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Respect abounds as Patriots host Steelers in AFC title game

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- There are few things that Bill Belichick respects more than history in the NFL.

And few teams elicit as much praise from the Patriots coach as the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Part of it is the reverence that Belichick holds for the way Steelers founder Art Rooney and his family has operated a franchise that's remained among the league's best, winning multiple Super Bowl titles more than 30 years apart. It is a model emulated when Robert Kraft bought the Patriots in 1994 and six years later hired Belichick, who has nurtured a ''Patriots Way'' that has helped bring four Lombardi trophies to New England.