Cover-2

Troy Polamalu is one of 10 current Steelers who were on both the 2005 and 2008 Pittsburgh clubs that won Super Bowl rings. A total of 25 current Steelers have played in a Super Bowl, including 14 of the 22 starters.

No current Green Bay Packer has a single ring, and only Charles Woodson and Ryan Pickett have even played in a Super Bowl.

But Polamalu doesn't believe any of that will help the Steelers win next Sunday.

"Given the way the Giants beat the Patriots, or the Saints beat the Colts, or the way the Buffalo Bills lost four straight, you can't put too much into that," Polamalu told Don Banks of SI.com. "I'll tell you what is a big advantage. It has nothing to do with playing in Super Bowls, but it has everything to do with playing in big games, whether it's rivalry games or whatever."

Both teams played their arch-rival three times this season, with the Steelers beating Baltimore twice and the Packers beating the Bears twice.

NFL executives had to be high-fiving each other last week after Antonio Cromartie of the New York Jets blasted the players' union, suggesting players may not be as united in their cause as the union suggests.

"You've got our head union reps acting like an [expletive], and they got their guys acting like them [expletive]," Cromartie said.

Seattle quarterback, and presumed union supporter, Matt Hasselbeck suggested in a tweet that Cromartie didn't know what a CBA (collective bargaining agreement) is.

"Don't erase it," Cromartie said in a responding tweet. "I will smash ur face in."

Just wait until after the CBA expires March 3. The clock is ticking, and both sides are digging in for a battle that seems to have no chance of ending well. No negotiations are going on and none are scheduled.

Early last week, Green Bay linebacker Nick Barnett and tight end Jermichael Finley complained on Twitter that they weren't going to be in the Packers' team photo, scheduled to be taken in Dallas at the Super Bowl site.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and cornerback Charles Woodson brought the issue to the attention of coach Mike McCarthy, and the team decided to schedule the photo for Friday in Green Bay instead.

Now it turns out that some of the injured players chose not to rehab in Green Bay and won't make the picture anyway.

"I'll say this, I was on IR back in 2006 and I chose to stick around and finish out the season with my guys and be here every game. Some of those guys didn't," Rodgers said. "Some of the guys who were injured, they still are part of this team, but they didn't choose to stick around."

Pro Bowl players are virtually unanimous in their desire to keep the game in Hawaii, where is was relocated following a year in Miami in 2010.

But only the next two games are scheduled for Honolulu, and the all-star game may move elsewhere because of economic pressures on the island state.

Hawaii is paying $4 million per game to hold the Pro Bowl this year and in 2012, when Indianapolis will host the Super Bowl. But Hawaii is reeling from an $844 million projected deficit over the next 21/2 years.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie, in his first State of the State address on Monday, suggested diverting some of the $44 million the Hawaii Tourism Authority spends on marketing to infrastructure needs.

The governor also wants to decide the fate of aging, 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium, which hosts the Pro Bowl. He said that other than maintenance related to health and safety, "I will divert all other capital improvement dollars for Aloha Stadium to other projects."

It's unclear what this will mean for the future of the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, but there is obviously much to discuss in future negotiations between the NFL and the Hawaii Tourism Authority.