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Bettis admits his arrogance nearly cost Steelers
He was referring to his demeanor as he stepped onto the field with the Steelers at the Colts 2 and holding a 21-18 lead in the closing seconds. Bettis fumbled, and, if not for a touchdown-saving tackle by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and an eventual missed field goal by the Colts' Mike Vanderjagt, the Steelers might never have made it to Super Bowl XL.
"My career could have ended on a play that I went out on the field arrogant. I did some things I never should do," Bettis said. "I learned a valuable lesson in that. If you go out there with a sense of arrogance and you haven't accomplished anything, you set yourself up for failure."
Bettis was reminded of the near-calamity last week when U.S. snowboardcross participant, Lindsey Jacobellis hot-dogged on a final jump that caused her to fall and cost her a gold medal last week at the Torin Olympics. Bettis spoke yesterday via teleconference from Torin.
"Looking at that and looking at her miscue, it brought back some painful memories for me," Bettis said.
