| Pittsburgh Sports
Report November 2006 |
 |
| Tough Times Mortality is seldom pretty in anyone's eyes and never easy to accept. Nowhere has that point been proven with more clarity than within the walls of Heinz Field and anywhere else that Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has fallen this season. His was a story that was not too good to be true. We all saw it culminate with a victory in the Super Bowl nine months ago on the NFL's grandest stage. But we had to know-or should have known (how stupid of us)-that it was too good to last uninterrupted. A mangled motorcycle in June. A near-death experience. Head trauma. Facial surgery. A courageous return. Emergency appendectomy. More head trauma in the Georgia Dome last month. Neurological testing. And, finally, a 2-4 start to the season that will require the Steelers to mow over almost every upcoming opponent just to sneak into the playoffs. The results of the season, however, appear less important than what the preceding five months have meant to Roethlisberger, his attitude toward the game, what his teammates think of him and his future in the National Football League. By all accounts, even if the Steelers fail to recover from the deep hole they dug for themselves, Roethlisberger has proven that he is a keeper and a winner. First and foremost, Roethlisberger always has been well-liked by the players in the locker room. Roethlisberger, only a rookie at the time, was part of the Steelers gang that rented a limousine to go to dinner in Manhattan after a game in New Jersey against the Giants. NFL rookies are seldom offered such status among their teammates. His long succession of victories as a rookie starting quarterback in 2004 endeared the Steelers to their leader. He built on that reputation by playing hurt on numerous occasions that featured broken or badly injured toes and a twisted knee. Then, he did what almost all the great quarterbacks do at least once - he led the Steelers to the Super Bowl and helped them win it by putting his head down and bulldozing into the end zone on an important touchdown run. The off-season wasn't kind to Roethlisberger, and he did little to prevent catastrophe by insisting on riding a motorcycle without a helmet. But he bounced back, never once whined "Woe is me," and-most importantly-did not miss a practice in training camp. He was ready to start the regular season after many people figured the crash would sideline him for at least a game or two, but it was a swollen appendix that kept him out until Week 2. He was far from sharp early, but he took full responsibility for the losses, instead of pointing fingers at teammates. Remember: Former Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart was prone to blame others in bad times, an undesirable character trait that led to his downfall. Late last month, Roethlisberger shouldered the blame after a four-interception outing in Oakland resulted in a 20-13 loss. A week earlier, Roethlisberger found himself face-first on the Georgia Dome turf, knocked out from a hit in the jaw by Falcons defensive end Chauncey Davis and two of Davis' teammates. After lying motionless on the field for several moments, Roethlisberger left on a cart, but returned to stand on the sidelines and encourage his teammates through the overtime loss and his own severe headaches. If it was up to him, he said he would have returned to the game in Atlanta. "They didn't want me to go back out there," he told reporters later. "I tried to go back in the game but they didn't let that happen, obviously. The main thing was just getting back out there on the sidelines so that the guys could see that I was out there and supporting them." Moreover, Roethlisberger refused to complain that Davis' hit was an illegal helmet-to-helmet collision, even though many people believed it. "I don't think it was anything," Roethlisberger said. "I was trying to duck under it and I kind of got hit from every different angle." Just days after suffering what was his second concussion in a span of four months, Roethlisberger was out practicing with the Steelers first team. "I feel good," Roethlisberger said. "Just trying to get ready to get out there and help the team any way I can." Finally, he said, "I've got a tough jaw. I can take a good shot." And that's the point. He can take whatever the NFL dishes out to him. Roethlisberger has enjoyed good times: Now, he is suffering bad times. Losses, either in big games or most games, happen to every quarterback. Dan Marino only played in one Super Bowl, so he had a succession of important losses that he was able to overcome on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's how they respond to those losses that defines a quarterback's career. The Steelers have a franchise quarterback in Roethlisberger, clearly their finest since Terry Bradshaw. They probably need to surround him with more talented playmakers - that's what the risky first-round choice of wide receiver Santonio Holmes was all about, even though there were character red flags in Holmes' past. They need to upgrade their running game, probably with better, more consistent blocking and, perhaps, a big-back complement to Willie Parker. But the nucleus is there. The heart, the soul, the conscience and much of the talent of the team wears No. 7. He has proven he can flourish in good times and endure in bad ones, and not make a lot of excuses in between. It took more than two decades, but the Steelers finally have gotten it right-big-time-at quarterback. Jerry DiPaola is an assistant editor for the Pittsburgh Tribune Review and spent more than a decade covering the Steelers and the NFL. |
The
whole sad saga is so well-known now among Steelers fan that there
have been unconfirmed reports of some western Pennsylvania middle
schools offering a new class this semester - Big Ben Theory. 
"It
starts with me," Roethlisberger said. "Right now I'm letting the
whole team down." | Copyright © 1997-2005 Pittsburgh Sports Report [PSR] |