Don Pierson

Just when you think the football gods are overdoing their perennial punishment of Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, you get a glimpse of Jerome Bettis, who suddenly has become the face of the 2005 Super Bowl tournament.

The jolly running back of the Pittsburgh Steelers always wears a smile, but when he fumbled at the goal line last Sunday, he looked like he had been run over by a bus. What a way to go out — a fumble on the 3,649th and last carry of a memorable career.

Just as suddenly, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger made the play of his young life — a tackle — and Bettis had a new best friend.

“It went from an all-time high to an all-time low back to an all-time high,” Steelers receiver Hines Ward said.

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Bettis won’t need a plane to fly to Denver for the AFC title game this week. And if he gets back to his hometown of Detroit for Super Bowl XL, he will be the Extra Large star of the week.

“We’re not thinking about Detroit. We’re thinking about Denver,” Bettis said.

OK, maybe only his parents are thinking about Detroit. They’re the happy couple the television cameras have caught in the crowd having almost as much fun cheering on their son as Bettis has knocking over tacklers.

He’s 33 years old and a backup now, too old and heavy for the long run, but still owner of two of the quickest feet in football. The wheels of “The Bus” have gone round and round so many times they are getting bald. The Steelers are hoping to get just two more games from him. Then they’ll carry him through the streets of Pittsburgh.

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There aren’t a whole lot of storylines left in this postseason. No Tom Brady, no Bill Belichick, no three-peat, no Peyton Manning, no Tony Dungy, no New York, no Chicago, no California, no Texas, no Florida.

By the time Carolina or Seattle prevails in the NFC and Denver or Pittsburgh emerges from the AFC, the NFL might be searching for fans to watch on TV or travel to Detroit for a finale that could leave people as cold as the weather.

The conference championship games are of interest in four cities all smaller than Milwaukee.

Maybe Shaun Alexander, league’s leading rusher, vs. Steve Smith, league’s leading receiver, can salvage some hype in the NFC. Somehow, it doesn’t yet resonate like an AFC rematch between Brady’s New England Patriots and Manning’s Indianapolis Colts, the “game of the postseason” that never happened.

Maybe a Super Bowl between Denver’s Jake Plummer and Carolina’s Jake Delhomme for Jake of the Year will jack up excitement.

Until then, Bettis is the sentimental favorite, the symbol of the bruising Steelers team trying to turn the tables on the Broncos in Denver. The Steelers lost to the Broncos in Pittsburgh in the 1997 title game — a game only Bettis remembers among his current teammates.

That was Bettis’ most productive season ever: 1,665 yards. He got another 105 in the title game only to fall 24-21 as John Elway outdueled Kordell Stewart on the way to his first Super Bowl title. It was Bettis’ fifth season, only his second in Pittsburgh. There would be other chances.

Yes, there would. In 2001, the Steelers lost to the New England Patriots, also in Pittsburgh. Last season, they lost again to the Patriots in Pittsburgh. This time, they will try a new path. They will get on The Bus and ride to Denver, where it won’t be any easier but couldn’t be any more disappointing.

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“If this is going to be his last year, what better way than to finish his career off where it all started in Detroit?” Ward said. “Last year, we were one game short. This year, we’re back to that and that’s all we ask for is another opportunity. We’re in that position to put him back in the Super Bowl.”

Of the four Super Bowl finalists, the Steelers have the most history and will attract the widest national following. Their fans and their Terrible Towels show up everywhere. Pittsburghers are the only people who might consider a trip to Detroit in February a nice winter vacation.

The Steelers also are the only team left without a single player who has even been to a Super Bowl. Bettis would consider it the best trip home he’s ever had.