All's quiet on the Big Ben front

[fordfixer]

Shhhh! All's quiet on the Big Ben front
After storm-filled 2010 season, Roethlisberger likes the change
Sunday, August 07, 2011
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11219/1165773-66-0.stm

This will serve as your morning news flash emanating from Saint Vincent College involving Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger:

There is no news, and that is significant. The Steelers quarterback has been a hot newsroom topic for too many of his previous seven training camps in Latrobe, and it is a relief to him, his teammates and management that the storms have subsided, that every major news organization in America has not descended onto the tiny college campus to focus on Roethlisberger for a change.

He has noticed.

"I know, it's been nice," Roethlisberger said during an interview with the Post-Gazette in a Saint Vincent dorm. "Walking off the field, normally they're swarming me -- and they've been swarming other people. It's been very refreshing."

Roethlisberger and some teammates played roles as football players in some scenes Saturday morning for the new Batman movie "Dark Knight Rises" that were filmed at Heinz Field. And, in the Hollywood sense, this is his second act in pro football. He is 29 years old, married for two weeks and entering his eighth NFL season with the luxury of hearing more football questions these days than in previoius training camps.

"It's kind of refreshing to come into camp to just, you know, focus on football and focus on what I want to do in this 'second half' of my career, if you will," Roethlisberger said. "It's kind of a fun time right now."

It was no fun last summer when he had to prepare for a season in which he would sit out the first four games in a suspension delivered by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after Roethlisberger was accused but never charged with sexual assault in Georgia. He served his suspension and, by all accounts, has embraced his second act, changing his life and lifestyle. It is an ongoing process.

Other teammates are the ones on the front pages for the wrong reasons this summer -- Rashard Mendenhall and his tweets, Hines Ward and his DUI and James Harrison and his rants against Goodell.

Said Roethlisberger, "It's strange coming into camp and putting on SportsCenter and hearing about 'all the Steelers offseason problems with Hines Ward and James Harrison and Ben Roethlisberger.' And I was like, what did I do? I didn't do anything!"

Harrison, though, dragged him into it when, in his infamous Men's Journal interview, he complained about Roethlisberger's two interceptions in the Super Bowl and said he was no Peyton Manning.

"James Harrison is James Harrison, and there are no hard feelings there, no animosity," Roethlisberger said. "It's one of those things; once we get back together, it's water under the bridge.

"It didn't bother me one bit. I didn't know about it. I wouldn't have known about it if he hadn't called me. He called and left a message like, 'I know you want to talk to me, call me.' I was like, what are you talking about? I had no idea. I kind of let things go pretty easy so it didn't bother me at all. I'm harder on myself and I knew it was probably taken a little bit wrong because he's an emotional person."

The quarterback said he has more important matters at hand, like getting his offense grooved for the season after a week in which he did not have many of his linemen nor receivers available. Furthermore, Ward still is out and Emmanuel Sanders is sidelined with a foot injury.

When he looks up from center, he sees a dominating, veteran-choaked defense. He turns to his offense and sees he is the oldest player. Only Ward has been around longer. Nose tackle Casey Hampton mentioned that to him the past week at Saint Vincent.

"Hamp and I were talking the other day, and he said 'You're the second-oldest guy on offense?' Yeah, eight years, I'm the second-oldest on offense. Hines is the oldest one. Hamp was laughing because on defense there are a lot of 11-year guys, 12-13-year guys, a lot of older guys."

Roethlisberger lobbied for the Steelers to sign Plaxico Burress as a free agent because he felt Burress could lend a veteran hand along with Ward to a young group of receivers. Mike Wallace enters his third season as the clear No. 1. After Ward come Sanders and Antonio Brown, both second-year players, and a bunch fighting to become No. 5, led by Tyler Grisham. Roethlisberger said he is not worried about his receivers, their relative inexperience or injuries.

"On offense, it's just a matter of trying to get everybody on the same page, get the two --I should say three -- young receivers going; Mike is still a young guy who can learn a lot. I think we can be so dynamic, so explosive on offense if we just click and get things going. That's what this camp is good for, getting everybody together and getting it rolling.

"It's funny because coming into camp you say, we're so deep at receiver it's ridiculous. Then, all of a sudden, you're out there practicing and you say, man, we're getting thin. But Hines will be back, you don't have to worry about him. Supposedly, Emmanuel will be back in a couple of weeks. There are a lot of young guys. Before he stopped practicing, Emmanuel and Antonio, I was amazed at the leaps they took from year one to year two. Emmanuel was looking unbelievable. I'm hoping he'll be able to come back from that fully healed because he was looking pretty doggone good before he was hurt."

Again, his offensive line evolves. Willie Colon returns to right tackle after a year lost to injury. Jonathan Scott opens at left tackle. Chris Kemoeatu is on the physically-unable-to-perform list with a knee injury. There is competition at right guard. Max Starks and Flozell Adams, his two starting tackles from last season, were released, and Trai Essex, the former starting right guard, remains an unsigned free agent.

Roethlisberger has formed a bond with his linemen; many were in his wedding party. He sounded no alarms about a unit that, despite its critics, has played in two Super Bowls in the past three years.

"I think our line is as deep as it's ever been," Roethlisberger said. "We have guys who can bounce around to different spots. I just hope the guys can stay healthy because I don't know when I had the same five guys to start and end the year.

"That chemistry up front has got to be something you can build with. I'm hoping we keep guys healthy so those guys can just build that chemistry together."

And, for a training camp change, the chemistry does not include a volatile mix of issues at quarterback.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11219/11 ... z1UJvSTkBY (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11219/1165773-66-0.stm#ixzz1UJvSTkBY)

[hawaiiansteel]

Starkey: Big Ben's unique talent

By Joe Starkey, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, August 25, 2011

http://images.pictureshunt.com/pics/b/ben_roethlisberger-13779.jpg


What's he do on his worst days? That's what I want to know about a quarterback.

Ben Roethlisberger often wins on his worst days. He also has the best definition of quarterback toughness I've heard, one sure to send stats geeks running to their hard drives to see if it fits into one of their unfathomable formulas.

We broach the topic because it's that time of year — time for everybody to rank the quarterbacks. I don't know if Roethlisberger deserves to be ranked first, but I know this: He belongs in the conversation.

He agrees, as he should.

"I think every quarterback should believe they're the best," Roethlisberger said. "Do I think there are better quarterbacks than me? Possibly. But would I take anyone else with the ball in their hands at the end of the game? I don't think so."

This is where somebody fires off an email reminding me that Roethlisberger didn't get it done late in last year's Super Bowl.

OK, so that makes him 1 for 2 in epic Super Bowl-winning drives.

Numbers freaks are flummoxed on how to measure a quarterback because the statistics lie like winos.

Super Bowl titles? If that's your primary measurement, you must believe Mark Rypien was better than Dan Marino.

Passer rating? Tony Romo tops Tom Brady and Joe Montana.

Accuracy? Chad Pennington is the most accurate passer of all-time.

Won-loss record? Getting warmer. Roethlisberger is 69-29 in his career. Which brings us to his definition of toughness. He was sitting at a quarterbacks' round table a few years ago, with Sport Illustrated's Peter King, when he delivered the following gem:

"Toughness is playing the worst game of your life but not backing down. Down 21 points and the defense is getting through, and you throw three interceptions. Staying in that game, keeping your head up, trying to drive your team when everything's going wrong — that's the kind of toughness I want in my quarterback."

I think of last year's game at Baltimore, when Roethlisberger — having a miserable night with a banged-up foot and broken nose — was presented with an opportunity to win and snatched it. His biggest play was fending off Terrell Suggs and shoveling the ball out of bounds to avoid a sack.

Is there a stat for that?

I think of last year's AFC title game, when Roethlisberger rolled away from pressure and drilled a dart on the run, into the arms of Antonio Brown, to keep a hot Jets offense off the field for good.

Yes, the stat junkie will say, but if he'd made more plays earlier, it wouldn't have come to that.

Yes, I respond, but there was another team on the field — one that had humiliated St. Thomas Brady a week earlier — and when it boiled down to Super Bowl or no Super Bowl, Roethlisberger beat that team with a brilliant individual play.

I also think of Super Bowl XL, a game the stat mongers look at and see only Roethlisberger's minuscule passer rating. He wasn't good. But even on his worst day, he made winning plays. He set up the first touchdown with an ad-lib bomb to Hines Ward, threw a key block on the gadget-play TD and turned a busted play into a scramble first down when the Steelers were attempting to kill the clock.

Is there a stat for that?

The problem is that statistical devotees have forgotten the human element. They disregard the notion that an athlete -- whether it's a quarterback, pitcher or point guard -- can separate himself from his peers by consistently summoning the right stuff at just the right time.

Winning time.

Sports still is about winning, right?

Right?

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... z1W0q6QvcS (http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_753309.html#ixzz1W0q6QvcS)

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

Starkey: Big Ben's unique talent

By Joe Starkey, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, August 25, 2011

http://images.pictureshunt.com/pics/b/ben_roethlisberger-13779.jpg


What's he do on his worst days? That's what I want to know about a quarterback.

Ben Roethlisberger often wins on his worst days ...

The problem is that statistical devotees have forgotten the human element. They disregard the notion that an athlete -- whether it's a quarterback, pitcher or point guard -- can separate himself from his peers by consistently summoning the right stuff at just the right time.

Winning time.

Sports still is about winning, right?

Right?

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... z1W0q6QvcS (http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_753309.html#ixzz1W0q6QvcS)

Hear, hear!! :tt2 :tt1

[flippy]

I heard Joe Montana on Mike and Mike yesterday in the car and they asked him what are the top 1-2 things in terms of rating a QB.

Joe's top thing was how a QB handles pressure and how he makes a play with a defender in his face or on him. The way he was talking all I could think is Ben's the best by a long shot according to the way Joe's talking.

Then I heard our buddy Merril a little while later and they must have been running some poll on ESPN asking who's the best QB outside of Peyton/Brady and they had a list of guys they were discussing - Ben, Rodgers, Rivers, Eli, Brees, and a few others. Gotta love Hoge cause according to him it was Ben and #2 wasn't even close.

Hoge is an interesting guy. Very thoughtful and always pointing out little intricate things that most of the talking heads ignore or overlook. And then he goes all homer sometimes. So you gotta take him saying Ben's the best with a grain of salt. Or do you?

Then I heard someone else the other day questioning if QBs with low Wonderlichs can perform well in big games. They were saying that average Wonderlich of SuperBowl winning QBs over the last decade was in the 30s. Then guys like Marino and Favre have Wonderlichs around 20-21? Is that why those guys didn't consistently win the big games? Said the same thing about Ben having mediocre SuperBowls and was it because he's got a 25. Then they said his low Wonderlich seems to have a bigger impact on his decision making off the field. Haven't thought a lot about this, but I do wonder if there's some correlation between Wonderlich and SUperBowl/big game performance?

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

From wiki, below.

It also says in a part I didn't copy that a Wonderlic score of 20 is meant to correspond to IQ of 100, i.e., average intelligence.




Use in the NFL Combine

Though used in a variety of institutions, the Wonderlic test has become best known for its use in the NFL's Scouting Combine, its pre-draft assessments of prospective football players. According to Paul Zimmerman's The New Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football, examples of average scores for each position are:

Offensive tackle – 26
Center – 25
Quarterback – 24 (Most teams want at least 21 for a quarterback.)[6]
Guard – 23
Tight end – 22
Safety – 19
Linebacker – 19
Cornerback – 18
Wide receiver – 17
Fullback – 17
Halfback – 16

[edit] High scores

Pat McInally of Harvard is the only football player to record a confirmed perfect score of 50.[7][8] Boston College graduate Mike Mamula reportedly scored 49.[9] Ryan Fitzpatrick, also a Harvard graduate and currently a quarterback with the Buffalo Bills, scored 48 in nine minutes.[10] As of 2005, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Kevin Curtis of Utah State was reported to be tied with Fitzpatrick and Benjamin Watson of Georgia and the Cleveland Browns, with their 48 the highest Wonderlic score of active NFL players.[11] In 2011, New York Jets quarterback Greg McElroy of Alabama was believed to have scored 48, but it was quickly discovered that he only scored a still impressive 43.[12]
[edit] Predictor of success in the NFL

John P. Lopez of Sports Illustrated proposes a 26-27-60 rule to predict a quarterback's success in the NFL: At least a 26 on the Wonderlic, at least 27 college starts, and at least 60% pass completion, and lists several examples of successes and failures based on the rule.[13]

On the other hand, some well-known players have scored low on the test. Dan Marino and Vince Young both scored 16 on the test, though Young scored a 6 on his first attempt. Edit: And that was before we dumped him upside down on his head!![7] A 2005 study by McDonald Mirabile found that there is no significant correlation between Wonderlic scores and a quarterback's passer rating, and no significant correlation between Wonderlic scores and a quarterback's salary.[14] Similarly, a 2009 study by Brian D. Lyons, Brian J. Hoffman, and John W. Michel found that Wonderlic test scores failed to positively and significantly predict future NFL performance for any position.[15]

The Lyons study also found that the relationship between Wonderlic test scores and future NFL performance was negative for a few positions, indicating the higher a player scores on the Wonderlic test, the worse the player will perform in the NFL.[15][16] Mike Florio of Profootballtalk.com observes that

scoring too high can be as much of a problem as scoring too low. Football coaches want to command the locker room. Being smarter than the individual players makes that easier. Having a guy in the locker room who may be smarter than every member of the coaching staff can be viewed as a problem — or at a minimum as a threat to the egos of the men who hope to be able when necessary to outsmart the players, especially when trying in some way to manipulate them.[17]

McInally, whom the Cincinnati Bengals selected in the fifth round of the 1975 NFL Draft, believes that his perfect score caused him to be selected later than he would have otherwise.[8]
[edit]

[flippy]

staff can be viewed as a problem — or at a minimum as a threat to the egos of the men who hope to be able when necessary to outsmart the players, especially when trying in some way to manipulate them.[17]



Never thought about this before. That's an interesting thought. Maybe they should have coaches do the Wunderlic to ensure they don't get smarter players than the coaches.

I'd also like to know the coaches Wunderlics. I bet BA would be off the charts - I've always thought he's too smart for his own good sometimes.

Wonder how Tomlin compares to Ben, Hines, Troy, etc?

Then I wonder if there's a correlation between the Wunderlics and the guys coaches give leeway?

[D Rock]

before I even read the article I would like to say....


Good!


and


Finally!



as responses to the thread title