Adam Cardinal Maida of Detroit: Super Steeler Fan

From SI.com:

Steelers fans longing for their prayers to be answered this Sunday have an ally with some experience -- Cardinal Adam Maida, the archbishop of Detroit.

Maida, who spent the first 54 years of his life in and around Pittsburgh and is a Steelers season ticket holder, made no secret of his loyalties Monday as the Steelers arrived in Detroit.

"Am I a fan? Yes," Maida said at a news conference, where he was surrounded by Steelers memorabilia, including a "terrible towel" and a signed helmet given to him by former coach Chuck Noll. "I went to all the Steelers games I could, and I always arranged my schedule even as a priest so that I could go to those Sunday games."

The team's late owner, Art Rooney, attended mass almost daily at the church where Maida was in residence in the 1960s, the archbishop said. On Saturday nights, Rooney would drop off hundreds of tickets to be distributed among the priests and nuns to help fill what was often an empty stadium.

The Steelers weren't at their best in those days, said Maida, 75. "It reminds me of what the Lions are going through now."

Wanting to support Rooney, Maida bought three season tickets, which he still holds to this day. His nephews currently make the most use of them.

Maida has been to three Super Bowls in which Pittsburgh played. The Steelers' 1979 victory over Dallas in Miami was the most exciting, he said.

Maida was coy about where he would be watching Sunday's game, saying only that he was reviewing his options.

Among the historic Steelers moments that Maida has witnessed is 1972's "Immaculate Reception," when Franco Harris caught a deflected pass and scored a touchdown to lift the Steelers to a victory over the Oakland Raiders in a playoff game.

Many fans had already left the stadium by the time the famous play was made. "I wouldn't leave," Maida recalled. "My brother says, `It's time to go, let's beat the traffic.' I said, `It's not over till it's over."'

He added: "There must have been some divine intervention."

The Steelers aren't the only team with a Detroit connection in the church hierarchy. Seattle Archbishop Alexander Brunett is the only Detroit native ever named archbishop, according to the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Maida said he hoped Brunett would be coming for the game. He added that the two friends were still negotiating a wager.