Ron Cook: What Big Ben needs to do

[flippy]

I wonder if Hines says this stuff on purpose? Because he knows what we know. Ben plays his best when everyone's against him. Maybe Hines says stuff publicly to get under Ben's skin and make him play better as a result.

I think that Hines has a level of resentment with regards to Ben. Hines sees himself as "THE GUY" and he knows he dealing with the reality he is at the end of his career. Add to that he thinks he never has gotten the credit he deserves. In reality and in terms of recognition and pay, Ben is "THE GUY" and IMO that bothers Hines greatly.

Ever since Bettis retired, Hines has been the guy that comes out the tunnel last when the starting offense is announced (not Ben). Hines gets the biggest cheers (except for when the starting defense is announced instead when Troy comes out last). Getting your name called last during pre-game announcements at Heinz is the ultimate sign of respect.

The Hines' cheers @ Heinz are an order of magnitude bigger than the cheers than anyone else on the offense gets. Hines is loved like Jack Lambert was loved on the field. It's the same way Troy is loved by the fans.

And it's a different kind of love than we have for our QB. The QB gets all the money. He gets all the fame. We expect them to perform. And we'll boo the crap out of a QB louder than any other player as a result cause we have such high expectations.

But the guys that don't get all the money and all the fame that still give everything. Like Lambert, like Hines, like Troy, like Rocky, etc. Those are the guy we love cause they give all they've got and then some but don't get all the fame and money that Ben and Bradshaw get.

We make it up to them. And it's kinda cool how Steeler Nation evens things out.

And don't get me wrong, we love our QB. But we also expect more from them than any other player.