Roethlisberger: I Strive To Be The Best
KO OLINA, Oahu (KDKA) ― Ben Roethlisberger added to his already impressive resume with his Pro Bowl selection.
He got the chance to hang with the big names in one of the most beautiful locations on the planet.
"It's been great. Having a good time relaxed - this is what it's been. You know I thought - I didn't know what to expect, thought we were going to practice all the time, but we get up early in the morning, we have a 20 minute meeting, we practice for 45 minutes and we're done for the rest of the day," Roethlisberger said.
"It's about three-quarter speed the whole time - no helmets, no pads, shorts and t-shirts - pretty nice," he said of practice.
It was also pretty nice for him to achieve this honor one year after the motorcycle accident and the worst season of his career.
Pompeani: "Thirty-two touchdowns, I think you answered a lot of critics. Did you feel that way going in, like you had to do that based on what happened the previous year?"
Roethlisberger: "I don't know if I felt like I had to do it, but I wanted to do it. You know people said that, 'Maybe the Super Bowl year and the first year just ... you know, an aberration. Maybe he just got lucky those two years and last year was the year that you know the bad year was the the year he was going to have all-time,' so it was good to come out and answer the critics and hopefully quiet them."
Pompeani: "What personally, deep down, gets you going?"
Roethlisberger: "You know, I'm motivated to be the best. I want to be the best at - the best quarterback, the best whatever it is. So, when people say that you can't do it, you're not good enough or whatever it is when they doubt you - anytime you have doubters it kind of fuels me a little bit. So I enjoy having those doubters. It makes me try to be that much better."
And the better he gets, the more famous he gets, which means the more in-demand he gets. Most recently, Roethlisberger starred in an "American Idol" promotional spot that aired during the Super Bowl.
"You know, I knew what was going to happen and I didn't know the song. I didn't pick the song, they threw the song out to me. They said, 'Here's the song we want you to do.' And I said, 'I really don't know that song, I mean a little bit of it. But oh, you guys are going to make me sing this song.' So you know it was something that made fun of myself and it was fun. We had a good time with it."
Roethlisberger says his teammates teased him about it after it aired. He has thick skin, which served him well during the recent media controversy involving Hines Ward.
"The question was asked, 'Outside of what you have, what else would you like?' And I said, 'Well every quarterback - I like my guys. I love all the receivers I have. They're all weapons and I feel that as a group I may have one of the best core of receivers in the league.' And, you know, I said, 'Any quarterback would take a tall receiver' - not saying I want a tall receiver - said any quarterback would take a tall receiver. So it got completely blown out of proportion."
"Hines and I are great, people thought that we have this beef between each other there's nothing wrong with Hines and I we're still great friends and you know it's something that we can put in the past because it really is nothing to talk about."
Meantime, there's plenty to talk about when it comes to Roethlisberger's contractual situation. He still has two years left on a deal but the Steelers will begin talks this week with his representatives on a new long-term contract that will make him clearly the highest-paid Steeler ever.