YinzPitt

E:60 did a report on Big Ben Roethlisberger and his ongoing sexual assault case the other night, and during that prime time television show, Big Ben talked about everything regarding his past present and future.  He even admitted a few of his early faults about the start of his career that surely most teammates on the Pittsburgh Steelers squad were surprised to hear:

“I wasn’t a good leader early on and I wasn’t the best teammate I could’ve been the first couple of years,” Roethlisberger said. “I was invincible; I was Superman. I was probably a little too confident, a little too cocky at times.”

In all honesty, I’ve heard a few random stories about people in Robinson who have actually had to deal with him at the start of his career and apparently he wasn’t a very pleasant person to be around.  So after he made mention of this, I wasn’t to surprised to hear what he said about himself and regarded his attitude in that way.

However, my view point still stands in this day in age.  The guy was coming out of Miami Ohio, started his career what 15-0?  How could he not think he was the next coming of Terry Bradshaw?  Not to mention all the new found fame and high pressure from the Pittsburgh media to succeed.

Brett Kiesel, being one of Ben’s best friends, was surprised to actually hear Big Ben say those words:

“That surprises me,” said defensive lineman Brett Keisel, who is Roethlisberger’s closest friend on the team. “That doesn’t sound like something he would say.”

“I don’t think that was the consensus of the team back then,” Keisel said. “Ben came in and had a lot on his shoulders right away. He had a lot of pressure.”

However, it was being reported when he first came in that Ben often sat by himself often when eating lunch or taking it back to his dorm

Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers

room all together.  He was regarded as a loner, or an above everyone else type guy.  I chalk it up to inexperience and a too much too fast lifestyle he was thrown into.  I’m sure anyone would feel the same way or handle it almost identical.  A young guy with a ton of money, and can basically do anything he wants in Pittsburgh.  How would you feel?

James Farrior made mention of all that pressure when asked how he felt about Ben’s statement on E:60:

“I wouldn’t say he wasn’t a good teammate,” Farrior said. “It was just, I think, a lot of things were happening around him. Being a quarterback of a good team, you have a lot of expectations that you might not realize.”

“It’s tough for a young guy sometimes being cast into that spotlight and that role if you’re not used to it,” Farrior said. “It can get to you, and it might seem like you’re distancing yourself from everybody.”

All in all, this looks to be like a team that knew the actual situation of what was happening to him, and did their best to put up with him because they were winning.  In the event that they actually were losing it may have been different, but winning solves all the problems and makes them a lot easier to deal with.

Another thing that Ben admitted to while being a young quarterback in Pittsburgh is that it took Charlie Batch to help him become a better teammate back in 2008:

“Some things were easy to hear and some things were tough to hear,” Roethlisberger said on “E:60.” “Charlie helped me to become a good teammate and friend to a lot of these guys.”

This again proves that Charlie Batch, if he’s willing, will make a great quarterbacks coach or a position coach somewhere.  I’ve always heard nothing but great things and how much of a stand-up guy he is in the city.  After all of the discussions Charlie had with Ben, it’s evident that it got to Ben, as he led them to the Super Bowl in 2008 and won it on a game winning drive, and now is having one of his best seasons with the team in 2009.  I can’t wait to see how this all turns out.

Quotes used from: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_652772.html