Terry Bradshaw, Ben Roethlisberger achieve detente

The ice has thawed.

Not the stuff on the ground in North Texas — which looks as if it’s here to stay for another day or so — but an end has come to the icy impasse between past and present Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks, Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger.

Bradshaw, now a Fox analyst, had given his unvarnished opinion of Roethlisberger on several occasions, first after the young quarterback’s helmet-less motorcycle accident, then after two sexual-assault accusations in a nine-month span. He didn’t like Ben, and Ben didn’t like him.

“Now understand,” Bradshaw said, “I have two girls, 23 and 21, so enough was enough for me.”

Circumstance has forced the two together — Bradshaw is part of the broadcast team for Super Bowl XLV — and Tuesday they sat down for an interview. They did one Sunday during the Pro Bowl broadcast, but the latest was face to face.

At the suggestion of Fox producer Scott Ackerson, Bradshaw and Roethlisberger talked in an otherwise empty room before their interview. Bradshaw emerged feeling a little better about their relationship, saying, “He says that he’s changing, he’s back to the way he was raised, kind of got carried away with the winning so young.”

While not excusing the quarterback’s alleged behavior, Bradshaw indicated they have struck a fragile truce.

“We just both came to the conclusion that we’re Steelers, and we’re part of that family,” he said. “I encouraged him and told him that yesterday is yesterday, I got his back and support him 100%. But if he screws up, I’m going to say it. I’m not shy about telling you how I feel.”

Big house

It takes a lot to knock B.J. Raji off his feet, but the Green Bay nose tackle was floored when he got his first look at palatial Cowboys Stadium, where media day was staged.

“I was first thinking, ‘What did he pay for this?’” Raji said, referring to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. “When I first saw the [video] screen, almost the size of the field. . . . Driving up to the stadium, it looked amazing, like something I’d never seen before with the structure.

“We were driving through the tunnel to get down here, and it felt like the tunnel was a mile long.”

He got a more familiar feel, however, when he stepped out of his hotel into the icy, 20-degree morning.

“I woke up and thought I was in Green Bay again,” he said.

Packers stars

There is no shortage of great quarterbacks who are willing to give Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers advice if he’d like it. Good as he has been, Rodgers didn’t pick up his first playoff victory until this season.

He recently spoke with Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Steve Young and Kurt Warner, and they told him what to expect this week.

“They said, ‘Good luck with the distractions,’” Rodgers said. “I think that’s what the biggest thing is: trying to manage your schedule and keep it as similar as you can to what it would be in a normal week.”

Rodgers also has Packers legend Bart Starr, with whom he’s grown close over the years.

“Bart has been incredible to me — in the last three years especially — with the e-mails and the conversations that I’ve been able to share with him. He’s an incredible man and a guy I’d love to model my career after.”

Then, the obvious: Rodgers was asked if he has reached out to Brett Favre or spoken to him about the Super Bowl. He answered with a simple, “No.”

Hines sight

Hines Ward is a nice guy. Just ask him.

The Steelers receiver, arguably the best blocking wideout in football, has been labeled a cheap-shot artist by some, a reputation he staunchly denies.

“Do I look mean?” he asked. “I’m just fine. . . . I’m not out there to hurt anybody. Everybody says, ‘Well, he hits guys when they’re not looking.’ Should I tap you on the shoulder and say, ‘Here I come, hit me.’

“At the end of the day, I just play football the way it’s supposed to be played. That’s how I was taught as a little child, and I continue to play like that here in the NFL.”

Off the map

Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, on how much he knew about Green Bay when he was at USC: “I didn’t even know where Wisconsin was when I got drafted. I was a West Coast kid.”

sam.farmer@latimes.com