Originally posted on January 23rd, 2009
It's all about Big Ben
As I said the other day, the Steelers are going for their second Super Bowl title in the last four seasons next week when they face off against the Arizona Cardinals.
I can't wait, but I'm enjoying the build-up. I actually think the two-week break, the hype, the media-day, the speculation, etc, is all part of it and it wouldn't be the same experience without it. I got more than just a feeling Pittsburgh is, indeed, going to the Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla. next weekend. Yes sir!
Now, about these two Super Bowls in less than a half-decade. Do not make the mistake of thinking it's just a coincidence that our beloved Black and Gold finally made it to the Promised-land three years ago and are one big win away from getting there again after they drafted Ben Roethlisberger with the 11th pick in the first round of the 2004 NFL draft.
After the Steelers dynasty of the 1970's had finally run it's course in the early 80's and the team started getting older and players started retiring, naturally, the performance of the team started to suffer and they weren't the Super Steelers any longer. That's pretty common in sports, especially the NFL where parity is the name of the game. If you draft near the bottom of the league season-after-season like Pittsburgh did in the 70's, you're not going to be able to accumulate the top-level talent that you need in-order to stay on top of the mountain, so to speak.
Pittsburgh suffered a great deal at the quarterback position after Terry Bradshaw retired following the '83 season. Cliff Stoudt replaced Bradshaw initially, and was followed by David Woodley, Mark Malone, Scott Campbell, and Bubby Brister. Those were just the quarterbacks from 1984 thru 1991. Neil O'Donnell took over in 1992 and did a pretty good job leading the Steelers. In-fact, he was good enough to lead them to Super Bowl XXX following the 1995 season. If you're a fan, you know Neil threw a couple pretty bad interceptions and Pittsburgh lost to Dallas in their first attempt to get that one for the thumb. O'Donnell was a decent quarterback but he hit his ceiling in the Super Bowl. He was good enough to lead them there, but not good enough to finish the job. That's ok.
Jim Miller took over for O'Donnell after he left for the Jets via free agency. Miller's start lasted a half a game until head coach Bill Cowher replaced him with Mike Tomczak. Tomczak was an ok quarterback who had a bad habit of throwing into triple, and sometimes quadruple coverage, but he was good enough to lead them to the playoffs in 1996. Mike was just the caretaker for the position until Kordell Stewart was ready to take over the reigns in 1997. Stewart was known as "Slash" for his ability to play various positions in his first two seasons in the league. In addition to quarterback, he played receiver and even a play or two at running back as the coaching staff sought out ways to get this talented young player on the field but he wanted to play his college position of qb and he would get his chance in '97.
Stewart showed flashes of brilliance in his first season at the helm. He electrified the Steeler crowds with his ability to break long runs and his ability to make things happen down field with his arm. He made his share of mistakes, but he led the Steelers from behind on several occasions that season and took Pittsburgh all the way to the AFC championship game where they fell at the hands of the Denver Broncos.
The Steelers lost several very key free agents following that season and the departures finally took their toll as 1998 marked the end of the team's six year playoff run. Who took the brunt of the blame? You guessed it, Kordell. The fans were brutal and there was even a vicious rumor circulating about him. Anyone who knows anything about football knows what I'm talking about.
Stewart was yanked in and out of the lineup over the next three seasons as Cowher went with Tomczak from time-to-time and guys like Kent Graham. I don't know what was worse for Stewart: The horrible rumors or losing his job to Kent freakin Graham.
The Steelers ended their playoff drought in 2001 and once again, made it back to the AFC championship game only to fall to the New England Patriots. Stewart was 0-2 in that game. I guess he was only good enough to make it to the AFC championsip game. That was his ceiling. Oh well.
The following year, Stewart lost his job to Tommy Maddox who quickly became the toast of the town. He led an exciting attack that season and Pittsburgh had a pretty good run in the postseason before losing to the Tennessee Titans in the second round.
In 2003, the Steelers had a pretty bad year in-which they posted a 6-10 record. The silver-lining in this wreck of a season was they were able to draft high-enough to pick Ben Roethlisberger with the 11th overall pick of the 2004 draft.
Not much was expected from him initially but he found himself the starter by week 3 when Maddox went down with injury. He led the team to the AFC championship game that year. Pretty impressive for a rookie quarterback. The job was his. Could he finally be the quarterback the Steelers needed to win a World championship?
In 2005, the Steelers barely made the playoffs, but they entrusted Roethlisberger with the keys to the offense and he carried them all the way to Super Bowl XL. Despite a medicore performance in the game, he was able to make enough big plays to help the team win their first championship in over a quarter century.
His resume speaks for itself: undefeated in the regular season as a rookie starter. Youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl. Youngest to win a Super Bowl. Fastest quarterback to 50 wins, and, oh yeah, his second Super Bowl appearance in the last four seasons.
The Steelers waited over twenty years to get a quarterback like Roethlisberger.
Quarterbacks are always underappreciated and criticized in this city. After the roster of quarterbacks I named earlier, I'm sure it's easy to see why, but even Bradshaw faced it. I don't know why we always want the backup instead of the starter, but that's Pittsburgh.
Roethlisberger is the real deal. Teams need quarterbacks like him in-order to win championships. It's already been proven. The Steelers had many great teams in the 1990's. During that six-year run that I mentioned, they were Super Bowl contenders just about the entire time. They had a dominating defense with guys like Rod Woodson and Greg Lloyd. They had an exciting running game year after year, and they even had a fairly decent passing attack most seasons. How could a team that talented never get over the championship hump? Simple, they didn't have the quarterback to get them there.
It takes a special kind of quarterback to lead a team to a Super Bowl championship (in most cases anyway.) Of the previous 42 Super Bowl champions, 28 were led by quarterbacks that are either already in the hall of fame or are sure-bets to make it once their careers are finally over.
You can't just take the quarterback position lightly. A team almost always needs a top-flight quarterback to get anywhere in the NFL. Take this season for example. Of the 12 teams that made the playoffs, 9 of them had starting quarterbacks that were drafted in the first round.
Ben Roethlisberger is special and he can beat you so many ways. People scream at him to get rid of the ball quickly. That's just not his game. The man is dangerous when he rolls out of the pocket. It's like asking Marino to scramble. I have said that I think he's the most talented quarterback to come into the NFL since John Elway. And there isn't anyone I'd rather have as my starting quarterback late in the game with a chance to win it. He's proven that his entire career.
Yet, there is a very loud faction of this city that would rather have Byron Leftwich or Charlie Batch as Pittsburgh's starting quarterback. It makes no sense. Back ups are back ups for a reason.
Not only is Roethlisberger the best quarterback on the Steelers roster, he's one of the two or three best in the league. When was the last time you heard a Steeler quarterback mentioned in that way? Heck, in years past, it was hard to make the argument that Pittsburgh's starting quarterback was the best on the team, let alone the entire league.
Pittsburgh, you can't just put anyone under center calling the signals and expect him to take your beloved team to the Super Bowl. If you want the Steelers to go on another string of Super Bowl triumphs, you better get on board with Ben because believe me when I tell you, he's the man to lead you there.
He's done it once and he'll do it again. You think I'm wrong. Tune in to NBC in about nine days. You'll see what I mean.
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