Steelers, Titans Kickoff 2009 NFL Season

America’s favorite sport is back in action tonight (NBC, 8:30 p.m. ET) in the first game of NFL Kickoff 2009 Weekend. This year, two 2008 division winners are featured as the Super Bowl XLIII champion Pittsburgh Steelers host the Tennessee Titans. The Titans had an NFL-best 13-3 record and were AFC South champions last year. The game is the first meeting between the teams since the Titans defeated the Steelers 31-14 on December 21, 2008. Tennessee was the last team to beat the Steelers before they went on to win Super Bowl XLIII. This will mark only the fifth time in NFL history that the defending champs play the last team that defeated them from the previous season on Kickoff Weekend.

 Tonight’s festivities will get started with “NFL Opening Kickoff 2009 Presented by EA Sports,” a free concert open to the public in Pittsburgh’s Point State Park that will feature three-time Grammy Award-winning artists Tim McGraw and The Black Eyed Peas. There will be simulcast coverage of the 30-minute pregame show which will air from 8-8:30 p.m. ET on NBC and NFL Network.

Also, on the eve of the eighth anniversary of 9/11, the NFL and Steelers will pay tribute to the men and women who lost their lives on that tragic day. Members of 40 families who lost loved ones on Flight 93, which crashed in nearby western Pennsylvania, will be on the field for the tribute. They will wear number 93 Steelers jerseys with the name of their loved ones on the back. In addition, the Steelers will salute their Super Bowl XLIII team with a special on-field moment. Steelers great and recent Hall of Fame inductee Rod Woodson will participate in the coin toss ceremony. And Harry Connick Jr. will sing the national anthem from Heinz Field.