Steelers begin Super Bowl practice

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Clark Haggans was relaxing at home, enjoying a few days off before returning to practice for the Super Bowl.

Then a commercial touting The Rolling Stones and their upcoming performance in Detroit came on the air.

“They’re talking about the Seahawks versus the Steelers and I’m saying, ‘Hey, I play for that team,’ ” Haggans said Thursday. “It’s a great feeling, it’s kind of surreal. You can sit back and everything’s kind of memorable.”

Yes, everything is a little surreal for the Steelers, who practiced for the first time since beating Denver in the AFC championship game.

Ben Roethlisberger is a big reason why the Steelers won three on the road to make it to the big game Feb. 5. At 23, he will be the second-youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl – 213 days older than Hall of Famer Dan Marino was in 1985. But Marino lost in his only Super Bowl appearance, and has given Roethlisberger some words of advice.

“He said, ‘Listen, enjoy this. You’re young,’ ” Roethlisberger said. “On the one hand, enjoy it and have a good time, but take it serious enough that you want to win it, because you never know if it’s going to happen again.”

Around the locker room, the Steelers gave the Seahawks more respect than the oddsmakers, who have bumped the Steelers up to 4-point favorites from the 3 1/2 -point opening line.

“You cannot compare this team with any other,” defensive lineman Kimo von Oelhoffen said of Seattle. “They will run the ball left or right, you don’t know where it’s coming, and then they’ve got great players. They do something different than everybody else, and they do it very well.”

Revised report: Long killed self

Former Steelers lineman Terry Long committed suicide by drinking antifreeze, a revised death certificate shows, and did not die as a direct result of football-related head injuries.

The Allegheny County coroner ruled in September that Long, 45, who had attempted suicide before, had died of meningitis. The condition was caused by football-related “chronic traumatic encephalopathy,” also known as “punch-drunk syndrome,” said the coroner at the time, Dr. Cyril Wecht.

But a revised death certificate, which Wecht’s office never publicly announced, was filed Oct. 19, listing the manner of Long’s death as suicide from drinking antifreeze. The ruling was changed when outside laboratory tests on Long’s tissue and urine showed they contained ethylene glycol, the active ingredient in antifreeze, county officials said.

Extra points

Gary Kubiak, who spent the past 11 years as Denver’s offensive coordinator, was introduced as the new coach of the Houston Texans. Kubiak reportedly signed a five-year contract worth about $10 million. … Federal authorities announced restrictions on air and river traffic during the Super Bowl. A temporary flight restriction will be in effect within a 30-mile radius of Detroit’s Ford Field on game day, and the U.S. Coast Guard said it will enforce a security zone along the Detroit waterfront of the Detroit River that will be off limits to all vessels from Tuesday until Feb. 6.