DENVER -- Kimo von Oelhoffen arose to speak.

Each talked from his heart, his soul.

Each bared his emotions and stirred those in teammates and coaches.

Von Oelhoffen talked of opportunity, of careers full of chances squandered and crucible games lost. Bettis talked of a hometown homecoming in Detroit for Super Bowl XL, of a love of the game, of camaraderie. The former's speech grabbed the Steelers about the gut and ears, as Bettis later teased with a smile, "Kimo's speech was a little profanity laden." The latter's misted eyes.

On Saturday night in a ballroom of the Westin Hotel in the Westminster suburb, this AFC championship game was 16 hours away, yet two of their own sufficiently stoked the Steelers for the roiling victory that followed.

They laughed. They cried. The feel-good speeches of the year. And the witnesses were talking about the poignant, effective experience long after yesterday's 34-17 triumph against the second-seeded Broncos in Invesco Field.

"I mean, it was a heartfelt speech," linebacker Larry Foote said of Bettis' talk in particular. "I had to lower my head, he had us about to cry. Everybody almost cried. He said we had the closest team, take him home. His and Kimo's speeches -- very motivating. Definitely moving."

"He and Kimo had me choked up a little bit," guard Alan Faneca added. "It means so much to both guys, who've been around the league so long."

There has been, well, a Busload of chatter about helping push Bettis, a Hall of Fame lock and fifth all-time leading rusher, to a retirement party in Ford Field on Feb. 5. It began last season. Hines Ward became the poster boy for the passion so visceral to teammates, crying in a news conference the day after losing to New England last January in the AFC Championship Game at Heinz Field. Mind you, he promises not to shed tears this team, regardless of the outcome.

Yet the end justifies the means to these Machiavellian Steelers. After 12 seasons and 183 games, too many spent with the Bungles of Cincinnati and nine of them without any trace of playoffs, the hulking defensive end who is a mostly quiet leader for these Steelers at long last gets to savor a Super Bowl. After 13 seasons and too many excruciating Monday mornings, the burly halfback who is an outgoing leader and everyday example may well bring down the curtain in the Detroit of his roots, in front of family and friends.

To think about the recent weeks each man endured.

Von Oelhoffen was the brunt of criticism, and the epicenter of SportsCenters, with his roll into the knees of Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer in the AFC Wild Card round. It affected his play the rest of that game, he later admitted.

Bettis was the focus of the last 80 seconds of that wild Indianapolis finish, his rare fumble at the doorstep to a victory-sealing touchdown causing a pronounced change in both momentum, emotion and, quite possibly, outcome. It was too much for even his mother, Gladys Bettis, who hid in an RCA Dome ladies room and prayed.