No Shot For Big Ben, No Chance For Steelers
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By DERON SNYDER
Ben Roethlisberger’s toughness is legendary, mythic even, embodying the industrial-strength spirit of blue-collar Pittsburgh. Gritty “Big Ben” doesn’t go down easily in the pocket, and he doesn’t come out of the lineup easily, either.
No matter the injury, the Steelers quarterback seems to gut it out, suck it up and play through it.
There he was during warm-ups on Monday Night Football, grimacing and gimping with each dropback and follow-through. He moved with the grace of a petrified Frankenstein. His right ankle appeared atrophied compared to his injured left ankle, which was encased in a brace.
ESPN announcer Steve Young voiced the sentiment that most objective viewers surely had after watching Roethlisberger before the game.
“Looked awful. Can’t play; can’t play,” Young said on the broadcast. “The guy’s a stud, we understand that. If you ask him a question — ‘You want to go?’ — he’ll go. But it became very clear to me that he can’t play. He can’t protect himself. He can’t do anything that he’d like to do.”
The only thing Roethlisberger could do was live up to his reputation. He played the entire game, throwing three picks, taking three sacks and losing a fumble.
Tough guy, right?
The answer was clear until we heard this startling admission regarding needles and painkillers. “There was no injection,” Roethlisberger told reporters after the 49ers’ 20-3 victory at Candlestick Park. “There was two Tylenols and two Advil.”
