UNLIKELY BLACK-AND-GOLD REIGN.

Byline: BILLY WITZ NFL

DETROIT - There it sat, familiar on the banks of a murky river, another northern industrial town that had been dressed all week in black and gold. And when the Pittsburgh Steelers walked into Ford Field late Sunday afternoon, they were greeted by a sea of yellow Terrible Towels.

If nobody else would take to the comforts of Detroit, for the Steelers, it turned out to be home sweet home - away from home.

Pittsburgh, riding the big plays of receiver Hines Ward, a defense that gave up plenty of yards but few points, and a considerable home-crowd advantage, celebrated its first championship in 26 years with a 21-10 victory over Seattle in Super Bowl XL.

It was the fifth Super Bowl victory for the Steelers, tying the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers for the most in the NFL, but it was clearly their most unlikely.

The Steelers needed to win their final four regular-season games just to qualify for the playoffs as the sixth and final seed in the AFC. Then they went on the road and beat the top three teams in the conference - Indianapolis, Denver and Cincinnati - something that had never been done.

``Any time you go in as the sixth seed, people aren't expecting too much of you, anyway,'' Steelers safety Chris Hope said. ``They figured you fought through, used all your energy to get to the playoffs, then you'll lose in the first round.

``But our whole season was based on whenever we get on the right page - offense, defense and special teams - we're going to be a hard team to beat.''

That proved the case when they made two huge plays in the second half 7/8 a 75-yard touchdown run by Willie Parker, the longest in Super Bowl history, and a 43-yard touchdown pass from one receiver and former college quarterback to another: Antwaan Randle El throwing to Ward, the Super Bowl MVP.

That touchdown, midway through the final quarter, all but sealed thevictory and a happy homecoming for tailback Jerome Bettis, the Detroit native, who announced his retirement after the game.

The genesis of the Steelers' long and twisted journey began in the waning seconds of last year's AFC championship game, when the Steelers were beaten by New England, a team they had whipped in the regular season.

With rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on the sidelines, his head on the shoulder of Bettis, he urged the 33-year-old to come back for one more season, promising he would get the Steelers to the Super Bowl.

Bettis, the punishing running back nicknamed The Bus, took his time weighing whether to return. But the lure of the Super Bowl in his hometown was too much to resist for the 13-year veteran who had never reached the title game.

The season-long theme for the Steelers was get The Bus home.

``This is what you play the game for - this opportunity,'' said Bettis, in a locker room filled with the stench of cigar smoke. ``You bust your butt all season, all year long and to be able to do it at home is a dream come true.''

It was a dream Bettis thought was vanishing, first when the Steelers - beset by an injury to Roethlisberger - were sitting at 7-5 in late November.

Then again, when Bettis fumbled late in the playoff game against Indianapolis, it looked for a moment as if he'd end his career like Bill Buckner rather than a homecoming king.

``I don't think the script right now, if somebody took it to Hollywood, they will turn it down because (they) will say it couldn't happen.''

He relished the opportunity to use the Super Bowl as a platform for boosting his beleaguered hometown, which is the nation's poorest large city.

For Cowher, there was redemption in victory.

A Pittsburgh native, his square chin and fiery demeanor have been the face of a franchise that prides itself on embodying the city's workingclass roots.

It's a face that's also shown its share of anguish over the years. Four times, Cowher's teams have lost in the AFC Championship Game. And his lone Super Bowl appearance, a loss 10 years ago to Dallas, ended with his 10-year-old daughter Meaghan consoling him with a hug as he left the field.

On Sunday, Meaghan - now a sophomore at Princeton - was all smiles as she, her two sisters, Lauren and Lindsay, and her mother Kaye, embraced Cowher as confetti as the last seconds ticked off the clock.

In the post-game ceremony, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue handed the glimmering, silver Lombardi Trophy to Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who thanked the towel-waving crowd who stood and chanted ``Here We Go Steelers.''

Rooney quickly handed the trophy off to Cowher and, is his preference, stepped to the background.

The Steelers are one of the last remaining family-run teams in the NFL, having been founded in 1933 by his late father, Art.

In the salary-cap era, where high turnover of rosters and coaches are the norm, the Steelers have shown uncommon patience. Since 1969, they have employed just two coaches - Cowher, who in his 14th year is the NFL's longest tenured coach, and Chuck Noll, who won four Super Bowls.

The trophy was the Rooneys' reward.

``They've been class individuals,'' Bettis said of Dan Rooney and his son, Art II, the team's president. ``One thing they've done is they've been big on character. Not necessarily wins and losses. In this day and age of professional sports, when you have owners who believe in people and not stats and numbers, it goes a long way.''

On Sunday, all the way home.

CAPTION(S):

9 photos, 4 boxes

Photo:

(1) Ben Roethlisberger kept a promise to Jerome Bettis - that Bettis would reach the Super Bowl - after last year's loss in the AFC title game.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

(2) Seattle's Darrell Jackson made four first-quarter receptions - with two more called back.

Harry How/Getty Images

(3) Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger scores from the 1-yard line - a play that was upheld by review.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

(4) The Steelers' Jerome Bettis rolls over Seattle's Michael Boulware for a short gain on the ground.

Elsa/Getty Images

(5) Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is sacked, thwarting another late drive.

Jeff Haynes/Getty Images

(6 -- 9) no caption (scoreboard)

Box:

(1) FIRST QUARTER

(2) SECOND QUARTER

(3) THIRD QUARTER

(4) FOURTH QUARTER