Many Troops Home for Next Super Bowl, Obama Hopes

President Obama said Sunday that he hopes many of the Armed Forces stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan will be on U.S. soil for next year’s Super Bowl.

In an interview with NBC during the Super Bowl pregame show, the president spoke briefly about the ongoing wars and the economy, along with sports and how his family has adjusted to life in the White House.

When asked by Today show anchor Matt Lauer if many troops could expect to be home in a year to watch the National Football League’s championship game, Obama said “yes.”

“We’re going to roll out in a very formal fashion what our intentions are in Iraq,” Obama said. “I think we have a sense…that we are in a position to start putting more responsibility on the Iraqis.”

The president, at the end of the interview, sent a “shout out” to the troops watching from overseas.

Obama defended his pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers — who are favored by a touchdown — over the Arizona Cardinals in the game. He did, though, save praise for Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

He cited his relationship with the Steelers-owning Rooney family, a traditionally Republican family, whose patriarch endorsed Obama during the presidential campaign.

“Rooney didn’t just endorse me — that guy was at steel mills campaigning for me,” Obama joked.