Ben Roethlisbergers willingness to do whatever it takes to w

2 years ago seestyle

seestyle 0 posts

If one attempts to conjure the moment that shall forever define Ben Roethlisberger as a quarterback, there is only one sequence that reasonably comes to mind: He holds the ball as he scans the north end zone at Raymond James Stadium, pump fakes to the flat to perhaps draw defenders away from the goal line, points with his left hand as if calling his shot and then fires a pa s that may be the most audacious in the six decades of the league's showpiece championship game.

Three defenders are adjacent to the target when Roethlisberger releases the football. How can he see Santonio Holmes? How could anyone conceive that receiver to be open? But Cardinals cornerback Ralph Payton Turner Jerseys Brown's desperate leap is launched from too remote a position to be more than a distraction to Holmes. Safety Aaron Francisco's late push forces Holmes over the sideline but does not dislodge the ball. Corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is just there to be part of the photograph. The Steelers, upon video confirmation, complete one of the most dramatic Super Bowl comebacks and claim their sixth Lombardi Trophy.

Somehow this episode never has become as widely celebrated as the le s challenging and le s consequential "Catch by Dwight Clark from Joe Montana in the 1982 NFC championship game, in the same way Bill Mazeroski's 1960 World Series home run is le s well known than Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World"to win the National League pennant nine years earlier.

And maybe that's OK.

Because the moment that truly defines Ben Roethlisberger as a Steeler came three years earlier, when he was in his second season and trying to play a central role but certainly not to carry the team in pursuit of the organization's first Super Bowl title since its 1970s dynasty.

It was none of the 477touchdowns he produced or the 6,228pa sesthe threw during his 18 seasons. Fitting for a franchise that transformed defense into a religion through the work of such prophets as Mean Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham and Mel Blount, the definitive play of Roethlisberger's career New Orleans Saints Pet Gear was a tackle. It was desperate and awkward and not at all secure, but the ballcarrier wound up on the ground before true calamity could ensue, and that was enough.

The greatest quarterback in the franchise's history showed himself, in that moment, to be every bit a Steeler.

It was Pittsburgh sports talk host Mark Madden (WXDX, 105.9 FM) who made this point on a recent broadcast, and he was almost entirely correct. His reasoning leaned hard on how Roethlisberger rescued Hall of Fame teammate Jerome Bettis from ignominy, and surely he did, but more so it was Roethlisberger's willingne s to make whatever play was required to a sure victory, in the way such pure Steelers as Hines Ward, Aaron Smith, Larry Brown and Carnell Lake had through the years.

"I've been here a long time, and it's been a lot of fun. God has ble sed me . . . It was meant to be that I was going to wear black and gold," Roethlisberger said Sunday. "I hope that I was able to pa s the legacy of what it is to be a Steelerfrom Dan Rooney. We all mi s him; everyone who knew him mi ses him. Hopefully I could Ian Book Jerseys pa s some of that on to the guys and continue the tradition of what it means to be a Steeler.

"Once you start to lose the old regime, if you will, you've got to find ways to pa s it down. And we've got some guys in there that will continue to do that."

Roethlisberger played his final game in the NFL on Sunday. His career did not end with a Super Bowl victory, like John Elway or Peyton Manning or, for that matter, Bettis.It did not end with him basking in the adoration of 60,000 Yinzers standing, chanting his name and, for the lucky few, slapping his hand as he walked New Orleans Saints Sleepwear Underwear a victory lap around Heinz Field following Week 17'sMonday night victory against the Browns.

There still was a game on the schedule against the Ravens after that, which the Steelers won in overtime, and through a bit of serendipity that seemed even le s likely than finding a future Hall of Fame QB competing for the MiamiRedHawks in the Mid-American Conference, the Steelers extended their season by scratching their way into the NFL playoffs. And there, against the two-time reigning AFC championChiefs, they endured a miserable offensive first half and failed to take advantage of the 7-0 lead to which T.J. Watt's fumble return for a touchdown staked them. They lost 42-21, with Roethlisberger throwing the final two touchdown pa ses of his career merely to make the result appear le s embarra sing.

STEELERS-CHIEFS:

It ended with him on the field, playing serious football for what will be the final time of a life that has been consumed by the game for more than a quarter-century. It ended with the Steelers calling a timeout to give him one last shot to feel what it's like to throw the Steelers into the end zone, only to see the receiver on his final pa s, tight end Zach Gentry,hit hard 3 yards short. It wouldn't have altered the result just the margin.

"We thought last week would be the end. We didn't know what was going to happen and . . . got ble sed to play another football game," Roethlisberger said. "It's a ble sing to be able to play this game. How lucky are we that we get to play football for a living? Yeah, we're out there getting beat up, Adam Trautman Jerseys but we get to entertain millions of fans and throw, catch, run do what we've all done as kids. That's our job now."

Well, it was, for Roethlisberger, until this day.

"I don't know if it's emotional because it's just the end of the season. This would be emotional no matter what," he said. "We never like to lose and go out, and I'll mi s these guys. It'll probably really hit me come training camp time."

This ending will not satisfy the smallish but increasingly amplified portion of Steeler Nation that views every result but a Lombardi Trophy as a ma sive failure, but it's not often an athlete accepts a championship award as the final act of his or her career.

Roethlisberger, though, will leave the stage among the statistical leaders in nearly every major quarterbacking category: pa Drew Brees T Shirts sing yards (No. 5), completions (No. 5), touchdowns (No. 8) and, among those with careers of 10 seasons or more, pa ser rating (No. 13). More important to Roethlisberger, he would say, is he also ranks No. 5 in victories as a starting QB, No. 6 in playoff victories, No. 2in game-winning drives and No. 7in winning percentage among those with at least 100 starts. The names in his company are those immediately cited as the greatest in the sport's history: Brady, Manning, Elway, Montana, Unitas.

POTENTIAL SUCCESSORS: |

"God has ble sed me with the ability to throw a football," Roethlisberger said. "He has ble sed me to play in the greatest city, in Pittsburgh, with the greatest fans

2 years ago narzafaydu

narzafaydu 17482 posts