Monday's Super Bowl photos

The pilot waves a team flag out his window as the Cardinals exit a Northwest Airlines jet at Tampa International Airport on Monday afternoon.   [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR.   |   Times]

Cardinals owner Bill Bidwell (left) and his son, team President Michael Bidwell step off the plane at Tampa International airport on Monday afternoon.   [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR.   |   Times]

Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald walks down to the tarmac at Tampa International Airport on Monday afternoon. [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR.   |   Times]

Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner wears a smile and a nice gray suit on his arrival at Tampa International Airport on Monday afternoon. [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR.   |   Times]

Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt squints against the sunlight shortly after stepping off the plane at Tampa International Airport on Monday afternoon. [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR.   |   Times]

Cardinals players and staff step off a Northwest Airlines jet at Tampa International Airport on Monday afternoon. [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR.   |   Times]

Arizona kicker Neil Rackers shops for souvenirs for his kids in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay after the Cardinals arrived Monday afternoon. [BRIAN CASSELLA   |   Times]

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is surrounded by fans as he signs autographs following an afternoon press conference at the InterContinental Hotel in Tampa. [BRENDAN FITTERER   |   Times]

Steelers fans get pumped up for a videographer outside the InterContinental Hotel in Tampa Monday, where a press conference was taking place. [BRENDAN FITTERER | Times]

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin at a Monday afternoon press conference in Tampa. [BRENDAN FITTERER   |   Times]

Tampa International Airport employees MIlt Taylor (left) and Tony Ponicall high five, obviously happy at the chance to see the Pittsburgh Steelers exit their charter jet at Tampa International. Taylor wore a hat from the team's last Super Bowl win and Ponicall sported a Troy Polamalu jersey and Steelers baseball cap.  [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR.   |   Times]

Pittsburgh Steelers players leave the team's charter jet at Tampa International Airport on Monday morning.   [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR.   |   Times]

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is first off the plane, at Tampa International airport on Monday morning.   [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR.   |   Times]

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback  Ben Roethlisberger and other players tape with their video cameras as they leave the charter jet.  [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR.   |   Times]

Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney after arriving in Tampa International airport Monday morning. [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR.   |   Times]

Steelers safety Troy Polamalu (43), hair looking tamer than usual, walks to the buses after arriving at Tampa International airport on Monday morning. [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR.   |   Times]

There is little doubt about which team (left to right) Corey, Bryan, Cyle and Maura Russell are waiting to see. They stood outside the InterContinental Hotel in Tampa with gear at the ready for autographs. The Tampa family is originally from Pittsburgh. [BRENDAN FITTERER   |   Times]

Comments

[Mike Creyton]

"Originally from Pittsburgh." Meaning they now live here. These people are so embarassing to our community. "Woo Hoo, I live in Tampa by choice. I no longer wanted to live in Pittsburgh (Fill in the blank Northeast city) but now I act like Pittsburgh is so amazing. I don't want to be a part of the community I choose to live in. I want to be a part of the community I chose to leave." Can we please ship people like this out of here. The rest of us are proud to live here and don't live in the past of where we are "from." Some of us actually live in the present and not the past. Go Bucs! Be proud Tampa! Stop living in the freaking past. No one cares where you are from.

[Rob Gordon]

Shouldn't those 2 TIA employees be fired for embarassing our town like that? This is Tampa, Bucs country. To be openly supporting a Pittsburgh team in our town is disrepectful. Especially working at the airport. That is the first thing people see when they land here. What type of image does that give visitors of our town? We are a fractured community that does not know the meaning of civic pride and how to support our home team? Pathetic.

[Frank Artz]

This is a fantastic opportunity for Tampa. One of the quarterbacks will win their second Super Bowl. Kurt Warner is being mentioned for the Hall of Fame, and if Big Ben wins number 2 before the age of 30, we could be witnessing the next Joe Montana. As for everyone showing their support of other teams, Tampa is the "host" city, and when "guests" arrive, it is actually very respectful to welcome them. So if TIA is decked out in Pitt gear, and if the Arizona charter has a Cardinals flag flying out the window, I think it's "fan"tastic. As a native of Tampa and an original fan of the Bucs, I remember what a unique feeling it was to have our team in the big game. Let the fans of Arizona and Pittsburgh enjoy that feeling as well.

[Tim]

Mike Creyton.....well said...i feel the same way and couldn't have said it better myself.

[Justin]

For those of you who commented earlier, you just don't get it. I recently relocated to Tampa from Minneapolis, but I was born and raised in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has unbelievable pride in its football team, which can not be described and unless you have lived there, you would not understand. There is no fair weather fans in Pittsburgh, WE bleed black n' gold! Get used to seeing US everywhere this week. GO STEELERS!!!

[Stubby]

Mike you got it right Bro. I love the NFL Moved from Green Bay 10 years ago. The Pack is still in my heart but I love the Bucs. I don't live in the past. Justin we get it. You don't move back to that dirty industrial town you are from

[Mike Creyton]

Yeah Justin. We get it. They are such great sports fans in Pittsburgh. That explains why it is impossible to get Pirates tickets. I mean the place is overflowing every game. Oh and the Penguins, man when they win, the place is packed. When they are losing....the team considers moving to Kansas City. Get out of here with that crap. The Steelers are Pittsburgh's team, not yours and they certainly have nothing to do with the Tampa Bay area. Does Ben Rothlisberger donate his time and money in Tampa, like D. Brooks and many of his Buc's teammates do? No he doesn't. I am sure he does a lot for Pittsburgh though. Support the home team or get the Hell out of here.

[Petro]

Hey guys! I live in Tampa for the weather - this place is filled with douchebags.. If I could move Pittsburgh down here I would do it in a heartbeat especially so I didn't have to deal with you pantywaist crybabies who are bitter because the Bucs bring a horrible team to the table year after year! Enjoy Sunday night when Black and Gold fill up the whole town - maybe swallow some pride and join them - you'll see what it's like to root for a REAL team!!!

[david]

People need to quite griping...Florida is a transplant state and that will never change. People grow up, establish themselves financially then spend their late years in Florida on their fixed income for the most part. Without these transplants moving here, Florida would be in even worse financial shape...You want to see how a southern state looks like without transplants helping shape the community, check out Alabama.

[Justin]

Mike, If you moved away from Tampa for whatever reason, would you continue being a fan of the Bucs? I would hope so.

[Mike Creyton]

Hey David. I moved here when I was 23. Are those my later years? People don't move to Tampa to retire. They move to rural parts of Florida. Everyone I know that moved here moved here in their 20's and 30's...by choice. I moved here with my company, which pays me very nicely by the way. I am far from living on a fixed income.

And Justin, to answer your question, if I moved somewhere by choice on a permanent basis...then yes. A temporary move...no. But, people don't move from Tampa they move to Tampa. I would never leave. That is the difference. I left the city I was born in to move here, because I wanted to. When I moved here, I embraced the community and became a part of it. That includes dropping my old sports allegiances and adopting the home teams as my own.

People with the attitude like Petro has are the only problem I have with living here. He moves here, claims its only because of the weather and that Pittsburgh is superior. Hence the reason he wants to move it down here. He considers the people that are here "douchebags". Every single person that moves here with that attitude needs to be forcibly removed from this town. They are like a negative cancer that eats away at this town's soul. If Pittsburgh is so amazing as he claims, would something as small as weather make you move??? So he is either a liar or a complete idiot that makes horrible life decisions. Lets get together as a town and make these people happy by moving them back to their eutopias up north. How long do you think it would take for them to come crawling back begging to be let back in?

[Mike Creyton]

Hey Petro. Did you say the Bucs bring a horrible team to the table every year? Really? They have won the same amount of Super Bowls as the Steelers since the freakin 70's.....a grand total of 1. The Bucs had one of the best defenses in NFL history over an entire decade. And that was this most recent decade, not 30 years ago.

Ignorant.

[BA]

Mike,
You aren't even from here...? Come on don't try to hype up Tampa like you were born and raised. And no one cares how much money you make, it only further devalues any comment you make. I am transplant from the north, just like 90% of everyone else in Tampa(including You,
Broseph). Let me guess you own a brand new USF BULLS jersey, too, don't you...weak. Tampa is amazing and I am a huge supporter of the area. But, comparing Pittsburgh Steelers Fans to Tampa Bay Buccaneers should be on the next SNL weekend update's skit called, "REALLY?" I had season tickets to the Bucs and still go to games every year. People DRESS UP to Bucs games, what? They spend more time in the A/C area of the club section or in the Pirate ship section than actually watching the game. Bucs games are fun, they are events...the Steelers games mean something to every fan all over the country. Go to any non-Steeler game across the league and I can guarantee you Steelers fans. Oh, and you're a douche, Mike. Diggity Douche.

[Mike Creyton]

BA. I am a USF alum. I have many jerseys and even have a green jacket...you know the one's you get by being a donor to the athletic program. I am a donor and a season ticket holder. I have been since the year I graduated.

And yes, the Steelers have bandwagon fans all over this country. Everyone knows that. That is why they are hated like the Yankees, Lakers, Red Sox, Cowboys, etc fans all across the nation. BANDWAGON!

[jeffegator]

Mike, you are just bitter and unhappy. I love the Bay Area, and I chose to move here after college. But I also choose to embrace my hometown team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. What is it to you? What do you care who I like? You should focus your efforts on rooting for your city or team rather than putting down another. Sounds like jealousy to me.

I think Pittsburgh is wonderful and I think the Tampa Bay Area is wonderful, and when I go up north I let everyone know how Great Tampa is. You just have to aware, as you have proven, that wherever you go there are bitter, close minded people like you trying to bring people down.

Go Steelers.

[Santo Panarello]

that dude mike creyton is jealous because the buccaneers are soft so he has to go at other teams like the steelers my home town team. i dont care were i live ill always be known as a steelers fan