Jerome Bettis likely knows what Peyton Manning is thinking: 'You don’t want it to be about you'

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Peyton Manning surely has a kindred spirit as he heads into what might be the final game of his prolific career in Sunday night's Super Bowl 50.

Jerome Bettis has been there and done that.

A decade ago, Bettis, a.k.a. “The Bus,” played the final game of his Hall of Fame career in Super Bowl XL, which happened to be in his hometown of Detroit.

“I can relate to Peyton,” Bettis told USA TODAY Sports. “I know what he’s thinking.”

Manning, 39, has acknowledged that, after another injury-challenged season, this could be it. Although he has not closed the possibility of a return by not declaring that he’s made up his mind about retiring, Manning was captured by NFL Films after the AFC title game telling New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick that this could he “last rodeo.”

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If it is indeed Manning's last game, it would be so fitting for the Denver Broncos quarterback to ride off into the sunset with a Super Bowl victory — just as Bettis, Ray Lewis, Michael Strahan and Manning’s boss, John Elway, capped their remarkable careers.

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Elway, the Broncos’ chief architect who lured Manning to Denver with a “win now” mandate, finished his career in 1998 by winning MVP honors in Super Bowl XXXIII as the team successfully defended its 1997 title.

“The main thing is, you don’t want to lose the game,” said Bettis, an ESPN analyst who has been making the rounds during Super Bowl week as a promotional pitchman for Gillette.

“But the other thing is that you don’t want it to be about you. In my case, the key was that I never talked to my teammates about it. My thing to them was, ‘Just do your part. If everybody does their part, we’ll be fine. Don’t do anything extra for me.’ “

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Bettis, the best big running back of his era, came off the bench for the Pittsburgh Steelers as a role player in his final season. As much as he may have not wanted it to be about him, the focus on his final game was unavoidable.

When the Steelers arrived in Detroit, teammates got off the plane wearing Notre Dame replica jerseys bearing his old No. 6. Then Bettis received a key to the city from then-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

“It still feels like yesterday,” Bettis recalls.

Manning addressed his teammates Saturday night. That’s reminiscent of how Bettis saved a message for his teammates to deliver on the eve of the game.

“I let all of that emotion come out on Saturday night,” he reflected.

It turned out as a storybook ending for Bettis, who originally planned to retire after the previous season and told top Steelers executives — Dan and Art Rooney — as much. Teammates, including Hines Ward and Ben Roethlisberger, urged Bettis to return for a final season and chance to win the only Super Bowl of his career.

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It sure worked out.

“For me, the Super Bowl win was more important than getting in the Hall of Fame,” said Bettis, who was enshrined at Canton last year.

“That was my dream for my whole career. Every year, you busted your butt for a championship. The Hall of Fame is a byproduct of that.”

We’ll see if Manning can have a storybook finish, too.

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Follow NFL columnist Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell

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