Bettis Confirms Retirement From NFL | CBC Sports

"The Bus" is finally in the garage for good and the last ride was special for everyone involved with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After 13 NFL seasons, running back Jerome (The Bus) Bettis announced his retirement following Pittsburgh's 21-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL at Ford Field on Sunday.

Bettis, 33, not only secured his first championship but retires the fifth-leading rusher in NFL history.

"It has been an incredible ride," Bettis said. "I decided to come back and win a championship.

"Mission accomplished. With that, I have to bid a farewell."

Even had Pittsburgh lost, Bettis would have retired.

"It has been a situation where my body has been breaking down," Bettis said. "The last thing I wanted to do going into a game like this and going into a season was going to tell my teammates this was going to be the last game.

"I never wanted to put that kind of pressure on my teammates for them to even think that."

Bettis is a Detroit native who played linebacker and running back at Mackenzie High School, which retired his No. 36 prior to the Super Bowl.

"I don't think you could have scripted it any better," he said. "I think the script right now, if somebody sent it to Hollywood, they would turn it down because they would say it couldn't happen.

"It's been an incredible ride. The football gods have really shined the light on me."

Bettis rushed for 13,662 yards and 91 touchdowns on 3,479 carries in 192 games, including 153 starts, for the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams and Steelers.

He also caught 200 passes for 1,449 yards and three TDs.

But nothing mattered more to the six-time Pro Bowler and 1993 co-rookie of the year than winning the Super Bowl.

"It is the reason why I started 13 years ago on this quest - to win a championship," said Bettis, who carried 14 times for 43 yards on Sunday.

"I amassed a lot of yards, a lot of Pro Bowls. But none of that was significant because it wasn't the team goal."

"That is the greatest feeling in the world," he continued. "To actually have an opportunity to hold that Lombardi Trophy, and not hold it because somebody gave it to you.

"You hold that trophy because you earned it and you won it. That is the most amazing feeling in the world."

Bettis was drafted 10th overall out of Notre Dame in 1993 and spent three seasons with the Rams, who traded him to Pittsburgh with a third-round draft pick for a second-round selection and fourth-rounder on April 20, 1996.

with files from Sports Network