This is hallowed ground for those involved in Pro Football, where men are forever honored with bronze busts.

A number of Steelers players took it upon themselves to honor one of their own they believe should be given the sport's ultimate tribute. They wore replicas of Dick LeBeau's old No. 44 jersey from his playing days with the Detroit Lions on the bus trip to and from the game yesterday.

They wore them, they said, to bring attention to the fact that they believe strongly that their defensive coordinator belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Among those who wore the jerseys were James Farrior, Casey Hampton, James Harrison, Larry Foote, Troy Polamalu, Aaron Smith, Brett Keisel and others.

LeBeau had 62 interceptions in 14 seasons as a cornerback, seventh-most in NFL history and third most when he retired. He still owns the NFL record for playing in 171 consecutive games at cornerback.

His 48 seasons in the NFL include 34 as a coach -- nine with the Steelers and three as head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals.

LeBeau grew up in London, Ohio, near Columbus.

It's raining here with no end in sight 30 minutes before gametime. There were flashes of lightning and the NFL does not mess with lightning in the preseason.

There have been preseason games stopped for good in the middle and others canceled before they began because of lightning storms. The Steelers were involved in a famous one 31 years ago.

Back in 1976, it was traditional for the defending Super Bowl champs to play the College All-Stars -- a collection of rookies to be -- in the first preseason game. A thunderstorm ended that game abruptly forever in the second half because they never played it again (With that game, the Steelers had seven preseason games in 1976, half of their regular season total of 14). -- Ed Bouchette

Mike Tomlin issued a firm "nooo" when asked Friday if he wanted to wear a suit along the sideline. Only two coaches in the NFL have asked and received permission to wear suits, Dick Nolan of San Francisco and Jack Del Rio of Jacksonville.

But Tomlin's first outfit as a head coach on a field playing host to an NFL game sure looked like a suit. A sharp, light green number. It was 2 1/2 hours before kickoff and Tomlin had not yet shed the traveling suit he wore on the bus for the ride over from the team hotel in Akron.

Like Clark Kent, he went to the dressing room to shed his suit and re-emerged on the field in Steelers rain gear -- black and gold from head to toe, looking much like every other Steelers coach last night. -- Ed Bouchette

According to one of the many gambling websites, the Steelers are 13-1 to win the Super Bowl. The over-under on their victories this season is 8 1/2. That means, a 9-7 record or higher beats it.

That seems like a no-brainer to me. Let's run through the schedule quickly and figure it out.

At Cleveland, win; Buffalo, win; San Francisco, win; at Arizona, win; Seattle, win; bye. at Denver, loss; at Cincinnat, loss; Baltimore, win; Cleveland, win; at NY Jets, win; Miami, win; Cincinnati, win; at New England, loss; Jacksonville, win; at St. Louis, loss; at Baltimore, loss.

That's 11-5. Take the bet. Last year at 8-8 was a fluke, a Super Bowl hangover year and Bill Cowher as a lame duck coach. The improvement in attitude this year is palpable.

-- Ed Bouchette