...helps him break the Steelers franchise record for passing yards. He has 27,690 yards right now, and Terry Bradshaw has 27,989 yards for his career.
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...helps him break the Steelers franchise record for passing yards. He has 27,690 yards right now, and Terry Bradshaw has 27,989 yards for his career.
The record of Terry's I'd really like to see him break is his record for Super Bowl victories...:)
[B]On the Steelers: Roethlisberger headed for most passing yards in team history[/B]
October 10, 2012
By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
[IMG]http://d4493f2df0d1b95cfc62-773cd17a86049dd672fafb96394debed.r5.cf2.rackcdn.com/2012/283/753/ben-roethlisberger-at-practice_420.jpg[/IMG]
Ben Roethlisberger gets ready for practice Tuesday as the Steelers deal with a short week before heading to Tennessee.
Ben Roethlisberger, the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, is about to break one of the Steelers' most-cherished and long-standing records.
He's within a tee shot of passing Terry Bradshaw to become the most-prolific passer in team history. Roethlisberger needs 300 yards to eclipse Bradshaw's club record of 27,989 yards set in 14 seasons. This is Roethlisberger's ninth season.
"It's an awesome honor, you know?" Roethlisberger said after practice Tuesday. "Shoot, a storied franchise and he's The Guy, the face of this. I know there's a lot of '70s Steelers, but, when you're talking about quarterbacks and offense and stuff, he's the guy. To have an opportunity to break another record -- and this one is a pretty big one."
It could happen Thursday night in Nashville. The Tennessee Titans defense ranks 29th overall in the NFL, 25th against the pass (279.6 per game). Roethlisberger threw for 384 in Oakland this season, his 21st 300-yard game. It is highly unlikely it would happen at Heinz Field because the Steelers play in Cincinnati next.
"Personal records, other than Super Bowls and wins, are not big things to me, but it is an awesome honor because it's him and it's a big record," Roethlisberger said. "You would like to do it at home in front of your fans because they're family, but to do it in general is a neat thing."
Roethlisberger will set the record this year, and, by the time he's done, he might put it out of reach of future Steelers quarterbacks. At 30, he could have close to 50,000 yards passing before he finishes his career.
The game has changed since Bradshaw's era.
For most of the 1970s, offensive linemen could not hold at all and receivers could get bumped up and down the field until the ball was in the air. There also weren't the protections afforded quarterbacks in the pocket today.
Nevertheless, like Bradshaw, Roethlisberger became a rookie starter on a team that loved to run the ball. He became the only rookie in the history of the NFL to go 13-0 as a starting quarterback in 2004, when the Steelers ran 61 percent of the time.
"It's a credit for the hard work he put in over the years," said longtime backup Charlie Batch, born in Pittsburgh in 1974, the first Super Bowl season for Bradshaw. "In the early years, it was more run-oriented, when we were 60 percent run vs. the pass, and he evolved to that point where he wanted to be and proved to the coaches he can carry the burden on his shoulders."
The offense has opened up plenty for Roethlisberger through the years. He's well on pace to have his third 4,000-yard season in the past four. He already owns the team passing records for top two seasons in yards, most in a game, most 300-yard games, most completions in a game, season and a career. He has the best game, season and career completion percentage, and he has the top six spots in season-passer ratings.
Now he's set to add the big one.
"For this organization, that's as high as it gets," veteran backup quarterback Byron Leftwich said. "It's hard to think of the Steelers without thinking about Bradshaw. He was the quarterback of all those Super Bowls they won. Once he breaks that record, it'll be Ben they're talking about. It's a little bit more special and shows what kind of player he is."
What isn't or hasn't been special is the relationship between Roethlisberger and Bradshaw, who was forced into retirement after the 1983 season because of an elbow injury. Bradshaw, from his perch on the Fox game day set, has been critical at times of Roethlisberger, some might say in a petty way. An intermediary has been trying to get the two together.
"We haven't talked," Roethlisberger said of recent events. "I've never had an issue [with him]. He said a bunch of things in the past about me; it hurts a little bit when you think about family, but I've never been one to say anything to him or at him."
Roethlisberger said he hopes Bradshaw is as excited about him breaking his record as is he that Zac Dysert is within 584 yards of breaking his Miami University record of 10,829 career yards passing."I'm happy for him," Roethlsiberger said. "Records are meant to be broken. I think that's great. I'm excited for him to get that.
"I think that Terry's excited, but I don't know."
After Roethlsiberger passes Bradshaw's yardage mark, there's only one quarterback record left that he'd like to have above others -- Super Bowl victories.
"That's the most important," he said. "That's the only one I really care about. That's always been No. 1."
[URL]http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...#ixzz28unzkJe7[/URL]
He only needs 285 yards now to beat Bradshaw as the 15 yard run by mendenhall was changed to a 15 yard TD pass from Ben to Mendy. Not too shabby this season for Ben so far. 9 TD's to only 1 Int
[B]Ben Roethlisberger says Terry Bradshaw's words hurt[/B]
By Gregg Rosenthal
Published: Oct. 10, 2012
Ben Roethlisberger has been featured prominently in our early MVP watch. The stats haven't quite exploded yet and the Pittsburgh Steelers are only 2-2, but we believe Big Ben is playing at a higher level now than ever before in his career.
He's carrying the Steelers and their shortcomings more than ever. The mental part of Roethlisberger's game have improved and his physical skills have yet to decline. He's overcome a terrible offensive line and an inferior running game. His wide receivers have hurt Big Ben with uncharacteristic drops, but Roethlisberger has been accurate.
Another 4,000-yard season seems inevitable. Roethlisberger will break Terry Bradshaw's franchise record for yards along the way. It could happen Thursday night against the Titans. He's only 300 yards away, but hasn't heard from Bradshaw despite an "intermediary" trying to connect them, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Roethlisberger praised Bradshaw as "The Guy" in Pittsburgh and said it was an honor to pass him. But the two men haven't had a good relationship going back to some comments Bradshaw made when Roethlisberger was embroiled in his rape controversy.
"We haven't talked," Roethlisberger said of Bradshaw. "I've never had an issue [with him]. He said a bunch of things in the past about me; it hurts a little bit when you think about family, but I've never been one to say anything to him or at him."
Roethlisberger is almost taken for granted, but he's one of the best five quarterbacks in the league. Thursday night's showcase and possible record will be a reminder of how much he's already accomplished at age 30.
[URL]http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000079100/article/set-to-break-record-big-ben-says-bradshaws-words-hurt?campaign=Twitter_atl[/URL]
[B]Who's No. 1: Ben or Bradshaw?[/B]
THURSDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2012
WRITTEN BY BOB SMIZIK
With the news yesterday that Ben Roethlisberger is perhaps a game away from surpassing Terry Bradshaw’s Steelers record for career passing yards, the obvious follow-up is this:
Which of the two is the greater quarterback?
It might seem an impertinent question, what with Bradshaw not only long ago enshrined in Canton but a legend of the first order, and with Roethlisberger not much more than a hair beyond the mid-point of his career.
Bradshaw is the good ol boy who charms us every Sunday on Fox as a celebrity TV analyst and, of course, the four-time Super Bowl winner -- in four attempts -- on a team that is among the few in the discussion for the greatest ever.
Roethlisberger brings no such charisma to the table. He has an off-field history he’s trying to live down and only his harshest critics would say he’s not doing a good job of it. Someone just meeting up with the post-2010 Roethlisberger might see him as something approaching a good ol boy, although not with the thick Bradshaw charm.
But this discussion is not about personality, it’s about playing. And the answer to the question posted about is a no-brainer.
As someone who knew Bradshaw well and Roethlisberger somewhat less so put it, ``If Ben had played in the '70s, there would have been seasons when they never lost a game.’’
This is no knock at Bradshaw. He’s a legitimate Hall of Famer. He also had what is arguably the greatest supporting cast in NFL history. He had four Hall of Fame players with him on offense -- Franco Harris, Mike Webster, John Stallworth and Lynn Swann. He had four on defense -- Joe Greene, Mel Blount, Jack Ham and Jack Lambert. And he had most of them for every one of his NFL seasons and all of his Super Bowls.
Roethlisberger has won his two Super Bowls with an ever-changing supporting cast that hasn’t been nearly as good. And that’s not to put down some of Roethlisberger’s teammates. He’s had great ones. But not eight other Hall of Famers for almost every season.
Here’s a large difference in the two.
When the Steelers were winning their first two Super Bowls, Bradshaw, in his fifth and sixth NFL seasons, was little more than along for the ride. Sure, he had his moments. But those first two Super Bowl were built on the back of the greatest defense of all time and a devastating running game.
When Roethlisberger was a rookie, the Steelers went 15-1 and he started 13 of those games. In his second year, they won the Super Bowl. Like Bradshaw, he was not the focal point of those offenses, but he stepped up in the 2005 playoffs, a second-year player, and gave the world an idea of what was to come. After that, he was the show. It took Bradshaw seven years to get to that level.
The numbers clearly favor Roethlisberger, who’s already thrown 168 more completions in 431 fewer attempts than Bradshaw. More significantly, Bradshaw threw two more touchdowns than interceptions in his career, 212-210. Roethlisberger has thrown 72 more touchdowns than interceptions 173-101.
But the numbers are not a fair way to evaluate the two. They played in different eras.
Roethlisberger is the master of the fourth-quarter comeback. When he doesn’t pull a game out, it’s news. With Bradshaw it was the other way. When he did, it was news.
No quarterback’s star will ever shine brighter in Pittsburgh than Bradshaw’s. But when it comes to playing the position, he’s No. 2 to Roethlisberger.
[URL]http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/sports/bob-smiziks-blog[/URL]