Steelers Icon Jerome Bettis Speaks on Bill Cowher's Hall of Fame Surprise and Future Team Inductees

Super Bowl week means more to legends of the game like Jerome Bettis than just another opportunity to watch a new champion be crowned.

It's also the time when imminent enshrinees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are officially named, and there are plenty of familiar black-and-gold faces involved in that particular process this time around.

Bettis spoke with us on behalf of Hertz's Extra Mile Campaign about this new chapter to the Pittsburgh Steelers' legacy, as well as what it meant to see his old coach, Bill Cowher, get so emotional on national television when David Baker surprised him with his very own honor.

"I was so happy to see that happen, because Coach Cowher really was central to me getting in the Hall of Fame," Bettis told 12up. "He believed in me, and gave me opportunities that, quite frankly, some of the other coaches on the team didn't see. He believed in me, and pushed me, pushed me, pushed me to the point where I had the career that I had in Pittsburgh."

"For him to go into the Hall of Fame means a lot more people saw what he was truly capable of than didn't," Bettis continued.

Cowher's waterworks were certainly a new wrinkle in the proceedings -- Bettis told us he'd never seen him get that emotional before -- but The Bus certainly understood why we were treated to such a cathartic display.

"You know what? That was a big moment," Bettis said. "You gotta remember, Coach Cowher was a player, and now a coach. He's seen his teammates go into the Hall of Fame, his peers as coaches...he was very emotional. We saw it, and it was real."

But Coach Cowher might not be the end all, be all for Steeler Nation in this particular set of honorees. Troy Polamalu is a finalist in his first year of eligibility, and monstrous blocker Alan Faneca is up for the honor for the fifth time.

"It'd be great for Troy. Alan Faneca, he's up as well. Both deserving," Bettis confirmed. "And if that happens, Coach Cowher would have drafted both of those guys. That's special."

As for who else in Steeler Nation deserves more support from the voters? "[Hines Ward] has been up for the Hall a few years, and he was one of the best receivers I ever played with. He definitely deserves that nod, and Faneca for sure. A couple of the guys I played with who you say, 'What's going on there?'"

This Super Bowl week is sure to be packed with plenty of emotions for Bettis, seeing iconic Steelers be honored before the big game. Of course, that's always the case for The Bus, though, who chose this special moment to leave the game behind in 2005, retiring after defeating the Seahawks for his first ring.

"It was the crowning achievement in my career, and it was the right time to say goodbye," Bettis confirmed, 15 years later. "It can't happen any better than it did."

Of course, we could've had another fond Super Bowl farewell last season after Tom Brady acquired his sixth ring. But Bettis doesn't think that would've felt right. "I think he's not done. I think he wants to play next year, I think he will play next year, and I think he will play for the Patriots next year," Bettis told us. "They'll be just as competitive next year. They'll be one of the best teams in the NFL, and it's going to be because of Tom Brady."

All told, Bettis is reaping the rewards of a long, healthy career in Black and Gold, and is making sure he passes on that goodwill, even in retirement.

"I'm so happy to be working with Hertz on this Extra Mile campaign," Bettis told us, a 20-year rewards member himself. "The goal is to celebrate and reward these customers and create experiences for them. If you're in Miami, there's an opportunity for 100 winners to take this decked-out bus to the game, and one lucky winner gets a helicopter tour of Miami, a chauffeur-driven ride to the game, and just a first-class experience."

First-class, all the way.