President Obama Welcomes the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers to the White House

ABC News' Nitya Venkataraman and Sunlen Miller report: President Obama welcomed the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers to the White House Thursday, celebrating the team's thrilling, fourth quarter victory over the Arizona Cardinals in February.

Speaking from a stage on the South Portico, the president acknowledged his allegiance to the Chicago Bears but said it was "no secret that I was pulling for the Steelers during the Super Bowl last year, and that's part of the reason why this is so much fun for me."

"I can't remember a more exciting Super Bowl," Obama said.

It was the team's sixth Super Bowl title, the second in four seasons, a championship seized in the final 35 seconds of the game with a touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes resulting in a 27-23 victory.

Of the game-winning play, Obama said, "I pointed out that that was a heck of a pass that Ben threw. But then one of linemen pointed out that was some blocking on that play. So that just reminds you, that's what Steeler football is all about, it's a team effort."

Obama continued "This is a team that entered the season facing the most difficult schedule in the league. But guys like these thrive on that."

Standing alongside Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin and team captains Ben Roethlisberger, James Farrior, Jeff Reed, and Hines Ward, Obama also paid homage to the heroes of Steelers' past, citing "guys like Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris and the Steel Curtain and Mean Joe Greene" as part of his early interest in the game. (Greene was also among those in attendance at today's White House event.)

Obama called the Super Bowl champions "a new team for a new era" a quality he said was "embodied by Coach Tomlin."

No stranger to the Steelers' First Family, the president lauded the Rooneys as "an extraordinary pillar" for the city and Steelers owner Dan Rooney as "a tremendous ambassador for pro football and for the city of Pittsburgh."

The septuagenarian has been a tremendous ambassador for Obama as well: Rooney endorsed Obama ahead of the Pennsylvania primary in April 2008 and remained an avid supporter throughout the election season; Rooney was nominated as US Ambassador to Ireland on St. Patrick's Day.

Obama rewarded political loyalties with sports allegiance come Super Bowl time, declaring himself the Steelers' First Fan in the early days of his presidency and backing them against the Cardinals as the team "closest to his heart."

Following his remarks and the team's presentation of a #44 black Steelers jersey to the president, Obama joined the team - absent one linebacker whose 100-yard touchdown return at the end of the first half made for one of the game's signature plays - to assemble 3,000 care packages for troops overseas alongside Wounded Warriors from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center on the South Lawn of the White House.

Also absent today was Vice President Joe Biden whose attachment to the Steeler franchise runs deep.

Joining the president and team at the White House and in the care package assembly line was a powerhouse of politicians with Pennsylvania ties: Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Sen. Bob Casey, Sen. Arlen Specter, Teresa Heinz Kerry, as well as Representatives Tim Murphy, Mike Doyle, Glenn Thompson, Tom Rooney, and Charlie Wilson.