Bill Cowher Hard Quotations

If you look at our ownership, Mr. Rooney is a football guy and he understands how hard it is to do this. Nothing would be more satisfying to me than to hand him the Vince Lombardi trophy in two weeks.

Jerome is a great guy. The way he played, the way he was off the field, he brings so much professionalism to our team. I can't be happier for him. He's what's right about the National Football League. He's a very inspiring individual. He knows how to deal with people. He makes you want to work as hard as you can to succeed. If it was his last game, what a great way to go out.

I didn't get out of coaching to get back into it. This is my next challenge and I'm planning to work hard at it.

I was happy for him. That was his first live contact since last year's championship game. He's been running well in practice the last couple of weeks. He has been a trooper. He has sat there and been patient. Duce ran really hard against a good football team.

It's hard enough defending this quarterback (Tom Brady) on a long field, ... When you have to defend him on a short field, it makes it even more difficult.

Ben has been working hard in practice to develop some timing and continuity with the receivers. That will be the biggest difference against Indianapolis this time.

I don't know when it's going to hit me, but a lot of hard work went into it by these coaches and these players. Eight weeks ago, I don't think anybody would have thought we'd be here today.

These guys relish that position. I can't say enough about this football team. We traveled a hard road.

We had a special group, but it's hard to bring everybody back. That happens every year. You hope to keep a good nucleus, draft well and maybe pick up some free agents. It's going to be a challenge, but I like where we're starting and the players we're starting with.

They're going to be there, it's just a little bit hard logistically.

You work hard to travel this path, but if you're not able to finish the deal you'll be forgotten. You have a chance to put your name up there with some of the great teams. That's the opportunity that you're selling to your players.

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 worked hard with our look teams about when they break the huddle, getting the ball snapped within eight to 10 seconds. These guys come up to the line of scrimmage and they're gone. It's different. We've worked on it all week. The guys are getting a sense of what the tempo is like.

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.

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

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.

We kind of traveled the hard road, but in the course of it, we probably grew as a team. It was tough to do what we had to do, but this is a very resilient, a very grounded group of guys.

I think their defensive line played a lot harder than our offensive line did. I don't think (Ben) had a whole lot of time in that game, and at times when he did, he wasn't able to connect.

There's no question that he's the best there is when he's healthy. He was an integral part of our defensive success before the injury, and we expect him to be part of the future as well. He has worked very hard to come back, so we're not worried about him at all.

We have traveled a hard road, and grew as a football team, and individually. This is a very grounded and resilient group of guys. We've never taken anything for granted and looked beyond the next game. We have kind of had tunnel vision throughout the process.