A Win in Our Book

First thing is first.  Tuff had his exit meeting today and was told they are not making any decisions yet as to sign him back or not.   Most teams are doing the same as they are not sure what will happen March third, when the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expires.  There is still no way of knowing if a lockout is going to happen or not.  So in the meantime we will wait it out in Pittsburgh and Tuff will continue to rehab his shoulder. 

Well we made it back to Pittsburgh safely from the whole Super Bowl experience and what a time it was!
It started in Pittsburgh Friday with a pep rally at Heinz Field. 

Tuff left with the team on Monday and got the full experience.  The next five pictures are from the Steelers website from the week prior to the big game.

Signing footballs.

Tuff at his locker with Daniel and Tyler.

Tuff at his locker getting the little camera ready.

Team picture...look for #31.

Daniel and Tuff watching practice.

Tuff brought our little camera to take some photos.  Below he is dressed in his Super Bowl uniform, standing in front of the white screen they used for individual photos.

He gathered some teammates for a photo.

Troy and Tuff pose for a picture after the team photo.

Check out all the ice in the parking lot.

Tuesday was media day and Tuff became somewhat of a celebrity.  Check out minute 3:41 and on for a Tuff Harris special:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHWLnVFiroM

Also from media day:  After clicking the link below, scroll down and click play to listen to the interview.
http://werlv.com/Super-Bowl-XLV-interview--Steelers--Tuff-Harris-loves-his-former-coach-Bobby-Hau/9047734?pid=36286
 
Friday I arrived on a family charter flight.  It was a pretty cool experience not having to go through the airport.  Below is a picture from the bus taking us from the airport to the hotel.

All the family (Tuff's mom and dad/uncle and my mom and dad) made it to town by Friday evening and we enjoyed some real Texas roadhouse food.

Saturday morning all the families and friends were bussed to Texas Christian University, where the Steelers practiced.

After practice we took some photos with some Steelers.

We could not help but try on these Texas sized hats at the merchandise sale at the hotel.

Later Saturday afternoon we visited the Fort Worth Stock Yards.

Tuff made me ride a mechanical bull.

The result.

We had some fun shopping, including the cowboy hat in the picture below for Tuff.  I am not sure, is he wrestling a steer?

Texas longhorn ring...loved it.

The man in the photo below trained a dog, cat, and mouse to do this.  Amazing.

The big attraction at the Stock Yards is the twice daily cattle drive.  Thousands of people lined the streets for the main event.  Little did we know there were only about 15 head of cattle involved.  Still pretty fun.

Sunday morning we were treated to a big brunch then headed to the game about 3.5 hours prior to kickoff.  From the Omni Hotel, 38 buses left.

Made it to the stadium!

Mud was everywhere from the snow melting.  Yuck.

Everything was going so great until we hit the entrance.  Thousands of people were waiting and confused as to where to go.

We got in just over two hours later.  Melody and I sat together.  My mom and dad sat together and Tuff's dad and uncle sat together.  Kind of weird that our tickets were not together.  This happened to a lot of
Tuff's teammates too.  At least we got two tickets together so we could sit by someone we knew.

Tuff watching warm ups.

Our view of the big screen.

I found my dad and mom WAAAAAAAAAY across the stadium.  Can you see them?

National Anthem.

Coin toss.

Half time aid from the crowd.  Under every seat were glow sticks for some of the special effects in the half time show.

It was a fantastic live performance.

Just before the second half Tuff and Tyler walked around the stadium looking for family to waive at.

Most of you know, the game ended in a loss for the Steelers but there still was an after party with excellent food and entertainment.  Sean Kingston was part of the entertainment and Slash made it to the party.  Actually my dad mistook Slash for Troy from behind because of the hair!

First thing Monday morning the charter flight left for Pittsburgh.  This time I got to fly with Tuff.

Downtown Fort Worth in the distance.

All in all it was both wonderful and exhausting.