Dave Zapotosky, Block News Alliance Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren eyes head linesman Mark Hittner as tackle Marcus Tibbs looks on during Super Bowl XL They were awaiting the outcome of a challenge to a ruling on the field. Holmgren ripped the officials yesterday. Click photo for larger image.

DETROIT -- Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt will interview for the Raiders' head coaching job in Oakland today or tomorrow.

Raiders owner Al Davis interviewed several people for the job but wanted to wait until the Steelers' season ended to talk to Whisenhunt, 43.

While Whisenhunt may be the man the Raiders want, they might not get him. The Oakland job is notorious for being a graveyard for many coaches under the impatient Davis.

"Intelligent people keep an open mind," said Eric Metz, Whisenhunt's agent. "Ken's certainly an intelligent guy so I'm sure we're willing to listen to what they have to say."

Davis and other executives with the Raiders wanted to interview Whisenhunt today in Oakland but Whisenhunt also did not want to miss the parade for the new Super Bowl champions today in Downtown.

Whisenhunt, who had coached the Steelers' tight ends since 2001, succeeded Mike Mularkey as coordinator in 2004. In his two years as coordinator, the Steelers' offense, led by young quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, has been extremely effective and the team's record during that time is 26-6 during the regular season and 5-1 in the postseason.

"I'm sure we'll talk in the next couple of days," coach Bill Cowher said of Whisenhunt's situation. "I've never been one to stop anybody from having an opportunity to live out the dream, and if that's the right situation for him, I would talk -- if he wants any advice from me, I'd give it to him."

No-shows

For Joe Montana, it was the money, or lack of it, but for Terry Bradshaw it was a chance to be with his family.

The NFL reportedly turned down Montana's demands of $100,000 to appear with other Super Bowl MVPs who were introduced before Sunday's 40th Super Bowl at Ford Field. Several sources in the NFL confirmed that Montana demanded money to attend.

An exhausted Bradshaw talked to Dan Rooney and explained why he was among only a handful of former Super Bowl MVPs who did not attend. He was a two-time winner.

As a studio host for Fox, Bradshaw spends virtually every weekend away from home, including Christmas this past year. He flew in to Detroit for an appearance Wednesday and then flew back home to his ranch in Oklahoma. There he watched the game with his daughters, his brother and his parents, according to someone close to Bradshaw.

The quarterback also is having health problems. He will have surgery next month to repair damage done to his vertebrae in 1976 when Turkey Joe Jones of the Browns slammed his head into the turf in Cleveland.

Each MVP was offered two tickets to the game, round-trip first class airfare, hotel room, the use of a car during the week and $1,000 for incidental expenses.

Cowher the gambler

Cowher said that had Ben Roethlisberger not scored on third down from the one near the end of the first half, he would have gone for the touchdown on fourth-and-inches Sunday, trailing 3-0, with 1:55 left.

"You know what? Even if we don't get it in [we] get the ball to start the second half. We were going to go for it. It was just a question of what play we were going to call."

Holmgren rips officials

The Seahawks were still stinging yesterday from a few officials' calls that went against them in Super Bowl XL Sunday, such as Darrell Jackson's touchdown catch that was taken away by a penalty.

"We knew it was going to be tough playing against the Steelers," coach Mike Holmgren said. "But I didn't know we were going to have to take on the guys in the striped shirts, too."

Going home

The Steelers flew back home early yesterday afternoon and football was no longer the main sport on Cowher's mind.

"I've got to get the kids back to Fox Chapel at 1 because they've got to play a [basketball] game at North Allegheny tonight," Cowher said during his morning news conference at the Marriott Renaissance here. "I was the head coach yesterday and I'm back to assistant coach for about the next six months.

"My wife will be telling me where to go and what to do and who to take. I'll be heading to North Allegheny tonight. ... I'd like to be able to get back to being a dad. We're going to head back to see my oldest daughter play at Princeton, my wife and I. It's now back to watching the kids. ... I'm going to be there for them just like yesterday they were there for me."

Christopher Columbus analogy

And what about his ongoing Christopher Columbus tale that he first pulled out Dec. 5 and repeatedly used to motivate his players?

"I think it's a great analogy," Cowher said.

Cowher tried to compare the journey Columbus faced to the one his team had to undergo after the Steelers lost their third in a row to go 7-5. In his first telling, he had some facts wrong, as Jerome Bettis pointed out to him.

"I know that he discovered the West Indies, it wasn't America. I said 'periscope' one time instead of saying 'telescope.' They thought it was a submarine the other day."

But while some may laugh at the analogy, Cowher took it seriously.

"The whole thing with Columbus -- and I mean this sincerely -- was the fact when he got on the ship, I wasn't back there then but I can only imagine what was said to this man. He took off sailing and they said, 'Don't go there because it's flat; the world is flat, and you keep going in that water, you're just going to drop off.'

"But he kept going. He kept going not knowing what was ahead of him. Unsure, uncharted waters, but he found land. My point was, we were in uncharted waters."

He told his players how people did not think the Steelers would make the playoffs and then they said no sixth seed won a championship game.

"History was not going to dictate our fate, but our effort can make history," Cowher said. "Maybe it was a little bit of a stretch with Columbus, but they kind of enjoyed that analogy. I had to explain a lot of it. I kind of happened to lose some people."