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polamalubeast
08-24-2010, 04:03 PM
Cowher: Roethlisberger finally showing maturity
By RACHEL COHEN (AP) – 13 minutes ago

NEW YORK — Former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher says it was hard to get through to Ben Roethlisberger after the quarterback had so much success early in his career.

Yet Cowher believes the sexual assault investigation that led to a six-game suspension for Roethlisberger was a "slap in the face" that has led to some much-needed maturity.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Cowher described how Roethlisberger used to respond to advice about his off-field behavior. "'But we're winning games. We're winning championships,'" Cowher recounted. "'What do you mean? Isn't that what we're here to do?'"

"Yeah," Cowher said, "but there's more to it than that."

"It's the whole body of work. It's you as a person, what kind of legacy you want to leave," he added. "I really think he understands that now."


read more

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g5TdkMXThuvm4AI0XqqtUoKBVA4QD9HQ2S901

Hindes204
08-24-2010, 04:52 PM
Great read. I hope he matures, I have always liked him as a player...as a person, not so much. Some of my good friends back home in Pittsburgh have met him on a few occasions at various places (usually bars, lol) and said he was never that nice of a person...very cocky and "its all about me" kinda guy. I cant personally say that, Ive never met him myself, these are just things Ive heard from friends back home. I think this was a humbling experience, and I hope he grows from it

stillers4me
08-24-2010, 05:12 PM
Having Coach Cowher on his side says alot. Both to Ben's new attitude and his sincerity about it. Brings a little tear to my eye................... :chuckle:

zulater
08-24-2010, 05:44 PM
Great read. I hope he matures, I have always liked him as a player...as a person, not so much. Some of my good friends back home in Pittsburgh have met him on a few occasions at various places (usually bars, lol) and said he was never that nice of a person...very cocky and "its all about me" kinda guy. I cant personally say that, Ive never met him myself, these are just things Ive heard from friends back home. I think this was a humbling experience, and I hope he grows from it

At the risk of coming off as a jerk myself, in regard to your friends.



If you don't go to the bar with a person, aren't intoduced to them by a mutual friend or acquaintance, then infringe on his or her privacy in the course of their evening, chances are he or she aren't go to be particularly impressed with you either.

That's not to say Ben couldn't or shouldn't have put on a better face in public. That's not to say he didn't need to improve himself as a person, but I've grown tired of these second hand accounts of Big Bad Ben.

O'Malley
08-24-2010, 05:45 PM
This may be what he needed to bring him back th Earth.

siss
08-24-2010, 05:51 PM
Having Coach Cowher on his side says alot. Both to Ben's new attitude and his sincerity about it. Brings a little tear to my eye................... :chuckle:

Our little QB is growing into a man...it makes a fan proud!

Edman
08-24-2010, 05:54 PM
Ben has no choice but to show maturity. Or else he'll be in another city playing for someone else.

It makes me glad he's been suspended. He needs to be put in his place as a player. Even if he hasn't been charged, he has shown he lack of mental capacity to stay focused on his profession. So let's see if being punished will set him straight. He can be a jerk as much as he wants, just keep your crap to yourself and out of the papers.

The Steelers were not afraid to pull the plug on Santonio even though he won a Super Bowl MVP for them. He couldn't keep his **** together and now he's gone.

Either way, even though Ben is a great QB, he's an asshole until proven otherwise. He's been given a chance and we'll see how he takes advantage of it.

Hindes204
08-24-2010, 06:22 PM
At the risk of coming off as a jerk myself, in regard to your friends.



If you don't go to the bar with a person, aren't intoduced to them by a mutual friend or acquaintance, then infringe on his or her privacy in the course of their evening, chances are he or she aren't go to be particularly impressed with you either.

That's not to say Ben couldn't or shouldn't have put on a better face in public. That's not to say he didn't need to improve himself as a person, but I've grown tired of these second hand accounts of Big Bad Ben.

You aren't coming off as a jerk, and I understand exactly what you are saying. But these accounts from friends of mine were not only personal encounters, but observations of the way he acted in clubs towards other fans, females, bartenders, and other staff. Like I said, I have no way of telling exactly how he was acting, I wasn't there, but these are close friends, die hard Steeler fans, and I have no reason to believe they would lie

Killer
08-24-2010, 06:22 PM
I still say Ben needs to go on a trip to Europe and buy a nice meat and potatoes Polish bride.

siss
08-24-2010, 06:38 PM
I still say Ben needs to go on a trip to Europe and buy a nice meat and potatoes Polish bride.

I volunteer my services! I'll keep him line!

Killer
08-24-2010, 06:51 PM
You go girl!

Can you make Pierogies?

siss
08-24-2010, 06:55 PM
You go girl!

Can you make Pierogies?

Does Benjamin like Pierogies? I will learn to make whatever the stud wants to eat. Good food will keep him coming home at night. The way to a mans heart is throw his stomach!

zulater
08-24-2010, 07:00 PM
You aren't coming off as a jerk, and I understand exactly what you are saying. But these accounts from friends of mine were not only personal encounters, but observations of the way he acted in clubs towards other fans, females, bartenders, and other staff. Like I said, I have no way of telling exactly how he was acting, I wasn't there, but these are close friends, die hard Steeler fans, and I have no reason to believe they would lie

I don't think your friends lied, I'm sure Ben didn't live up to their expectations of what they wanted him to be. I have no doubt that he came off as a jerk. But i still don't think that neccessarily was the real person. He did have friends, friends who weren't thugs or low lifes. Jerome Bettis was down visiting Ben the day before things went sideways in Ga. According to many Max Starks is one of the best people inside the Steelers locker room, he and Ben are tight. Same with Brett keisel and Heath Miller. There's more than one side to the coin so to speak.

Killer
08-24-2010, 07:03 PM
Does Benjamin like Pierogies? I will learn to make whatever the stud wants to eat. Good food will keep him coming home at night!

A little kielbasa and sauerkraut will keep me in your nest. I'm easy.

siss
08-24-2010, 07:27 PM
I don't think your friends lied, I'm sure Ben didn't live up to their expectations of what they wanted him to be. I have no doubt that he came off as a jerk. But i still don't think that neccessarily was the real person. He did have friends, friends who weren't thugs or low lifes. Jerome Bettis was down visiting Ben the day before things went sideways in Ga. According to many Max Starks is one of the best people inside the Steelers locker room, he and Ben are tight. Same with Brett keisel and Heath Miller. There's more than one side to the coin so to speak.
Exactly! If Ben was such an ass then why is so close with Keisel, Miller and Starks? Not to mention Aaron Smith and Willie Colon. Ben has his friends on the team. I think that Ben is the type of guy you have to get to know a little before he brings down his defenses.

SirHulka
08-25-2010, 02:57 AM
How he acts now is not the question. The question is, if he has great success this year, will 'Big Ben' return with his ego unchecked, or will the 'new and improved' Ben Roethlisberger remain? JMHO, but an inflated ego is a hard thing to change. MAYBE, just maybe, the suspension brought him back to earth, and he'll stay there. But only time will tell.

Galax Steeler
08-25-2010, 03:33 AM
Nice read on Ben. Hopefully Cowher is right about Ben hopefully he has matured and is ready to play some football and lead the Steelers to some Super Bowls.

Craic
08-25-2010, 04:28 AM
I don't think your friends lied, I'm sure Ben didn't live up to their expectations of what they wanted him to be. I have no doubt that he came off as a jerk. But i still don't think that neccessarily was the real person. He did have friends, friends who weren't thugs or low lifes. Jerome Bettis was down visiting Ben the day before things went sideways in Ga. According to many Max Starks is one of the best people inside the Steelers locker room, he and Ben are tight. Same with Brett keisel and Heath Miller. There's more than one side to the coin so to speak.

And yet none of them came to his defense either... and not just about the accusations of being a 2x rapist. They haven't come to his defense concerning his actions around the 'burgh either. I am not saying he was or was not like that. I don't know. I too have heard second hand accounts (some friends in Louisville were Potsie's cousins). However, it is only second hand and thus, doesn't carry that much weight for me.

However, if having these guys as close friends is proof that he is a good guy-- then their not speaking up for him concerning what is being said about him around town means what? That they aren't as good of friends as Ben thought? That they are not as good a people as we thought? Or the coach told them all to keep quite and not defend Ben? Or that maybe they know more about Ben's actions than we do?

I'd take the latter... and it fits a pattern with what Cowher said, with the reports of Ben's attitude at golf tournaments, and why he thought he could do things and other people were ok with it-hence, Georgia. And yeah, once again, that is exactly what I think happened in both cases. As I have said many times before. Ben was thinking he was just being suave--Big Ben. The girl wasn't thinking it so much... and the fine line in the middle got really, really blurry.

zulater
08-25-2010, 05:27 AM
And yet none of them came to his defense either... and not just about the accusations of being a 2x rapist. They haven't come to his defense concerning his actions around the 'burgh either. I am not saying he was or was not like that. I don't know. I too have heard second hand accounts (some friends in Louisville were Potsie's cousins). However, it is only second hand and thus, doesn't carry that much weight for me.

However, if having these guys as close friends is proof that he is a good guy-- then their not speaking up for him concerning what is being said about him around town means what? That they aren't as good of friends as Ben thought? That they are not as good a people as we thought? Or the coach told them all to keep quite and not defend Ben? Or that maybe they know more about Ben's actions than we do?

I'd take the latter... and it fits a pattern with what Cowher said, with the reports of Ben's attitude at golf tournaments, and why he thought he could do things and other people were ok with it-hence, Georgia. And yeah, once again, that is exactly what I think happened in both cases. As I have said many times before. Ben was thinking he was just being suave--Big Ben. The girl wasn't thinking it so much... and the fine line in the middle got really, really blurry.

I don't disagree with what you're saying here in some regards. I think Ben probably did walk around with a huge sense of entitlement and that it manifested itself in bad ways in many situations. That said i do think there's another side to Ben, the one that he put on for his best friends in other situatuns, situations where he didn't feel compelled to act the part so to speak.

As far as what he did with or to those two girls, I think he's owed the benifit of the doubt. The first accuser's story is like Mr. Toads wild ride, it goes all over the place, and doesn't really go anywhere i.e. wait a year to file civil charges, going to have Ben's baby, be Mrs roethlisberger, brag about it etc...

The second incident the accuser gave two vastly different accounts of what happened (one paints Ben as innocent, the other as guilty) and then refused to cooperate further with investigators thereafter.To me it's absurd to brand anyone with guilt given such a circumstance, I'd go as far as to say it's Un American, against what wer'e supposed to stand for in this country.A presumption of innocene is supposed to be assumed for any charged defendent that goes before a court, yet in this case an uncharged citizen is presumed guilty by all too many.

siss
08-25-2010, 08:53 AM
I think Ben has said that he's had to tell some people not to defend him and to cool it. And Im sure his friends don't feel the need to defend rumors. Ben has admitted to being a butt, he's apologized for it. Its time to move on. Its time to judge him based on what he does from now on and not what someone's second cousins best friends hairdressers baby daddy saw at a bar.

zulater
08-25-2010, 09:37 AM
I think Ben has said that he's had to tell some people not to defend him and to cool it. And Im sure his friends don't feel the need to defend rumors. Ben has admitted to being a butt, he's apologized for it. Its time to move on. Its time to judge him based on what he does from now on and not what someone's second cousins best friends hairdressers baby daddy saw at a bar.

:lol:

SteelGhost
08-25-2010, 10:27 AM
And yet none of them came to his defense either... and not just about the accusations of being a 2x rapist. They haven't come to his defense concerning his actions around the 'burgh either. I am not saying he was or was not like that. I don't know. I too have heard second hand accounts (some friends in Louisville were Potsie's cousins). However, it is only second hand and thus, doesn't carry that much weight for me.

However, if having these guys as close friends is proof that he is a good guy-- then their not speaking up for him concerning what is being said about him around town means what? That they aren't as good of friends as Ben thought? That they are not as good a people as we thought? Or the coach told them all to keep quite and not defend Ben? Or that maybe they know more about Ben's actions than we do?

I'd take the latter... and it fits a pattern with what Cowher said, with the reports of Ben's attitude at golf tournaments, and why he thought he could do things and other people were ok with it-hence, Georgia. And yeah, once again, that is exactly what I think happened in both cases. As I have said many times before. Ben was thinking he was just being suave--Big Ben. The girl wasn't thinking it so much... and the fine line in the middle got really, really blurry.

I think he and the FO did. The Steelers organization did the right thing to have less impact from the media. This time silence in golden IMHO

O'Malley
08-25-2010, 11:47 AM
How he acts now is not the question. The question is, if he has great success this year, will 'Big Ben' return with his ego unchecked, or will the 'new and improved' Ben Roethlisberger remain? JMHO, but an inflated ego is a hard thing to change. MAYBE, just maybe, the suspension brought him back to earth, and he'll stay there. But only time will tell.

To be a great athlete you have to have a big ego. You have to learn to keep that ego on the field. But overall I have to agree that time will tell. I have faith that Ben has learned and will move on in a possitive manner.

O'Malley
08-25-2010, 11:49 AM
Does Benjamin like Pierogies? I will learn to make whatever the stud wants to eat. Good food will keep him coming home at night. The way to a mans heart is throw his stomach!

You have the right idea. If only he could meet a good woman and settle down. Nice posts by the way.:drink:

steeldawg
08-25-2010, 12:00 PM
Ben has no choice but to show maturity. Or else he'll be in another city playing for someone else.

It makes me glad he's been suspended. He needs to be put in his place as a player. Even if he hasn't been charged, he has shown he lack of mental capacity to stay focused on his profession. So let's see if being punished will set him straight. He can be a jerk as much as he wants, just keep your crap to yourself and out of the papers.

The Steelers were not afraid to pull the plug on Santonio even though he won a Super Bowl MVP for them. He couldn't keep his **** together and now he's gone.

Either way, even though Ben is a great QB, he's an asshole until proven otherwise. He's been given a chance and we'll see how he takes advantage of it.

I never saw ben not be able to focus on his profession. His profession is nfl quaterback and he does that pretty damn well. As for santonio the whole thing came down to his contract , it was not some nobel move by the rooneys. I want Ben to be a cocky asshole if thats the edge that keeps him winning, Im not trying to be friends with the guy i just want him winning football games. This whole attitude that being a jerk warrants a 6 game suspension is ridiculous.

SteelerEmpire
08-25-2010, 04:35 PM
Yea... under the cross-hairs of the Commish... Hopefully he proves he has learned better "socialization" skills in the future.

polamalubeast
08-26-2010, 08:53 PM
Roethlisberger honored by Cowher's comments

Ben Roethlisberger hopes to play Sunday night in Denver, expects to hear from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell soon about his conditional suspension and has no problem with recent comments made by former Steelers coach Bill Cowher.

Cowher told the Associated Press in an interview earlier this week that Roethlisberger has been hard to reach in regard to his-off-the-field behavior during the latter's first three years in the league. Cowher, who told AP that he believes Roethlisberger is a good person, likened it to a child not always listening to his or her parents and having to learn something the hard way.

"Any time a Hall of Fame coach kind of gives that fatherly advice, it's an honor that he sees you in that light," Roethlisberger said Wednesday after practice. "I think it's a good thing."


read more

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_696541.html

Killer
08-26-2010, 09:00 PM
oh yes you are....Go Ben Go!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zZS1WQGvUDk/SmZH7vuJzrI/AAAAAAAAB4c/MNHQKImvjpI/s400/Big+Ben.jpg

The WH
08-29-2010, 03:42 AM
I think he΄s still an asshole under all this ''maturity''

HometownGal
08-29-2010, 07:35 AM
I volunteer my services! I'll keep him line!

Are you Polish siss? :chuckle: ;)

Very nice read and it does appear Ben is finally growing up and realizing that life (and his career) is way too short (and precious) to waste. :thumbsup: