zulater
11-11-2013, 02:28 AM
Ben Roethlisberger isn't going anywhere.
He'll stay with the Steelers for as long as they'll have him, and that's for the foreseeable future, well beyond the expiration of his current contract in two years. He'll then retire with the team, and he and his family will make their permanent home in Pittsburgh.
I believe that.
Just as I believe that the key to understanding why is to tune out all the noise.
All of it.
To start, discard the ridiculous report that the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport put out Sunday that Roethlisberger and the team might be planning — lock on those last three words to judge newsworthiness — to part ways at season's end. The report's sources characterized the feelings of a player and the team, yet the report itself never attributes anything to Roethlisberger, his agent Ryan Tollner or Art Rooney II.
All those guys will do is, you know, decide everything.
But go further. Don't listen, either, to the strongly worded denials from Roethlisberger or Tollner or Rooney during and after the Steelers' 23-10 victory over the Bills at Heinz Field.
Turn all of the volume down to zero.
Instead, go with your eyes.
Look at what Roethlisberger has done, at his actions, even in this most miserable of seasons, and ask if this individual, as the report charges, wants out.
Ramon Foster, as often happens, put it best: “That guy's no quitter, and you're seeing that now more than ever.”
I'll emphatically second that: I've never been more impressed by Roethlisberger and, as a result, I've never been more convinced of his commitment to the Steelers.
But don't take my word for it. Go inside the huddle. Go ask the men who know him far better than any of us.
Ask left tackle Kelvin Beachum about his encounter with Roethlisberger on the sideline during the final seconds Sunday, not long after Beachum allowed a defender a blindside sack.
“I asked Ben, ‘How's your body?' And he just said he was OK but that we have to do better,” Beachum recalled. “He holds us accountable, but he doesn't cuss us out, and he never gets discouraged. Never. There's frustration, but he just wants to keep going.”
Roethlisberger, for the record, has been sacked 35 times behind this patchwork line — four more Sunday, plus three other hits — and his next public complaint will be the first. His next missed snap will be the first, too.
Ask Jerricho Cotchery how Roethlisberger handles similar issues with his wide receivers.
“Never heard the first complaint,” Cotchery said. “This man gets hit, and all he does is line up for the next play. Mentally, I don't think there are too many NFL players at any position who can match him. He's that tough.”
That sound like a quitter to you, someone scrambling for a parachute?
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/dejankovacevic/dejancolumns/5039855-74/roethlisberger-steelers-ben#ixzz2kK8OiFUw
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He'll stay with the Steelers for as long as they'll have him, and that's for the foreseeable future, well beyond the expiration of his current contract in two years. He'll then retire with the team, and he and his family will make their permanent home in Pittsburgh.
I believe that.
Just as I believe that the key to understanding why is to tune out all the noise.
All of it.
To start, discard the ridiculous report that the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport put out Sunday that Roethlisberger and the team might be planning — lock on those last three words to judge newsworthiness — to part ways at season's end. The report's sources characterized the feelings of a player and the team, yet the report itself never attributes anything to Roethlisberger, his agent Ryan Tollner or Art Rooney II.
All those guys will do is, you know, decide everything.
But go further. Don't listen, either, to the strongly worded denials from Roethlisberger or Tollner or Rooney during and after the Steelers' 23-10 victory over the Bills at Heinz Field.
Turn all of the volume down to zero.
Instead, go with your eyes.
Look at what Roethlisberger has done, at his actions, even in this most miserable of seasons, and ask if this individual, as the report charges, wants out.
Ramon Foster, as often happens, put it best: “That guy's no quitter, and you're seeing that now more than ever.”
I'll emphatically second that: I've never been more impressed by Roethlisberger and, as a result, I've never been more convinced of his commitment to the Steelers.
But don't take my word for it. Go inside the huddle. Go ask the men who know him far better than any of us.
Ask left tackle Kelvin Beachum about his encounter with Roethlisberger on the sideline during the final seconds Sunday, not long after Beachum allowed a defender a blindside sack.
“I asked Ben, ‘How's your body?' And he just said he was OK but that we have to do better,” Beachum recalled. “He holds us accountable, but he doesn't cuss us out, and he never gets discouraged. Never. There's frustration, but he just wants to keep going.”
Roethlisberger, for the record, has been sacked 35 times behind this patchwork line — four more Sunday, plus three other hits — and his next public complaint will be the first. His next missed snap will be the first, too.
Ask Jerricho Cotchery how Roethlisberger handles similar issues with his wide receivers.
“Never heard the first complaint,” Cotchery said. “This man gets hit, and all he does is line up for the next play. Mentally, I don't think there are too many NFL players at any position who can match him. He's that tough.”
That sound like a quitter to you, someone scrambling for a parachute?
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/dejankovacevic/dejancolumns/5039855-74/roethlisberger-steelers-ben#ixzz2kK8OiFUw
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