If the Steelers win the Super Bowl, Big Ben is going to celebrate at the craziest roadside bar in Pennsylvania. He will share the date on Twitter with his oldest friends and they will all spread the address of the venue on the Internet, inviting all the strippers in the area to attend the sluttiest party of the season. He will arrive riding his motorcycle, of course, without a helmet, and possibly under some kind of influence. Yes, Ben Roethlisberger was one of the greatest quarterbacks of his generation, but unlike the clean image that his peers like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Philip Rivers have, Ben Roethlisberger was never really very far away from trouble. He played through numerous injuries and took his Pittsburgh Steelers to two Super Bowls. However, his life off the field was also riddled with issues (including some serious legal ones). In this post, we will take a look at the legendary Ben Roethlisberger and his controversial life. Let’s get started.
Ben Roethlisberger: The Man Of Steel
Who is “Big Ben” Roethlisberger?
Please be advised, this isn’t an article on a legendary quarterback like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady who have had very clean lives off the field. With Big Ben, there are going to be some more unsavoury things that we will talk about. We are talking about Big Ben. His nickname was probably given to him because of the deep inconvenience that it means to pronounce or write his first and last name. In Lima, Ohio, a small industrial city located between Dayton and Toledo, the intellectual atmosphere is not abundant. Ben was a typical kid from Lima. With his gang of friends, his parties, his alcohol binge parties, and a certain precocity when it comes to trying almost everything.
How was “Big Ben” Roethlisberger in college?
Nothing changed in college. Three infamous drunk escapades in the freshman year itself. He was about to be expelled from Miami University of Ohio for his constant appearance at each of the parties on campus. It was a loose verse, a lost bullet. Some say that little by little he reformed. However, that seems more like a PR move. Big Ben was very naughty as a child, he was naughty in college, worse in the NFL, and is probably going to stay the same forever. He had major issues with the NFL near the end of his career as well.
As you know, he invited a minor to drink, whom he took to the bathroom. No one knows what he did with her while her cronies blocked everyone’s way. He probably didn’t do anything illegal, in the US there is no compassion for celebrities. If he had done something punishable, he would have ended up in jail with no remission. The only sure thing is that the little girl went home with a bag full of cash and her mouth shut for once.
How is “Big Ben” Roethlisberger’s attitude towards football?
How unfair life is! Many players would have given an arm and a leg to wear a championship ring and Big Ben already has two. And the best thing is that he really loves it. He likes the march, the buddies, and the fun. He is young and life is short. We don’t think his two Super Bowl rings are among the biggest hits of his life. Surely he prefers that day in which he received fellatio from numerous women in a row or the other one where he managed to drink 100,000 liters of beer without passing out.
But don’t be fooled. Big Ben’s greatness is in his misery. Guys like him don’t do things because they’re right or wrong, because their teammates deserve it, or because of a hobby that reveres him. Big Ben does things for the reason that mattered most when he was a kid in his town: survival.
And Big Ben is not the quarterback with the best accuracy in the NFL, nor is he the one with the best vision of the game, nor with the most mobility, nor the… but there is no doubt that he is the guy with the most guts in the whole league. And we are not just talking about quarterbacks, it encompasses all positions. He even played a game with a larger sized shoe on one foot to accommodate for the injury related swelling.
How did “Big Ben” Roethlisberger start his career as an NFL player?
Bill Cowher, the coach who selected him with the 11th pick in the first round of the 2004 draft, knew what he was like and protected him like a baby from day one. An injury to the great Maddox, the insurance salesman, made him a starter when he had only played two official games as the Steelers’ second QB. 14 wins in a row in the regular season. Only Belichick and Brady’s Patriots were able to stop his climb to the ring in his first season. Big Ben was chosen rookie of the year and offensive rookie of 2004.
And a year later he became the youngest starting QB to win the ring. He celebrated by crashing into his motorcycle while driving without a helmet. American football did not offer him strong enough sensations. Who can criticize him? In the US, the helmet was not mandatory at the time of the crash, until the rules of your team say otherwise. Actually, Ben spent 2006 celebrating the title properly. To understand each other, big time. His season was miserable and the Steelers did not qualify for the playoffs.
Did “Big Ben” Roethlisberger rape someone?
Big Ben came back strong from his playoff miss. He won his second Super Bowl in 2008. Of course, the great celebration was not lacking. Shortly after receiving the ring, he was reported by Andrea McNulty. She claimed that Ben forced her into a Reno hotel room and then raped her. He was freed from charges and everyone assumed that she was just another prostitute that wanted to extort a rich athlete out of some serious cash. What the QB didn’t get away with was paying for the damage to the room. It was completely destroyed.
How was “Big Ben” Roethlisberger’s on field performance?
While all this was happening, Big Ben was gaining more prominence in the field. The traditional Steelers runners, little by little, became a very passing team. It may not seem like it, but it is so. That’s why Roethlisberger’s four-game ban earlier in the season was so good for them. The Lords of Steel regained their essence and remembered that they are capable of winning without Big Ben.
Perhaps it seems unfair to some people that a person like Big Ben (very different from the clean cut QB gods like Brady and Manning) personally has received a divine gift, but it is so. Big Ben was born to win American football games. And that’s why he only shows up, really, when his team needs him to succeed. In his first Super Bowl, he was a complete disaster. Nine completions, 123 yards, and two interceptions. Can’t really play much worse than that. But his team could win without him. In the second Super Bowl, he faced Kurt Warner. His team needed him. 21 of 30, 256 yards and the winning drive. Big Ben was very big. His incredible pass to Santonio Holmes (who pulled an even more incredible catch down) is the stuff of legend.
What is “Big Ben” Roethlisberger’s play style?
While Big Ben is definitely a gifted player, he isn’t so in a typical quarterback manner. Actually, he is the antithesis of someone like Aaron Rodgers. The gift materialized in the gift of opportunity. Ben throws deadly passes when he needs to, running undeterred while being pinned down by multiple defenders when necessary, and daring to go toe-to-toe with a gunslinger in a succession of scoring drives when he has to. Unlike Aaron Rodgers who rarely throws interceptions and generally plays it safe, Big Ben is not averse to taking risks at all.
If you ask a group of NFL fans about the quarterback they will choose for a comeback drive, a lot of them will choose Big Ben without hesitation. He will not be as aesthetic as Manning, nor as precise as Brady, nor as emotional as Favre, but he will be making two grooves in the ground, at the rate of first down, with horrible throws that end in perfect passes and runs converted into games of bowling. The inevitable conclusion will be the victory of his team.
Did “Big Ben” Roethlisberger face immense pressure in Pittsburgh?
With the 11th pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, the Steelers selected a 22-year-old from the University of Miami in Ohio, betting their future on him and committing (and, why not, pressuring) him to play for a franchise. where ‘the standard ‘, a term that existed long before Mike Tomlin, was to take home the Super Bowl.
Pittsburgh had a long drought without championships and that team from the 90s that had excited everyone in the city again had been left behind. The Tomlin era had not yet begun, and the Steelers had to give a defense that played with its usual identity, and on the offensive side, the Steelers needed a leader who could give them what they lacked.
Early on, Roethlisberger took on the role for which he was brought in. Supported by a ferocious defense and an attack that knew how to adapt to his abilities, Big Ben quickly showed that he was the face of the franchise, with memorable moments like his rookie campaign, where he went undefeated in the 13 games he started.
That is why it may be difficult to find the words to fire a player who, in an era where relationships are ephemeral and heroes no longer exist, took it upon himself to earn the nickname of idol, not only in the city he represented but also in the hearts of many American football fans.
Big Ben Roethlisberger was handed the keys to the offense and the franchise, guiding them, in his second season, to the Steelers’ first Super Bowl victory since 1980. Roethlisberger hadn’t been born the last time Pittsburgh had won the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
How mobile was “Big Ben” Roethlisberger?
Perhaps the lack of athleticism, an inexcusable quality in the modern quarterback, made his presence on the gridiron have a hint of mystique, reserved only for those QBs capable of carrying a team, regardless of the personnel that surrounds them, both inside and outside. of the field.
His movements inside the pocket, his way of escaping from the pressure worthy of a tango dance, his left hand always attentive to open spaces where he had them or the hidden cannon of his right arm will be elements that are difficult to forget in the city of Pittsburgh.
But this sport is about victories, like any other, and Big Ben got his second ring in a season where the Steelers, despite being favorites, did not play as such until the last game of the year.
Which is “Big Ben” Roethlisberger’s most iconic play?
For most NFL fans, Big Ben’s most iconic plays will come from Super Bowl XLIII, and in particular, the touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes at the end of the game, which has widely been hailed as one of the most spectacular plays of the greatest event in American football.
And within the successes, some did not have rings. One of the most effective offenses in NFL history was the one that Ben, already loaded with experience and aware of his talent, put together for several seasons with running back Le’Veon Bell and receiver Antonio Brown.
When a figure becomes so large that it mutates its form into an idol, sometimes humanity itself, its own ego, or unavoidable arrogance stains the pages of a book written by an award-winning playwright. Big Ben was no exception.
The accusations of sexual abuse and the subsequent suspension from the league for this conduct, the loss in Super Bowl XLV against the Green Bay Packers, a history of addictions and part of the blame for the offensive abyss of the last five seasons in Pittsburgh are also part of his career, and they should not be sidelined.
Is “Big Ben” Roethlisberger headed to the Hall of Fame?
If it were all about on field performance itself, Big Ben should be what is known as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But to be immortalized in Canton with a Bronze bust, a much broader analysis of a player’s career is required, to the point where great players don’t have their place in the Hall of Fame.
So, let’s get to the statistics. To the two rings, let’s add the Rookie of the Year award in 2004, Top 10 in NFL history in passing yards, touchdowns and passer rating, the first player to throw for 500 yards and the owner (solo or shared) of 52 records with the Pittsburgh Steelers. 163 wins as a starter (fifth QB with the most wins), of which 52 came in the last drive (fourth in the historical table).
If that’s all it was, we’re talking about someone who is in the conversation to be one of the ten best quarterbacks of all time. A value like that will get Ben Roethlisberger into the Hall of Fame as soon as that opportunity opens.