Steelers Chris Hoke (on left) and his teammates celebrate another Super Bowl title.

FORT WORTH – Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Chris Hoke is one of the happiest spirits to ever put on an NFL uniform.

A BYU standout, Hoke wears a perpetual smile, has never complained about his role or playing time, has mentored those who would take his job and has a knack for finding his way into Super Bowls.

This Sunday Hoke will play in his third Super Bowl. Like many of his teammates is 2-for-2 in The Big Game.

He is not going to get any awards, garner much publicity like teammates Troy Polamalu or James Harrison or even start a game…but somehow Hoke has been in the league for nine years.

Hoke says it is simple.

“Hard work, there’s no substitution for hard work,” Hoke said. “A lot of time guys coming up say ‘well I’ve got talent, I’ll be fine.’ I say talent is good but hard work gets you the job. I know I’m not the most talented guy, I know I’m not the most athletic guy. But I go out there and grind it out everyday, preparing my technique, getting myself 100 percent.”

Hoke is from Brigham Young University. So is Eagles head coach Andy Reid. Whenever the Eagles play the Steelers – preseason or regular season – Hoke and Reid can be seen each time after the game chatting at midfield.

Just a BYU thing?
“Yeah, pretty much,” Hoke said. “And he’s a lineman and a BYU alum. He’s a great guy and I just like to go up to him and say high.”
Hoke was asked Reid’s penchant for drafting or signing an offensive lineman from BYU and that there always seems to have been one on his roster since taking the job 12 years ago.
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Hoke said with a laugh. “Nothing wrong with that…why not?”

One last question for Hoke was obvious, at age 34, how many years does he want to play? “Until they send me home,” he said with of course a smile. “I’m having too much fun.”

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Polamalu says he is an unapologetic soccer fan. Brazil and the World Cup are his favorites.

Given his gifts would he make a great goalie? “Would I have been a good goalie?” Polamalu repeated when asked by Footballstories. “If I would have played, I don’t know…but what I would want to play…I definitely would want to be a forward or striker, someone who would put the ball in the net.”

Would he bend it like David Beckham? Polamanu, who says he plays some soccer in the offseason to improve his footwork, laughed, “No, I’m not that accurate.”

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Steelers safety Ryan Clark looked like he was having the most fun of the Media Days. Virtually every answer he gave Thursday started out serious then turned into fun.

When asked about Polamalu and all the attention he gets, Ryan replied, “To continue to have ego, to continue to be humble about the way he goes about his work, he is going to be blessed,” Clark said, then paused before delivering his punch line. “I am just glad he lets me ride on his coattail…or really his hair.”