Steeltown's Leading Man
When the Steelers' 75th anniversary team was honored a few weeks back, the largest roar of applause was for none other than Terry Bradshaw, perhaps the most revered sports figure other than Roberto Clemente in Pittsburgh sports history.
Fitting was the fact that with Bradshaw in attendance, the only other quarterback to lead the team to a Super Bowl victory, and the current heart and soul of the franchise, had an evening to remember.
Ben Roethlisberger's five touchdown passes tied a franchise record, and throughout the contest he surpassed or equaled records of not only Bradshaw but also Bobby Layne, Bubby Brister, Neil O'Donnell, Kordell Stewart and Mark Malone, keeping the public address announcer in the press box busy.
"As the kitchen gets hot, the chefs display themselves," said Steeler head coach Mike Tomlin. "Their ability to rise up in those moments defines that position, and ultimately their ability to rise up in those moments determines whether or not their teams win or lose. And that ultimately defines that position."
While Tom Brady leads the NFL with a 131.8 quarterback rating, Roethlisberger is a surprise at second with his 107.5 rating.
He is on pace to shatter Bradshaw's mark of 29 touchdown passes set during the Super Bowl season of 1978, and with 23 is now third behind Brady (38) and Dallas' Tony Romo (27). Should he continue his pace and beat Brady when the teams meet Dec. 9 in Foxborough, he could perhaps secure the NFL MVP award.
"He's just a winner … I don't know how else to put it, the kid is a winner," said Lancaster County native and Steelers fullback Dan Kreider. "He makes the big plays and keeps coming back regardless of what happens. He's really matured not only as a person this year but also as a player. Ben is commanding the huddle, he's commanding the field, and he's the guy who is going to win us games."
Only 39 "perfect games" have been thrown since the QB rating system was introduced in 1973, and Roethlisberger added yet another to his resume against Baltimore earlier this year.
He is one of just three QBs to have achieved the feat more than once — Indianapolis' Peyton Manning (four times) and Arizona's Kurt Warner (twice for the St. Louis Rams), his first against Tennessee in 2005.
"All I ever hear is about (Tom) Brady and Peyton (Manning), but this guy we have here is very special," said defensive end Brett Keisel. "He makes plays those guys don't make, and that's what makes him so special. He can get out of the pocket, he can create, he's a beast and we're glad he wears black and gold."
Roethlisberger also has 12 game-winning drives since coming to the league in 2004, which is the most of any quarterback in that period. To put that in perspective, Green Bay's Brett Favre, a certain first-ballot Hall of Famer, has just 10 since then. And like Favre, Roethlisberger has his team in prime position for a playoff run.
Roethlisberger attributes his success this year to what offensive coordinator Bruce Arians has brought to the table.
"We are more balanced," said Roethlisberger. "Bruce (Arians) has us believing in what we are doing. If you look at the numbers we put up, they might be a little skewed because we're up late in games and we run the ball out, but early in games we are much more balanced, and I think we are unpredictable."
His teammates say point to the fact that Roethlisberger is just having fun on the field, doing what he loves best.
"I think last season he put such an emphasis on trying to put the ball right between our numbers and sometimes stared guys down trying to make that perfect throw, and he didn't have to do that," said receiver Hines Ward. "Now, I think he's just trying to have fun and letting it go."
Tomlin calls it pure talent.
"He's big. He's strong. He's mobile," said Tomlin. "He can make any throw on the field. He's a smart guy. He looks like the 11th pick in the draft. Those guys have all the physical skills. Then the question is: Do they have the intangibles? That's what I was interested in, and that's what I've been impressed with thus far from him."
Asked if he has learned anything from watching great quarterbacks of the NFL, such as Dan Marino, Bradshaw and John Elway, Roethlisberger will give you a chuckle.
"I took No. 7 from Elway," he said with a laugh. "It's hard because you can try to learn from watching those guys. I do just as much now by watching Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer. Back then when you watch those guys you would just go on the street and act like them."