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Ben Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger at NFL.com

Ben Roethlisberger (born March 2, 1982 in Findlay, Ohio) nicknamed "Big Ben," is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. He led his team to a victory against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL in just his second year in the league and is the youngest quarterback to do so. He also set the record for the lowest quarterback rating of any winning Super Bowl quarterback.

Early years

At Findlay High School in Findlay, Ohio, Roethlisberger was captain of the football, basketball, and baseball teams. In baseball he batted .300.

Roethlisberger did not play quarterback until his senior year, giving way to Ryan Hite, the coach's son. Instead, Roethlisberger played wide receiver because coach Cliff Hite explained to The (Toledo) Blade, "My son throwing to Ben was a better combination." [1]

Roethlisberger threw for 4,041 yards, 54 touchdowns and seven interceptions in his one season as quarterback at Findlay.

The elder Hite, who still coaches at Findlay but is currently seeking elective office as a representative to the state General Assembly and probabaly discontinuing his coaching as a result, is most renowned nationally as the punch line to the joke: "Who is the only person who could stop Ben Roethlisberger from throwing a touchdown?"

Hite told The Blade regarding the blunder: "I'm a nationally known knucklehead."

In a twist of irony, Roethslisberger played college quarterback at Division I Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Roethlisberger holds every major passing record at the school and a number of passing records in the Mid-American Conference despite the fact that he only played for three years. Ryan Hite, meanwhile, played college football at Division III Denison University where he set numerous receiving records.

NFL career

Roethlisberger was taken 11th overall in the 2004 NFL Draft. On August 4 2004 Roethlisberger signed his first contract with the Steelers, a six-year, $14 million contract with a signing bonus around $9 million, and was touted by Steelers coach Bill Cowher in a press conference as a franchise quarterback.

He took over from Steelers starting quarterback Tommy Maddox after Maddox was injured during a game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2. As a rookie, he went 13-0 in the regular season as a starting quarterback, surpassing former Steeler Mike Kruczek for the record for the best start by a rookie (6-0), and exceeding the mark for total wins as a rookie set by Chris Chandler and Joe Ferguson. Roethlisberger received much praise from coaches in the NFL including Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells who compared him to NFL legend Dan Marino. On January 5, 2005 Roethlisberger was unanimously selected as The NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press, the second quarterback to be so honored.

In 2004, perhaps Roethlisberger's greatest feat was leading the Steelers to a 34-20 victory over the defending Super Bowl champions, the previously undefeated New England Patriots, ending their NFL-record 21-game winning streak. He completed 18 of his 24 pass attempts, including a 47-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress. He racked up 196 yards, two touchdowns, and threw no interceptions. The week after that game the Steelers defeated the also previously undefeated Philadelphia Eagles 27-3. Roethlisberger was 11 for 18, with two touchdowns and one interception.

In the divisional playoffs against the New York Jets, Roethlisberger threw one touchdown and two interceptions. One interception was returned for a touchdown, and the other was thrown with 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, which set up a potential game-winning field goal by Jets kicker Doug Brien. Brien missed the kick as time expired (his second missed kick in the last 2 minutes of the game), and forced the game into overtime. In overtime, Roethlisberger led the Steelers down the field and put them in position for the game-winning field goal, a 33-yard attempt that was made by Jeff Reed, sending the Steelers into the AFC Championship Game for the 4th time in 10 years.

On January 23, 2005 in the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger completed 14 of 24 pass attempts for 226 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw three costly interceptions. The Steelers lost the game to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots by a score of 41 - 27.

In Roethlisberger's rookie season, he set many rookie passing records, including best passer rating (98.1), and highest completion percentage (66.4%).

In the 2005 regular season, the Steelers finished 11-5 and secured an AFC wild card spot, en route a stunning victory in Super Bowl XL, where the Steelers pulled off amazing upsets at Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Denver in the AFC playoffs. During the course of the regular season, Roethlisberger generally played well when healthy, but missed four games due to various knee injuries. During the regular season, the Steelers were 9-3 with Roethlisberger at quarterback, and 2-2 without him. Many Steelers fans believe that the continued success of the team depends largely upon whether Roethlisberger is healthy or not.

The Road to Super Bowl XL

After the loss in the 2004-2005 AFC Championship Game, Roethlisberger asked veteran running back, Jerome Bettis, to delay retirement, saying he would get Bettis to his first Super Bowl. He lived up to his promise. In 2005, Roethlisberger led the Steelers on an improbable run, winning three straight games on the road to put Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl XL. What made the run remarkable was that the Steelers began the post season as the sixth seed in the AFC. Since the NFL's current playoff format began, no sixth seed had previously even made it to a conference championship game, let alone the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl run began on Sunday, January 8, 2006 as Roethlisberger helped lead the Steelers to a playoff win over the Cincinnati Bengals -- an AFC North rival that had beaten the Steelers a few weeks earlier to win the division crown.

The second road win came on Sunday, January 15, 2006 and may be the most remembered. Roethlisberger led the 6th-seeded Steelers against the top seed Indianapolis Colts, the NFL's top team throughout the season and a heavy favorite to represent the AFC in Super Bowl XL. Roethlisberger threw for 197 yards and recorded a game-saving tackle on Colts' defensive back Nick Harper, who had just recovered a Jerome Bettis fumble with under two minutes to play in the game. The tackle quite possibly saved the game for the Steelers, who dominated early but survived a Colts comeback to win 21-18. That particular play was compared by many to "The Immaculate Reception" back in 1972 when Franco Harris made a miraculous reception and scored the game-winning touchdown against the Oakland Raiders . The victory marked the first time a sixth-seeded NFL playoff team defeated the first-seeded team in the NFL playoffs.

On January 22, 2006, in Denver, the Steelers beat the Denver Broncos 34-17 to advance to Super Bowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks in Detroit. Roethlisberger completed 21 of 29 passes for 275 yards. He threw for two touchdowns and scored one himself on a four yard play-action bootleg; his run was the last touchdown of the game, and sealed the win for the Steelers. On February 5, 2006, in Detroit, the Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XL 21-10 over the Seattle Seahawks. Roethlisberger completed just 9 of 21 passes and threw two interceptions and had one rushing touchdown; his passer rating of 22.6 was the lowest in Super Bowl history by a winning quarterback. In the days following the game, he admitted that "I told Coach, 'I don't think I got in,'" referring to a contoversial call of a QB sneak to put the Steelers ahead for good. This call, along with numerous other controversial calls by the officiating crew that went against both Seattle and Pittsburgh, were much discussed after the game. Roethlisberger also became the youngest quarterback ever to win the Super Bowl, a record previously held by Tom Brady of the New England Patriots.

In the week leading up to the big game, thousands of fans from all over the world signed an online pledge to stop shaving their facial hair in support of Big Ben and his beard. The site, www.bensbeard.com[2] , was created by five University of Pittsburgh students and attracted over 14,135 names in just one week. Roethlisberger reportedly struck a deal with Gillette and shaved off the beard on "The Late Show with David Letterman" using a new Gillete Fusion razor as a promotion. He also mentioned on the show that he didn't think that he got into the end zone on his controversial one yard touchdown run.

Style of Play

Roethlisberger is a traditional pocket passer, but he can scramble when necessary. His nickname of "Big Ben" is well earned, as he is tied with Jacksonville Jaguars starter, Byron Leftwich, Indianapolis Colts starter, Peyton Manning, and Cincinnati Bengals starter, Carson Palmer, for tallest starting quarterback in the NFL (all four are 6'5"). He is also among the heaviest quarterbacks in the NFL at 241 (or so) pounds. His size allows him to read defenses and look over the line to see blitzes and stunt plays. He has a big arm that can seemingly get the ball anywhere on the field. His favorite targets in the 2005 season were four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Hines Ward and rookie tight end Heath Miller, the Steelers' first pick in the 2005 NFL Draft.

Records

• Most career touchdowns by a Miami University quarterback - 84
• Most wins by an NFL rookie quarterback (2004) - 13 games (Roethlisberger did not play in the Steelers' wins over Oakland or Buffalo during their 15-1 season)
• Highest quarterback rating by an NFL rookie quarterback (2004) - 98.1
• Highest completion percentage by an NFL rookie quarterback (2004) - 66.4%
• Most consecutive regular season wins by an NFL quarterback before recording his first career regular season loss (2004-5) - 15 games
• First quarterback to start two Conference Championship games in their first two seasons in the NFL (2004 & 2005)
• Second youngest quarterback to play in the Super Bowl (2005), only behind Dan Marino
• Youngest Quarterback to win the Super Bowl (2005)
• 27-4 won/loss record as a starting quarterback in the NFL (as of 2/5/06)

Trivia

• Has a burger named after him, called the "Roethlis-burger," which costs $7.00 at Peppi's, a restaurant in Pittsburgh. The burger is topped with sausage, scrambled eggs, grilled onions, and American cheese on a Portuguese roll. Also has a very large burger named after him at Tony's in his hometown.

• Wears #7 to pay tribute to John Elway of the Denver Broncos.

• Owns a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, which he can only ride during the off-season due to contract restrictions. Does not wear a helmet.

• Visited ECW in June 1994, and admitted he was fascinated by the wrestlers' moves and how the fans could interact with the matches.

• Is a big fan of World Wrestling Entertainment and attended a house show in Pittsburgh with teammates as part of a bonding trip before their playoff run. He had pictures with himself and Triple H and Trish Stratus.

• Attends St. Paul's Methodist Church. [3]

• Is the youngest quarterback to ever win the Super Bowl, at 23.

• Grew a beard in his 2005/2006 season after the Steelers lost to the Cincinnati Bengals. He credits the beard as the good luck charm that led him on an 8-game winning streak, straight to Super Bowl XL.

External links

• Ben Roethlisberger's Official Web Site