BY SCOTT MORGANROTH, of the Detroit Monitor

   TAMPA–If general manager Martin Mayhew and head coach Jim Schwartz need a blueprint how to turn the Detroit Lions around they should have watched the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame announcement last Saturday on the NFL Network. Fifty percent or three of the six newcomers played defense while one player was an offensive lineman.

As the Lions try to decide what to do with the top pick — trading it or selecting Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford or someone else — the message on Saturday is defense leads to championships.

In 1985, the Buffalo Bills selected Bruce Smith as the top selection from Virginia Tech University. Smith recorded 200 sacks and led the Bills to four Super Bowls. He played in 19 seasons and 279 games concluding his career with the Washington Redskins.

The Kansas City Chiefs selected the late Derrick Thomas as the fourth overall pick in the 1989 season out of Alabama and 126.5 sacks later were thrilled with the 11-year career he had before a fatal auto accident ended his life on February 8, 2000. Thomas holds the NFL record for seven sacks in a game.

In 1987, the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Rod Woodson 10th overall and he played 17 seasons and 238 games with four teams. Woodson would play in 11 Pro Bowls, three Super Bowls and won his lone title with the Baltimore Ravens in 2000. He finished his career with 71 interceptions.

Offensive lineman Randall McDaniel was the Minnesota Vikings top pick (19th overall) and played in 12 straight Pro Bowls. If Lions running back Kevin Smith hopes to have any success, he along with a new quarterback will need to bolster the offensive line.

In the past four years, two teams have reached the Super Bowl for the first time and both have faced the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 in Super Bowl XL in Detroit. Last Sunday, Pittsburgh won a thrilling 27-23 contest over the Arizona Cardinals. In 1979, Pittsburgh defeated another first timer, the Los Angeles Rams, 31-19. Like the Cardinals, they too entered the game with a 9-7 regular season record.

If the Lions use their picks wisely, there is no reason why they can’t be the next one taken off the short list of five that haven’t made it to the big show. The other four are the New Orleans Saints, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Super Bowl XLIII was a dandy. The Steelers became the first franchise to claim a sixth Super Bowl title. They had been tied with the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys with five each. Pittsburgh is now 6-1 in Super Bowl action, losing only to the Cowboys in SB 30 in Tempe, Arizona. Of their six championships, this is the third won in Florida with the other pair in Miami. At age 36 and 323 days, Mike Tomlin is the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl. He joins Tony Dungy as the second African-American to win a title and is now the 27th different coach to win a Super Bowl.

James Harrison’s 100-yard interception was the longest play in Super Bowl history. His touchdown gave the Steelers a 17-7 lead at halftime and would turn out to be the difference in the game. The previous long was 99-yards on a kickoff return by Desmond Howard of Green Bay (and U-M) in Super Bowl 31.Did you know teams that have scored on an interception return are now 9-0 in the Super Bowl.

Ben Roethlisberger is now the 10th quarterback to start and win multiple Super Bowls. Roethlisberger more than doubled his yards passing total from his first Super Bowl victory, passing for 256 yards, He had 123 in Pittsburgh’s victory over Seattle.

The Steelers have had only three coaches and all have Super Bowl titles. In addition to Tomlin, Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher guided the Black & Gold to championships. It’s only fitting that the Rooney Rule which was orchestrated by the Steelers owner Dan Rooney and requires teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching positions, have benefited with Tomlin’s success.

The Cardinals (9-7 regular season) failed to duplicate what the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals (83-78) did and pull off a huge upset and win a championship against a heavily favored opponent.

Recall the Detroit Tigers (95-67) would like to forget their World Series loss to the baseball Cards. It’s hard to believe that back in the 1980s both Cardinals teams played in the since-demolished Busch Stadium. Time does fly.

In 1984, the Arizona Wranglers were coached by Hall of Famer George Allen and lost to the Philadelphia Stars 23-3 in the USFL Championship Game at the old Tampa Stadium. This was the only time that an Arizona professional football team played for a title and the quarterback was former Lion Greg Landry. It’s ironic that the Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 32-25 for the right to play in the Super Bowl.

Steelers Hall of Fame defensive tackle “Mean” Joe Greene was an assistant coach for former Cardinals Coach Dave McGinnis (2000-2003). Greene won four championships with the Steelers in the 1970′s.

Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner was only the second signal-caller to start for two teams. The other was Craig Morton who piloted the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos.

The Tampa Bay area hosted its fourth Super Bowl. The first was on Jan 22, 1984, when the LA Raiders waxed the Washington Redskins 38-9. The capacity for Raymond James Stadium is 70,500 and the stadium was built on the site where the Cincinnati Reds used to play at Al Lopez Field during spring training.

The Cardinals were in their first Super Bowl but hosted two including last year’s New York Giants 17-14 win over the New England Patriots.

Miami/ South Florida will be hosting the Super Bowl for the 10th time on Feb 7, 2010. The Pro Bowl will be moved from Aloha Stadium in Hawaii to Dolphin Stadium and played (minus players from the two finals teams) one week before the Super Bowl.

Reach Scott Morganroth at scottbullm33@comcast.net.

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