This Thursday, the Steelers will travel to the White House for their Super Bowl Champion photo op. Getting your picture taken at the White House is a tremendous honor.

But, for all of the pomp and cirumstance, there is a different picture that the Steelers should be intent on taking this off season.

Immediately after Super Bowl XLIII Steelers Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert declared that the Sixth Super Bowl transformed the Steelers legacy.

No longer was it four Super Bowls for the Steelers of the Seventies and one Super Bowl for the Cowher era, but six for the entire organization.

Colbert was right.

The Steelers sixth Lombardi Trophy elevates the Steelers to a unique plane. They were the first to get three, the first to get four, only one of three to get five, and now they’re the only ones with six.

It is fitting then that the franchise honor the three men most responsible for this accomplishment.

Dan Rooney must bring Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin together with the six Lombardi Trophies, and record the moment on film.

Limited Window of Opportunity?

Under normal circumstances, one would reasonably expect that the Steelers would shoot such a photo in the due course of things.

But perhaps circumstances are not completely normal.

Chuck Noll is 76 going on 77 and troubled by back problems. Press reports inform that his health in general is so-so at best. He was unable to attend either Super Bowl XL or XLIII, even though the latter was played close to his winter home in Florida. A Cleveland Plain-Dealer article on him at Christmas reported that he does manage to get to the golf course on good days, but those days come less frequently now.

Bill Cowher is doing well and thriving in his respite from coaching. But there’s the rub. This is only a respite, or so we assume. Cowher’s youngest daughter will graduate and go to college next year, potentially freeing him to return to the sidelines.

While there is nothing to prevent him from taking a snap shot with the Steelers after he is under the employ of another team, but it might be a little awkward.

The frequency with Cowher returns to Pittsburgh to visit his family is unknown, but one would figure that he would make fewer visits if he is coaching elsewhere.

But right now, that’s not an issue.

Noll reportedly still spends a few months in Pittsburgh, and one would figure that would be when he wants to escape the Florida heat.

There’s one man who can bring all three men together with a simple phone call. That man is Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney, and he’s about to ship off to Ireland.

Time for Steelers Nation to Act

Steelers Nation must act.

Perhaps the Steelers are already planning such a photo shoot, but a quick search of Google images yields nothing.

So Steel Curtain Rising calls on Steelers fans across the world to act.

• Email the Steelers – their website gives this address. steelersfeedback@yahoo.com Although it’s only supposed to be to report site issues if fans start inundating them with the same message, it will catch management’s attention
• Email the Steelers Digest. The Digest is the Steelers in-house publication, and is published out of Steeler headquarters. Again, if fans flood the editor’s in box, people will take note. Here is the address: steelers_digest@yahoo.com
• Old Fashioned pen and ink. Ironically, letters can sometimes be an effective way to catch attention here in the digital age. The Steelers address is:

  Pittsburgh Steelers
  UPMC Sports Performance Complex
  3400 South Water Street
  Pittsburgh, PA 15203

Harness the Power of the Internet — Let People Know

Finally, we also call on fellow members of the Steelers fan website/blogging community to help us get the word out by posting similar messages on their websites, blogs, and message boards.