Bill Cowher Los Quotations

We have a lot of players back; we lost a couple of key players and we'll have to fill those voids. But when you realize what you accomplished and you're part of history and you have an opportunity to do it back to back, it would be an unbelievable feat.

We've got some work ahead of us, there's no question. You just don't pick up where you left off. It doesn't work that way. We're going to lose some guys in free agency, probably. We'll try our best to keep as many of them around as we can.

I'm very much concerned with the loss of leadership. Not just what they brought on the field, but off it in their own ways. We have other guys who know they have to step up and sustain that high level of play.

The circumstances are such that we don't have a choice. We were put in that situation by losing three games in a row. We know the path that is ahead of us. It's a tough journey, but the guys are looking forward to it.

We didn't lose after the bye last year. But that's all right. I get enough losses around here, so I just try to make sure I get credit for some of the wins.

This will be a good barometer for us because this is by far the best team we've played and maybe will play. They are a football team that is not used to losing at all. For them to come off a tough loss against Carolina has really probably compounded the challenge that we have.

We've got a big test ahead of us with this team, ... They lost and they're going to come in with a big chip on their shoulder. It's going to be a big challenge for us.

There's a fine line between going in there and being emotional and allowing it to have an adverse effect, which I think happened to us last week. We settled down more in the second half of that game, but we lost our composure at times. I don't want us to lose our emotion, but we can't lose our composure. There's a fine line and at times we kind of crossed that, but we have to play with that same emotion, that same level of desperation or else we are not going to move on.

He's very important, not just to our defense but to our football team. He's certainly a very explosive player defensively. He can cover. He can rush. He plays the run. He's a complete outside linebacker. He's been very productive on a consistent basis.

By no means is this a team to be written off. If you back a competitor into a corner, they are going to come out fighting. ... It is going to be a close football game. It always is.

We've got a very close team. Jerome has been an inspiration to us all year.

We know in this business it's hard to bring everybody back. They (potential lost free agents, including Randle El) will be hard people to replace but that happens every year.

They're just as hungry as we are. It's a golden opportunity for us, but don't underestimate the challenge that's in front of us. ... You realize how hard it is to get there, but don't lose sight that the goal is to win a championship. Nobody remembers that you lost a Super Bowl. They remember who won a Super Bowl.

These kids are still maturing as people. I've watched players we've had mature tremendously in a short time, and then sometimes it takes players three or four years. These are still young men. You can't ever lose sight of that.

No one has handled it more inspirationally than Tony and his wife. That's the unfortunate part of our profession, that we live in a fishbowl and we have to experience that with the rest of America. Sometimes those are things you'd just like to share with those you are very close to, but Tony has found out that he's very close to a lot of us.

No one feels worse about losing a game like that than the players and coaches in that locker room. They throw everything into it. No one felt worse than Tommy. I mean, this is a quality individual. We all understand the criticisms that come with this game and we understand that, but when you start taking it outside the field, to the house, to the kids, to me, you've crossed the line.

We were put in that situation when we lost those three games. We have to come back and win at home against Detroit and go on the road wherever we need to go.

Good teams win close games. Good teams have quality depth, and when players are asked to step in, there's not a drop-off, ... It's not the circumstance that affects you. It's how you deal with it. I truly believe that.

But when you lose a Super Bowl, it's twice as bad. It's like the further you go, the harder you fall.

Hockey is losing a great man. Any time a guy like that walks off the ice, you say, 'Thank you for the memories.

History was not going to dictate our fate, but our effort can make history. Maybe it was a little bit of a stretch with Columbus, but they kind of enjoyed that analogy. I had to explain a lot of it. I kind of happened to lose some people.

You can only talk to so many guys. Athletic ability is certainly a part of it, but it's not everything. These kids are still maturing as people. You can never lose sight of that.

I would like to have it closed with the air conditioner on. Somehow, I don't think they will do that.

They'll never remember the teams that lost the Super Bowl. But they'll remember who won it.

There are no prerequisites in this forum. All the votes are tabulated and shredded, and I disclose the results. This is not a democracy.

You work hard to get here. Now is not the time to lose it. We will keep talking about it and I think the way we prepare has always been reflected in how we play. I want them to be loose, I want them to be confident, but our preparation is going to have to be very good.

We've been close many times. So certainly I think you cherish the opportunity that you have coming here, and you try to relay that to the players.

We need to go and win one more game. No one ever remembers who lost the Super Bowl.

We've gone through the disappointment, we've gone through the expectations. We've gone through the three-game losing streak in the middle of the season. We've done some things no one has ever done, so I think there is proper perspective.

If you go in as late as we're going in, I don't think it will have as big effect. When we had to go in two days before, as we did in Albuquerque, we lost the game -- the fumble, if you remember the fumble drive.

Good football teams have quality depth. When players are asked to step up, there's not a drop off. Ideally, you go through the whole season and don't lose anybody. But those are rare occasions.

With the bye week, we probably lost a little bit of that momentum. We were in one of those zones -- 'Just tell us where we're going next. Just send us off to another team.' I think these guys thrive on this. With all due respect to Heinz Field, we just kept going off. They said, 'You're the home team for the Super Bowl.' No, we're not.

I don't remember losing too many games coming off the bye. Of course, we've lost that next game a few times.

As we get closer to this, a lot of those things will be cut down. At the same time, why not go out and enjoy a basketball or hockey game?

I'm just glad we're getting closer to playing. It feels like I've had four or five press conferences a day answering the same questions.

Grant's been with us, and we like Grant. He knows the system. He knows the guys. I think right now I don't want to bring too many foreign people into our team. It's a very close football team, and I want to keep it that way.

I think we lost a little from the week off. We had won seven straight and those three road playoff wins had given us momentum. I think we lost a little of our sharpness.