing his 15-year NFL career in 1973. He spent all but two of those seasons in Dallas, and was a six-time Pro Bowler as a member of the Cowboys.

If the Bus is indeed parked as of Sunday night, he'll complete his 13th NFL season, spending all but three of those seasons in Pittsburgh. Like Howley, Bettis has been named to exactly six Pro Bowls.

I'm telling you - if Pittsburgh wins, all Bettis has to do is show up in the boxscore. If the Bus rumbles over Seattle, the Steelers may not even need to win to get him the MVP. Again, I'm not complaining. Just predicting.