By JIM LITKE

AP Sports Columnist

TAMPA (AP) — All is right with the NFL.

A Pittsburgh franchise still owned and operated by the sons of a man who used his winnings at the racetrack to buy into the fledgling league 76 years ago became the first to win its sixth Super Bowl and somehow, it seemed just right.

In the world of pro football, the Rooneys are old money and as close to royalty as it gets.

But a Steelers team whose calling card has always been smashmouth defense won this one on offense instead, with a 78-yard drive in the final two minutes chock-full of plays that could have been drawn up in the dirt of a sandlot.

It proved that some old dogs are capable of learning new tricks.

“I just said to the guys, ’It’s now or never. You’ll be remembered forever if you do this,”’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said just before marching Pittsburgh to a 27-23 win Sunday night over Arizona. “’All the film study, all the hard work, all the stuff that people talked bad about us, it will be for nothing.

“We have to go out,” he added, “and do this.”’

The Cardinals have old-school ownership and a long tradition, too, except theirs is mostly about losing. They were 61 years removed from their last championship game and before this season, their best-known player might have been Rod Tidwell, the fictional wide receiver portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the movie “Jerry Maguire.”

But they landed a real-life version in the draft five years ago, a fearless pass-catcher named Larry Fitzgerald. And with rejuvenated 37-year quarterback Kurt Warner calling the shots, they went on a smash-and-grab spree through the postseason and turned all those predictions of a runaway into one of the tightest and most dramatic Super Bowls ever.

“We made the plays to put ourselves ahead and they turned around and came back and did the same to win the game,” Warner said. “That is what a championship game should be about. That is what championship teams are all about.

“I tip my hat to them,” he added, “for playing the way they did.”

Warner was far from the only one. As commissioner Roger Goodell headed out into a cool Tampa night after the trophy presentation, he paused to field a question about why Steelers chairman Dan Rooney was so widely admired around the NFL.

“His passion,” Goodell said. “He always does what he thinks is right — for the league, for the Steelers, for the community. He always makes time to help out, no matter the issue, or who does the asking. I’ve learned a lot from the man.”

The rest of the NFL would do well to pay close attention, too.

Since inheriting the reins from his father, Art Sr., Rooney has always done things the right way, whether it’s eschewing quick fixes, turning over the roster for the sake of looking busy, or going down to the locker room and shaking his players hands after every game, win or lose.

That’s why his club has avoided the boom-and-bust cycles that characterized the fortunes of the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, the two teams that were tied with his Steelers at the top of the league’s championship heap.

Rooney has hired just three coaches in the last four decades — Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and now Mike Tomlin — and been patient enough to let each grow into the job. When he took a chance two years ago by hiring the little-known, then-34-year-old Tomlin, whose previous NFL experience was as a defensive coordinator in Minnesota, some people wondered whether Rooney was putting principle ahead of common sense.

Besides a winning tradition, the other accomplishment he’s most closely identified with is the so-called “Rooney Rule,” a league policy that mandates at least one minority candidate be interviewed for every vacant head coaching position.

By becoming the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl, and just the second African-American — following his mentor, former Indianapolis Colts boss Tony Dungy — Tomlin proved Rooney wasn’t just principled, but plenty smart to boot.

Instead of being intimidated by the expectations that went with his new job, Tomlin embraced them. That explained, in part, why he was in a hurry to wrap his hands around the Lombardi Trophy even as it was being passed around during the celebrations breaking out on every side.

“I actually never even touched it. I see five of them every day when I go to work,” Tomlin said in that cool, no-nonsense way that his players have learned to respect.

“I know what they look like,” he added. “I’m just glad I can do my part in terms of contributing to that trophy case.”

The one in Arizona, on the other hand, still has plenty of room.

The Cardinals’ chance to change that was doomed just about the time Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes made that tippy-toe grab between three defenders in the right corner of the end zone. But they did themselves few favors by collecting 11 penalties for 106 yards, including three needless personals on one Pittsburgh drive midway through the third quarter.

“I don’t need the NFL to go into my pocket about the officiating,” Fitzgerald said afterward, when asked about some of those calls. “I’m not going to go into that.”

Neither Tomlin nor Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt would touch the subject, either, though both had good reason. Besides some questionable calls detracting from the game, there was a replay controversy or two.

But by the end, no one doubted the better team had won, or that the best franchise in the sport was prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to add another Lombardi Trophy to its record haul.

“We’ll do what we have to do,” Dan Rooney said. “We’ll make room.”

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Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitkeap.org