In life, there are little moments that stick with you forever and still can recall the emotions you felt when they first happen, rather clearly.
For former Pittsburgh Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton, one such memory came due to the late Dan Rooney.
Following the Super Bowl XL win over the Seattle Seahawks at Ford Field in Detroit, Rooney asked Hampton to lead the Steelers off the plane upon landing in Pittsburgh, carrying the Lombardi Trophy.
In an appearance on Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward’s podcast “Not Just Football with Cam Heyward” Hampton recalled that moment.
“That was a great honor, man. Like, I’m just sitting on the back of the plane, we landed the plane and I’m just chilling. And they come back, and they said, ‘Mr. Rooney wanna talk to you.’ And then Mr. Rooney, I go up there and he was like, ‘Casey, I want you to lead the team off the plane with a trophy,'” Hampton said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “Dude. That floored me, dude. I couldn’t…I was like, ‘No, Mr. Rooney. Dude, not me? Hamp?’ I ain’t gonna lie, I don’t know if I broke down.
“I don’t know if I broke down and shed tears, but I was real emotional about that, dude. That was like one of the biggest deals for me playing. Mr. Rooney was my guy, man. Yeah. That was my guy.”
While that 2005 team had plenty of storylines entering the Super Bowl and one big one coming out of it with the retirement of future Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis with The Bus’ last stop being in Detroit, it was quite touching that Rooney decided to have Hampton, one of the more under-appreciated players in the NFL at the time, lead the Steelers off the plane with the trophy to celebrate the franchise’s fifth Super Bowl title.
On a defense full of great players and some big names, Hampton had the honor bestowed upon him to lead the team off the plane. It was rather fitting he was chosen, too, as the Steelers’ defensive line helped put the clamps on Seattle running back Shaun Alexander in Super Bowl XL, as well as holding the NFL’s No. 1 offense in Seattle to just 10 points.
Hampton led the charge with four tackles and a key sack, helping eventually set up cornerback Ike Taylor’s interception of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.
For Rooney to recognize Hampton’s role in that was very classy, which is not a surprise whatsoever. That’s who he was, and that moment to give Hampton that recognition was very touching and has created a lasting impact on Hampton forever.
Check out the latest episode of Heyward’s podcast below with Hampton and former Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel below.
