Raleigh Steel
01-22-2011, 05:57 PM
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-disregardingbigben012111
PITTSBURGH – Ben Roethlisberger(notes) and Terry Bradshaw seem destined to suffer the same fate.
No matter how many Super Bowls they win, they’ll never get respect for being central to that success. Call it the Steeler Syndrome.
“When you talk about the Steelers, it’s always about the defense, it’s never about Ben,” said Trent Dilfer, who helped the Baltimore Ravens win the Super Bowl in the 2000 season and now works as an analyst with ESPN. “To me, there are five truly great quarterbacks in the league right now: Tom Brady(notes), Peyton Manning(notes), Ben, Drew Brees(notes) and Philip Rivers(notes). Aaron Rodgers(notes) is getting there, but he doesn’t have the championship pelts or, in Rivers’ case, some pretty impressive playoff performances in conference championship games.
“You can take those five and put them in any order you want one thru five and it doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t call anyone crazy no matter what order you put those guys in. You can justify Tom being No. 1, Peyton No. 2 and Ben No. 3. You can justify Peyton being No. 1. You can justify Ben being No. 1, in my opinion. But, for whatever reasons, Ben doesn’t get as much respect as the others.”
Said another former signal caller turned analyst, Rich Gannon: “It’s like when Bradshaw was the Steelers quarterback and people didn’t think of him as one of the truly elite. You talk about Ben and people don’t give him his due, but then you look at some of the numbers and they’re amazing. Then you consider that he has two Super Bowl wins already and getting close to maybe getting a third and you say, ‘Man, there’s something pretty special going on here.’ ”
Yet both men notice the same thing that happens whenever any member of the media dares to compare Roethlisberger with Brady or Manning. The emails or calls pour in with criticism about how no one in their right mind would ever dare to really think that Roethlisberger is as good as those other guys. Any appreciation of Roethlisberger on that level is almost seen as heresy.
Dilfer and Gannon isolated a number of reasons why Roethlisberger, in particular, doesn’t get the same level of respect as other top passers.
PITTSBURGH – Ben Roethlisberger(notes) and Terry Bradshaw seem destined to suffer the same fate.
No matter how many Super Bowls they win, they’ll never get respect for being central to that success. Call it the Steeler Syndrome.
“When you talk about the Steelers, it’s always about the defense, it’s never about Ben,” said Trent Dilfer, who helped the Baltimore Ravens win the Super Bowl in the 2000 season and now works as an analyst with ESPN. “To me, there are five truly great quarterbacks in the league right now: Tom Brady(notes), Peyton Manning(notes), Ben, Drew Brees(notes) and Philip Rivers(notes). Aaron Rodgers(notes) is getting there, but he doesn’t have the championship pelts or, in Rivers’ case, some pretty impressive playoff performances in conference championship games.
“You can take those five and put them in any order you want one thru five and it doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t call anyone crazy no matter what order you put those guys in. You can justify Tom being No. 1, Peyton No. 2 and Ben No. 3. You can justify Peyton being No. 1. You can justify Ben being No. 1, in my opinion. But, for whatever reasons, Ben doesn’t get as much respect as the others.”
Said another former signal caller turned analyst, Rich Gannon: “It’s like when Bradshaw was the Steelers quarterback and people didn’t think of him as one of the truly elite. You talk about Ben and people don’t give him his due, but then you look at some of the numbers and they’re amazing. Then you consider that he has two Super Bowl wins already and getting close to maybe getting a third and you say, ‘Man, there’s something pretty special going on here.’ ”
Yet both men notice the same thing that happens whenever any member of the media dares to compare Roethlisberger with Brady or Manning. The emails or calls pour in with criticism about how no one in their right mind would ever dare to really think that Roethlisberger is as good as those other guys. Any appreciation of Roethlisberger on that level is almost seen as heresy.
Dilfer and Gannon isolated a number of reasons why Roethlisberger, in particular, doesn’t get the same level of respect as other top passers.