I have been waiting to bust this story out since the beginning of the site. But with no Pittsburgh sports currently happening nightly, now is the time.
There is this underlining hatred for Ben Roethlisberger here in Pittsburgh, and it makes ZERO sense. I have been in so many arguments, been to so many bars, watched games with so many people, where the outcry is "Big Ben sucks!", "Put Byron in!".
Big.. Ben... sucks. Really? Well, for a NFL QB to suck, rule number 1 is that they never won anything. And before you cry about Dan Marino, he is the exception to the rule... But as far as now? See Palmer, Carson. Being a fantasy football slayer 2 years ago gets you zero, point zero credibility with me. This isn't about Palmer though, this is about Ben. Could the city of Pittsburgh really expect Byron Leftwich to lead this team to the Super Bowl? He was beat out for the Atlanta job by JOEY HARRINGTON. Could you imagine Ben losing the Miami Dolphins job to Joey this year? No way.
So, onto the point of this.. facts. And here we go, stealing from ESPN Classics' Cheap Seats:
Did you know that Ben is the ONLY NFL QB in HISTORY to post a perfect passer rating TWICE in the same season?
Did you know that Ben is 58-22 as a starter, including the post-season?
Did you know that in the post-season, Ben is 7-2. Peyton Manning? 7-7.
Did you know that Ben had the best rookie season EVER for a QB? Ever.. he was 13-0.
Did you know that Ben has more regular season wins in his first 5 seasons than ANY OTHER QB TO EVER PLAY THE GAME? 51 wins/5 seasons.. think about that.
Did you know that Ben has 18 4th quarter comebacks already in his 5 seasons?
Did you know that Ben ranks SEVENTH all time in QB rating? 89.4. Look it up.
And lastly, did you know that Ben was the YOUNGEST QB ever to win a Super Bowl? That one I'm sure you knew.. and I am also sure you know he didn't have his best game that day. But guess the F what? He still won.
Is all the hate Pittsburgh has somehow personal? Were you all trying to pick up a girl at the Cabana Bar in Wexford and she looked Ben's way while you ordered Jager-bombs? Does him holding on to the ball and extending the play really make you that mad? Sure he gets sacked a bunch... but he also makes plays when they count while scrambling.
Pittsburgh FINALLY has a franchise QB of this era, who is about to take his team to it's second Super Bowl appearance in 4 seasons, and people still aren't happy. I'd like to say I don't get it.. but I have grown up and lived in Pittsburgh pretty much my whole life, so the city's opinions actually make perfect sense to me.
A month or so ago, Sonny and I sat at Ugly, the bar that's next to the old High Tops in the North Shore and watched a Steelers game. We drank, we laughed, we talked football.. but one other thing we did, and in hindsight we should have brought a voice recorder to just soak in some of the stupid comments, we listened to 50 people talk about Steeler football that day. And each of them, to a T, all hated Ben. Their facts were so wrong, their opinions so misconstrued, Christ, with what we could have recorded, we'd still be writing stories about it.
I know that the majority of Steeler fans love Ben. But somehow, someway those that hate him are the most vocal citizens of our fair town. One thing that will always make me laugh are those who scream for Ben's downfall, only to be wearing a black and gold 7 jersey.
As I leap off my soapbox.. Nothing major is going on right now that we don't already have on the site.. so as usual, if something breaks, it will be here. And before I leave you all today, thank you Google, NFL.com and Wikipedia for making this story easier to write.
7 comments:
The dude is the first franchise QB since Bradshaw. He just wins. Fuck Fantasy #'s. I don't are if it's pretty, just win the game and that's quite frankly all he does is win. He prospers in the face of pressure where the long line of former QB's, O'Donnell, Kordell, Brister, Tomczack all wilted. When inbred alcoholic yinzers think he sucks, all it does is confirm he doesn't.
good read Davey.
ps-people like you described listening to is why I don't go to games or to watch games in bars anymore. idiots.
Thanks Dunn. Did you notice my Animal House reference? Well, in hoping everyone got it, I just linked to my favorite part of the movie... "zero, point, zero"
Mr Blutarski...ZERO POINT ZERO.
Great points! I have to deal with the same clowns in NYC that call him Worthlessberger every time he throws an incompletion. I guess that's the price the Steelers pay for continuing to find worthwhile backup QB's. Perhaps we should cut Batch and sign Alex Smith in the offseason...of course that plan will backfire when Ben gets hurt if we don't address the O line and he continues to get pounded week in and week out.
Good article! I could not agree more.
Last week I found out that I didn't pack my jersey for Las Vegas. Josh (my cousin) had a Roethlisberger jersey sent to him from home. He is an admitted non-football fan. (Don't ask. Opposite end of the gene pool.) Seeing the nervous look on my face and the 6 empty beers on my counter before the game, he offered to give me his #7 jersey. This would have been nice, except the way he asked. "I don't know how you feel about Big Ben, but you can wear this." With a confused look on my face I asked, "Huh?". He said, "I know a lot of people hate Roethlisberger." After stating a few facts that have been pounded in my head over literally hundreds of beers with Dave, we left to watch the game at a Steelers bar 2200 miles from Hinze Field. That stuck with me for quite awhile. How would a non-fan get the idea that the Steelers Nation has it in for Big Ben? When we got to PT's in Henderson 95% of the people in the building had Black and Gold on. Behind the bar a few "Go Steelers!" signs and whatnot. We met up with Josh's friends, who all are originally from the Pittsburgh area. I had to ask the one other male out of the group if he has noticed this unfounded hatred. His response, "Not in Vegas dude." This is just like the dick from Fanattics that talked all that trash on Malkin when he collapsed after just losing the Stanley Cup. Yinzers will never change.
"After stating a few facts that have been pounded in my head over literally hundreds of beers with Dave" Hundreds? You aren't giving us enough credit my friend..
Amen.
He has been catching a bunch of flack this year and while his stats don't show it, I think this might be his best season so far considering the injury situation at RB and the offensive line struggles. He has put the offense on his back and made big plays all season.
Also, I was listening to a Dallas sports talk show on XM the day after the Steelers/Cowboys game and they were actually debating who you would take right now: Roethlisberger or Romo. REALLY???
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