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So, the Pittsburgh Steelers just won yet another Super Bowl.  Does that mean they’re going to take a few months off and get out of shape? I don’t think so.

A great Greek philosopher named Aristotle once said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers embody this quote to the letter. That’s not taking anything away from the other 31 teams in the NFL, as they all put in the hours in the weight room and on the practice field, as well. But the Steelers have had an off-season that’s been shorter than every team in the league, sans the Arizona Cardinals.

Every report I’ve read has claimed that Defensive Player Of The Year James Harrison was back in the weight room only two days after the Steelers’ sixth Super Bowl win, and third string wide receiver, Limas Sweed, started his conditioning workouts two weeks after the big game.

Looking back at the Steelers victory  in Super Bowl XL and the season following, there was a definite let down for fans and players, as the team finished the season at a mediocre 8-8. The aura in the locker room all but proves that this won’t be the case for 2009.

Another motivating factor for the reigning champions has to be the fact that they could match the New England Patriots dynasty by winning three titles this decade. Or, if you’re like most fans and want to set lofty goals and expectations, you could allude to the fact that they technically have a shot to duplicate the four titles won by the great Pittsburgh teams of the 70s.

I however am not going to go out on a limb and say that the team is going to win 2 more right now. Maybe next year I’ll get cocky and say something like that, because you just never know.

The champs are returning what is essentially the same squad, minus starting cornerback Bryant McFadden, who departed to the Arizona, and former third string receiver Nate Washington, who landed in Tennessee via free agency.

The most vocal players about the issue are two entering the final year of their contracts: Super Bowl XL MVP Hines Ward and massive nose tackle Casey Hampton. They’re both hungry to prove that they deserve another contract, and I don’t see either of them getting extended this off-season. It’s just not the Pittsburgh way, it seems. James Harrison was a special exception.

The players seem determined, with three returning from season ending injuries and practicing on Monday. Those players are Charlie Batch, Daniel Sepulveda and Rashard Mendenhall. Two of the three are going to be pivotal pieces in a Super Bowl run, and Batch likely won’t see much playing time.

The Steelers are, and always have been, built on a tradition of excellence. Coupled with the fact that their schedule is incredibly easy as compared to last years, the fact that they’ve had some players emerge in the past few seasons, and their history of draft success, the 2009 season is going to be a good one for Pittsburgh fans everywhere.