Seen and Heard at the Super Bowl

QUOTABLE

“That would be like Doug Williams winning the Super Bowl MVP in 1988 in San Diego. It would bring joy to my heart.”

— Williams, the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, on today’s possible election of Warren Moon to the Hall of Fame. Moon would be the first black quarterback in the Hall of Fame.

“I don’t know about it being a home game, [but] we have an unbelievable fan base. You go around the country and you pull into hotels, there’s always black and gold and Steeler fans are hollering. It goes back to the rich tradition this organization has and built back in the ’70s when they won four Super Bowls. What we’re seeing now is the second generation of that fan base.”

— Steelers coach Bill Cowher on his team’s expected edge in the stands tomorrow with Pittsburgh’s relative proximity to Detroit.

BY THE NUMBERS

7-4 Combined record of Pittsburgh and Seattle on Oct.22.

22-4 Combined record of Pittsburgh and Seattle since Oct.22.

— David Elfin

Tagliabue concerned

Paul Tagliabue didn’t paint quite as bleak a picture of the collective bargaining negotiations yesterday as players association executive director Gene Upshaw did on Thursday, but the commissioner was far from upbeat with the CBA set to expire in just 13 months.

“I don’t think the negotiations are going very well,” Tagliabue said in his annual state of the NFL press conference. “There needs to be a positive dose of reality on both sides of the table. To some degree, positions are hardening on both sides when they shouldn’t be.”

Tagliabue also reiterated the league’s commitment to keep the Saints in New Orleans and that the Redskins’ choice to pay the assistant coaches who run their offense and defense more than many head coaches is causing concern about the lack of a financially level playing field.

— David Elfin

MANNING IS THE MAN

Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning was given the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award for his excellence on and off the field.

Manning met the late Bears Hall of Fame running back at a Pro Bowl when he was 4-years-old, and his father, Archie, was a teammate of Payton’s.

“Late in the afternoon, I was to report back at a certain time and I didn’t,” Manning said. “My parents got a little nervous — great, big body of water [the Pacific Ocean], a 4-year-old running around missing. Walter had me out the whole time on a catamaran. I felt safe. My parents felt relieved because they knew Walter was taking great care of me.”

— David Elfin