Guess Who Will Be In Indy?

Brian Koch of Wimington, DE passed along this article from the Trib this morning. Hope you enjoy.

Chomping away on a dried-out cigar butt, Hank Williams Jr. stood out like a 20-gallon hat Wednesday at the Steelers' practice facility. The country music star huddled with old friend Bill Cowher, smacked hands with various Steelers players and kicked back in the rear of a sprawling sports utility vehicle.
And if there was any doubt about which NFL franchise was his favorite, Williams made it clear when someone asked if the Steelers topped the list.
"Hell yeah, baby," Williams said, proudly pointing to the Steelers cap he plans to wear Sunday when his beloved team plays at Indianapolis in an AFC divisional playoff game at the RCA Dome. "What are you talking about?"
Flamboyant and effervescent as ever, the man known as Bocephus, sporting big black boots and a faded cowboy hat, called his visit here a "pleasure trip."
Hours earlier, he was on a "very, very serious and much more important trip."
Williams flew from his home outside of Nashville, Tenn., to Morgantown, W.Va., yesterday to comfort the family members of Randal McCloy Jr., the only survivor of the Sago mine explosion in Upshur County, W.Va., that killed 12 of his co-workers.
McCloy is in critical but stable condition in West Virginia's Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown.
Williams got news of McCloy's plight when it was reported that one of McCloy's family members used his music in an attempt to get through to the struggling miner. Soon after, Williams was on a plane.
"Because Bocephus don't drive, baby!," he said.
Williams spent yesterday morning with McCloy, even appearing on Good Morning America sporting the Steelers cap, to let his family members know that miracles can happen.
Williams is proof.
Thirty years ago, the legendary star, who sang the Monday Night Football theme for 16 years, fell 500 feet from a mountain in Montana. He endured nine surgeries - "I still need one more," he said. - though many still believed that he would not survive.
"When that happened to me, Johnny Cash and June Carter were there when I came to," said Williams, a victim of an avalanche that left his brain partially exposed. "They said I wasn't going to live, but I did. And I was really affected by this, here situation. To think that this gal goes over and buys this tape and she's playing my music in his room ... It really knocked me down. I saw it on the national news and it really affected me, man, I'm not kidding you. It brought that all back."
Now, Williams wants to bring McCloy back.
"They said the same things to me - I wasn't going to do this and I wasn't going to do that," Williams said. "So, I had to go see him. And I'll be back when he pulls out of it, because everybody's pulling for him. It's such a tragedy, and this is my area -- West Virginia, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh. I sold a few T-shirts and CDs around here in the last 35 years. I bought a few shotgun shells with the money from here."
Williams' loyalty to the region is revealed in his love of the Steelers. His association with Cowher began in the 1980s, when the latter was an assistant in Kansas City. Williams was close to former Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas, who toured the country with him in his offseasons, and three became friends.
"I know Russ (Grimm) and Dick (Hoak), too," Williams said of two of Cowher's assistants. "We're kind of like a bunch of dinosaurs. Well, not Bill. He's a young guy."
Williams claims the Steelers are undefeated when he attends a game, which is why he and all his rowdy friends will be there Sunday afternoon, even though the Steelers are underdogs.
"In the NFL, anybody can beat anybody," he said. "There's none of that if stuff. Look at what (Joe) Gibbs is doing in Washington. If I was Seattle, I would be, 'huh?' The thing is, dome teams don't win. Think about it. Now, we got two of them. Dome teams just don't win."
As for seating arrangements at the RCA Dome, Williams isn't picky. He's waiting for Steelers president Art Rooney II to come through for him.
"Wherever Art puts me is fine," Williams said. "Maybe I'll sit with Jerome's mom. I don't care. I'm a redneck. I got a helmet with horns sticking out of it, man."