Message from the NFL
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“As a quarterback when we throw a big touchdown pass, that is what you are paid to do, what you grew up doing. We throw passes for a living. When we are able to finish games on big drives like that, and a lot of it is running, that means more to me in the sense that we are winning the football game. I will always be more about winning than individual stats. At the end of the day that is more important to me.” — Ben.
From Ben’s Wednesday Q&A with the media:
There is one stat, and one stat only, Steelers players are looking at right now.
3-0.
Individual numbers have taken a backseat to the team goal, and reaching that goal is only at its infancy stage.
And yes, while starting off the 2020 season with a 3-0 record is something to be happy about, it’s not something Steelers players are hanging their hat on.
“I have been doing this a long time, started different ways,” said Ben Roethlisberger. “I couldn’t tell you how I have started seasons in the past, what’s our best, our worst was. I just know where we are now. Obviously, guys, coaches, the whole building feels better when you are 3-0 compared to 0-3. This is a professional group. We aren’t riding that high right now.
“We know this is a big week and we have another really good football team we have to go on the road to play. It definitely feels better but we are taking it like professionals and taking it week by week.”
That 3-0 record has come courtesy of an overall team effort. On offense, contributions have come from all over, and the same thing can be said for defense and special teams. In the passing game, Roethlisberger has completions to 10 different players through three games, keeping the numbers low for some who are accustomed to putting up the bigger numbers, but again, those aren’t the stats that matter.
“I would say the biggest stat is 3-0,” said Roethlisberger. “I don’t think anybody cares about their stats right now. No one is complaining. No one is coming to me. I am not exactly playing lights out. Their stats are directly reflective of the way I play. If I am not playing well, […]
Week 3: Steelers 28, Texans 21
“It’s such an honor to be up there with Mike Webster, he was ‘Iron Mike’ for a reason. I am humbled to be in the same category as him. It’s not like I passed him, I joined him.” — Ben, during his post-game press conference.
Tremendous accomplishment – 221st career game as a @steelers, setting the franchise record, and the WIN. Congratulations @_BigBen7!👏🏽🚀 pic.twitter.com/KjJtgjhCDf
— Josh Dobbs (@josh_dobbs1) September 27, 2020
“It’s huge for us, especially at home. We want to win it for the fans. For us to get off to a good start like this is important and fun.” — Ben, during his post-game press conference.
Roethlisberger completed 72 percent of his pass attempts while spreading the ball around to seven different receivers. He completed touchdown passes to Eric Ebron and Juju Smith-Schuster in the second quarter but deferred to the running game a bit more in the second half. Although the yardage total was nothing to hang his hat on, it was a rather efficient performance from Roethlisberger against what has been a surprisingly adept Texans pass defense to this point. He will look to take advantage of a more favorable matchup against a soft Titans defense next Sunday.
James Conner rushed for 109 yards, Ben Roethlisberger passed for 237 yards and two touchdowns and the Steelers got big contributions from two of their newest players — tight end Eric Ebron and rookie running back Anthony McFarland Jr. — to start 3-0 for the first time since going to the Super Bowl in 2010.
The Texans (0-3) had leads of 14-3 in the second quarter and 21-17 at halftime, […]
‘How Ben Roethlisberger is making the Steelers super after trick-or-treat elbow scare’
“It’s nice to go through a practice, go through a game, do things around the house, pick things up, dry your hair off with a towel, and not feel that pain.” — Ben.
From Sam Farmer, L.A. Times:
For the past few years, uncertainty has swirled around Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. With two Super Bowl rings, and having built a solid case for the Hall of Fame, he routinely has flirted with retirement.
But after his 2019 season was cut short by a serious elbow injury, the type that would end most careers, Roethlisberger has roared back with relentless determination.
“I just didn’t feel like I was done,” Roethlisberger, 38, told The Times by phone this week. “It would have been a lot easier to hang it up. But I just really felt like I had something left. I really want to win another Super Bowl, and have my kids be out there to appreciate it with me.”
He said the biggest driving factor was the team, and specifically the outstanding offensive line and defense the Steelers have built. Pittsburgh, which plays host to the Houston Texans on Sunday, is 2-0 with victories over the New York Giants and Denver Broncos.
“I told the guys before the first game, `I didn’t have to have the surgery. I chose to have it because of you guys, because of the team,’” he said.
That surgery was to reconnect flexor tendons in his throwing arm, which had weakened over the course of his career and finally ruptured when he was throwing against Seattle in Week 2 last season. Famous for his toughness and high pain threshold, Roethlisberger first shook his hand as if to wake it up, then looked like a wounded animal as he clutched his arm and wincingly walked off the field.
Done for the season.
There are five flexor tendons that run down the underside of the forearm, from the elbow to the hand, and they are integral to moving the fingers and grip, as well as bending and turning the wrist. In Roethlisberger’s case, three of the five tendons tore loose from the bone.
Dr. Neal ElAttrache, world-renowned orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute, rebuilt his elbow and — along with Steelers doctor James Bradley — helped oversee the quarterback’s tenuous, year-long recovery.
“What the injury and recovery did was it turned the […]
Still ticking!
“Big Ben” to set franchise mark vs. Texans
“He’s not the old dog that can’t learn new tricks. He wants to win. And that’s just the bottom line. … If we want to talk about everybody improving early in the season much like you would if we had a preseason, that means everybody and he takes that as personal as anybody because he wants to win and he wants to lead a group.” — Randy Fichtner on Ben.
From Will Graves, Associated Press:
Randy Fichtner watched the big kid with the strong arm and the sense of invincibility that is the province of the very young and immediately grew worried.
So Fichter, then the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterbacks coach, suggested to Ben Roethlisberger that he might want to think about getting rid of the ball a little sooner. Push the tempo a little faster. Don’t take so many risks. Absorb fewer hits.
In other words, play it safe.
“And I’ll never forget, he looked at me and says, ‘Randy, then I wouldn’t be me,’” Fichtner, now Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator, said Thursday. “And from that moment, I knew that there’s a reason why he’s been Big Ben.”
Improbably, all these years later, Roethlisberger is still here. Still playing. Still throwing. Still performing. And while he’s learned a thing or two about discretion during his 17 seasons in the league, the 20-something who seemed to welcome the punishment he received on a weekly basis has become the 38-year-old poised to set a mark that’s a testament to his durability and his adaptability.
When Roethlisberger runs onto the Heinz Field turf Sunday to lead Pittsburgh (2-0) against Houston (0-2), it will be his 221st game in the NFL. No Steelers player — not Terry Bradshaw or Joe Greene or Mel Blount or Jerome Bettis or all the rest — has played more games in black-and-gold. Maybe it’s fitting that when he takes his first snap, he’ll break a tie with Hall of Fame center Mike Webster for the most appearances in franchise history.
Roethlisberger credits his unexpected longevity on his faith and the fact he plays for one of the most stable teams in professional sports. Oh, and being built like a tight end more than a quarterback helps.
“God made me a bigger man than most quarterbacks,” Roethlisberger said. “So I think […]
‘I’m so thankful’
“I’ve been blessed to be around a lot of great football players and talent and teammates. I did take a lot of beating early on. A lot of that was my fault. God made me a bigger man than most quarterbacks, so I think I can take it and I’m just enjoying playing this game.” — Ben.
From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:
When the Steelers take on the Houston Texans on Sunday, Ben Roethlisberger will make history.
In his 17th season with the team, Roethlisberger will play in his 221st career game, setting a new record for the most games ever in franchise history. Roethlisberger will break the tie he current holds with Hall of Fame center Mike Webster at 220 games, something that the quarterback takes pride in.
“I attribute it to Jesus and just really being blessed,” said Roethlisberger of his longevity. “I am so thankful to be in the black and gold 17 years later. Almost half my life, I’ve been here giving Steelers fans everything I have. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I wouldn’t want to do it for any other team or any other fans.”
Roethlisberger truly understands those blessings after missing the vast majority of last season with an elbow injury. It gave him an opportunity to look at his game differently. Before, it was all about his arm. Now, coming off the elbow surgery, he knows he has to focus on other aspects of his game.
“Going back and reviewing, I felt from Week 1 to Week 2, my pocket presence and awareness was better,” said Roethlisberger. “I do feel I got a little lazy with my feet, which then, in turn, translated to a lazy arm. There were some throws that I kind of dropped my elbow. I don’t want to get too technical, but it became more of a three-quarter release instead of an over the top when I didn’t need to.
“There are obviously times you have to change your release point. There were too many throws, I felt looking back, that I just have to get my feet working better, and that will then translate, hopefully, to the rest of the body. Then I won’t be guiding some of the throws. That’s, to me, the biggest thing I’m going to work on today, even […]
Twitter Tuesday
The @_BigBen7 Foundation donated the funds to purchase & train K9 Samson in 2019. In a little over a year since getting certified, K9 Samson has aided Wildlife Officers in locating evidence in numerous poaching cases ranging from moose to trout & from mountain goat to pronghorn.
‘It was a really cool experience to be able to get that ball. It was cool to get that gift and be able to send that to my Dad who I know is going to appreciate it.’ – Kevin Dotson on what it meant to get the game ball from
@_BigBen7 to give to his dad – a lifelong @steelers fan.
WOW! My Dad just sent me this from back home in Edinboro. His buddy George Humes is about 2 weeks from finishing this @steelers masterpiece. Amazing work!
In the 2018 season Ben Roethlisberger had 34 passing tds the most in his career for one season. 34 td is also the most td in a single season in Steelers history also. @steelers @_BigBen7 #NFL
Big Ben is back in a BIG way! @MiamiRedHawks | #MACtion