GROVE CITY — It was early 1980 and Job Kolb picked up a newspaper in Los Angeles.

The headline brought a smile to his face.

"Nineteen out of 20 psychics pick the Rams to win the Super Bowl," the headline announced.

Kolb folded the newspaper and set about the business at hand: winning a fourth Super Bowl as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Kolb, who now resides in Grove City, played offensive guard and tackle during the glory years of the Steelers franchise. He came in when things were low in 1969 and played when things were better than great, winning four world titles.

He left his playing days behind in 1981, but always remembers that headline in that newspaper.

"I was glad to read that," Kolb said. "I guess only one of the psychics was right."

Kolb also remembers watching Harvey Martin, a member of the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970s, on "The Tonight Show" the night before Super Bowl XIII.

"He said he was going to win the Super Bowl MVP again," Kolb said of Martin, who shared the honor with Randy White after the Cowboys dismantled the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII.

"My wife was watching it and said, 'Are you listening to this?' I said, "Yeah, I'm listening.'"

Kolb said the players of today are under just as much scrutiny from the media and other sources.

But he claims that the Steelers of today are the true America's Team.

"Dallas wanted to be America's team," Kolb said. "But I think the real America's Team now is the Pittsburgh Steelers. You go anywhere, no matter where you go, and you'll find Steelers fans."

And that same belief bothers him as the Steelers prepare to play the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL Feb. 5.

Kolb is concerned because all the talk is about the Steelers, and the Seahawks are like a beast hiding in the weeds.

"No one has given them any respect," he said.

Kolb knows first hand about that. No one gave the Steelers much respect until the Super Bowl championship began rolling in like the cold chill of early winter weather in Pittsburgh.

It's hard, though, for Kolb not to have a special fondness for this group of Steelers.

"I guess I'm more pulling for them because of the way they got there," Kolb said. "They were struggling when Ben (Roethlisberger) was hurt. They had an uphill battle to get there."

But the Steelers got there in typical Steelers fashion: a hard-nosed, grind-it-out approach that makes Kolb smile.

During Kolb's era, the Steelers pounded the running game with Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier to set up the deep passing game behind Terry Bradshaw's strong arm and the fleet feet and soft hands of Lynn Swann and John Stallworth.

"You can beat anybody with that mind-set," Kolb said. "Of course, Roethlisberger shows great leadership for a young guy, and I like the way their guards pull and block. They are much bigger than they were. I don't think two Rocky Bleiers are as big as one No. 35 (fullback Dan Kreider)."

As far as predictions for the outcome of Super Bowl XL, Kolb laughs.

He'd rather leave that up to the talking heads in television — and the psychics.

"If we could pick it," he said, "we wouldn't have to play it."