Tweet
even though it wasn't made public until AFTER the game. EIGHT DAYS after.
Ben Roethlisberger Played Super Bowl With Broken Ribs
Posted Feb 9th 2009 9:34 AM by Michael David Smith
Ben Roethlisberger was playing with broken ribs when he led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a victory at Super Bowl XLIII, Peter King of SI.com is reporting.
Roethlisberger's ribs were the subject of much speculation during Super Bowl week, with Pro Football Talk reporting that the ribs had been X-rayed and the Steelers refusing to confirm or deny. King reports that those X-rays actually didn't pick up on the small rib fractures, but that they were diagnosed when he got an MRI in Pittsburgh last week.
Roethlisberger didn't look particularly affected by the rib injury during the game. On what turned out to be the last play of the Steelers' first drive he didn't hesitate to stick his head down and try to get into the end zone, and throughout the game he passed well, even when the Cardinals' pressure forced him to throw on the move. He was accurate throughout and finished the game completing 21 of 30 passes for 256 yards.
Here's what Roethlisberger told King:
"Fractured ribs. Luckily, in the game, I didn't take any big hits to make 'em hurt. But I knew all along there was something wrong. There wouldn't have been anything they could have done about fractured ribs anyway. It was just suck it up and play.''
Still, the odd secrecy shown by the Steelers in the week leading up to the game indicates that they were at least concerned about it. Rather than simply answering questions about whether Roethlisberger had been X-rayed, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin just said that he didn't know where the report came from. As it turned out, the ribs were hurt, but Roethlisberger was just fine.
Posted Feb 9th 2009 9:34 AM by Michael David Smith
Ben Roethlisberger was playing with broken ribs when he led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a victory at Super Bowl XLIII, Peter King of SI.com is reporting.
Roethlisberger's ribs were the subject of much speculation during Super Bowl week, with Pro Football Talk reporting that the ribs had been X-rayed and the Steelers refusing to confirm or deny. King reports that those X-rays actually didn't pick up on the small rib fractures, but that they were diagnosed when he got an MRI in Pittsburgh last week.
Roethlisberger didn't look particularly affected by the rib injury during the game. On what turned out to be the last play of the Steelers' first drive he didn't hesitate to stick his head down and try to get into the end zone, and throughout the game he passed well, even when the Cardinals' pressure forced him to throw on the move. He was accurate throughout and finished the game completing 21 of 30 passes for 256 yards.
Here's what Roethlisberger told King:
"Fractured ribs. Luckily, in the game, I didn't take any big hits to make 'em hurt. But I knew all along there was something wrong. There wouldn't have been anything they could have done about fractured ribs anyway. It was just suck it up and play.''
Still, the odd secrecy shown by the Steelers in the week leading up to the game indicates that they were at least concerned about it. Rather than simply answering questions about whether Roethlisberger had been X-rayed, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin just said that he didn't know where the report came from. As it turned out, the ribs were hurt, but Roethlisberger was just fine.
Comment