Barack Backs Steelers for Super Bowl Win

Obama says "other than the Bears, the Steelers are probably the team that's closest to my heart"

Photo: LARRY DOWNING/Landov

"I have to say, you know, I wish the Cardinals the best. Kurt Warner is a great story and he’s closer to my age than anybody else on the field, but I am a long-time Steelers fan. Mr. Rooney, the owner, was just an extraordinary supporter during the course of the campaign. Franco Harris was campaigning for me in Pittsburgh. So … So I – you know, I wish the best to the Cardinals. They’ve been long-suffering; it’s a great Cinderella story. But other than the Bears, the Steelers are probably the team that’s closest to my heart."

• President Barack Obama explaining his pick for Super Bowl XLII to reporters in D.C. this week.
– Sandra Sobieraj-Westfall