It's been a while since Jerome Bettis has pissed me off. This week he finally said something ignorant enough to let me go on a rant.
This is an exact quote from Jerome Bettis from an interview Bettis did with Josiah Schlatter from offthebench.nbcsports.com:
You spent a couple years with the young Ben Roethlisberger in the locker room. Everybody was saying he was brash and inconsiderate, not a great leader. Do you know the real facts? Was he a good kid?
Oh, he was a young football player. He had a lot of success early and he wasn’t asked to be a leader. A lot of people are saying, “Ah, he wasn’t a leader.” He wasn’t asked to be a leader. He had veterans all around him. He was asked to be a role player who made a couple plays, and that’s all he needed to do, and all that was asked of him. He got a raw deal early on because of that. If you look at some teams and a young quarterback is asked to be a leader? That wasn’t the case for young Ben. There were some issues he had to deal with about being a better teammate and I think he rectified that and handled all those issues, and he’s clearly developed into a leader of that football team. He leads by example now and and he’s doing a great job.
Since you can't see me I want you all know that I'm actually laughing historically at his comments. First off he calls Ben Roethlisberger a role player. A role player. The starting quarterback a role player?! Ok, Roethlisberger might not have thrown a ton his first two years in the league but I think he made a little more contribution than just being a role player.
Roethlisberger was the rookie of the year in 2004, going 13-0 as a starter in the regular season, and finished in the top 5 in qb rating. Was he Tom Brady and Peyton Manning? No. However, the Steelers were 6-10 the year before Roethlisberger got there and they weren't going anywhere near 15-1 with Tommy Maddox and/or Charlie Batch.
Roethlisberger rejuvenated the franchise. They hadn't had a quarterback with his repertoire since Terry Bradshaw retired. Roethlisberger made big plays week in and week out. Unlike most rookies, Roethlisberger didn't turn the ball over and came up big in big moments. Roethlisberger recorded 6 fourth quarter game-winning drives and 5 fourth quarter comebacks as a ROOKIE.
That same year Bettis had the INFAMOUS stat line, 5 carries for 1 yard and three touchdowns. Steelers do all the work and Bettis gets all the glory.
Roethlisberger went to the AFC Championship game as a rookie.
In 2005, Roethlisberger's second year, he was 9-3 as a starter, once again finished in the top 5 in qb rating, and the team went 2-2 as he sat out with a knee injury.
That same year Jerome Bettis was a BACKUP. In fact, Bettis didn't start getting more playing time until he bitched about after the Jacksonville game.
Yet that whole year Bettis was received all of the glory. Not the play-makers on defense and not the quarterback who was shattering NFL records in his first two seasons. Not even Willie Parker who did most of the work and was pulled for Bettis when the Steelers got inside the 10.
Throughout the season Bettis continually said "Get me home" referring to the Steelers making it to Bettis's home town for the Super Bowl. I know Bettis is a future Hall of Famer but who the hell does he think he is. Bettis was just like the rest of his teammates before 2005, underachievers when it came to the postseason.
Bettis averaged just 3.39 yards per attempt for his postseason career which includes the 25 attempts for 67 yard performance in a win over New England in 1997. Bettis came up short for the Steelers in the playoffs throughout his career.
In the 2005 playoffs the Steelers played in and won three straight road games. Two of them were against the 2nd and 3rd ranked scoring defenses in the NFL that year.
In those three games Roethlisberger played almost flawlessly. He completed over 65% of his passes, threw 7 touchdowns, and ran for another one. Roethlisberger entered Super Bowl with the 3rd best quarterback rating for a qb entering the Super Bowl of all-time.
Not only that but if you go back and watch those three playoff games, Roethlisberger was the best player on the field. The Steelers came out passing and were successful. Roethlisberger threw 3 touchdowns and zero picks against Cincinnati. Two touchdowns and 1 pick against the Colts.
In the AFC Championship Game Roethlisberger was amazing. He threw for 278 yards, two touchdowns, zero turnovers, completed over 70% of his passes, and ran for another touchdown. One of the highest qb ratings for a championship game ever.
Bettis on the other hand almost SINGLE HANDEDLY lost the game against the Indianapolis Colts. Steelers are up 21-18 with less than two minutes on the goaline. The only thing Bettis has to do is not fumble. So what does he do? He FUMBLES!!!!
Throughout the season Bettis continually said "Get me home" referring to the Steelers making it to Bettis's home town for the Super Bowl. I know Bettis is a future Hall of Famer but who the hell does he think he is. Bettis was just like the rest of his teammates before 2005, underachievers when it came to the postseason.
Bettis averaged just 3.39 yards per attempt for his postseason career which includes the 25 attempts for 67 yard performance in a win over New England in 1997. Bettis came up short for the Steelers in the playoffs throughout his career.
In the 2005 playoffs the Steelers played in and won three straight road games. Two of them were against the 2nd and 3rd ranked scoring defenses in the NFL that year.
In those three games Roethlisberger played almost flawlessly. He completed over 65% of his passes, threw 7 touchdowns, and ran for another one. Roethlisberger entered Super Bowl with the 3rd best quarterback rating for a qb entering the Super Bowl of all-time.
Not only that but if you go back and watch those three playoff games, Roethlisberger was the best player on the field. The Steelers came out passing and were successful. Roethlisberger threw 3 touchdowns and zero picks against Cincinnati. Two touchdowns and 1 pick against the Colts.
In the AFC Championship Game Roethlisberger was amazing. He threw for 278 yards, two touchdowns, zero turnovers, completed over 70% of his passes, and ran for another touchdown. One of the highest qb ratings for a championship game ever.
Bettis on the other hand almost SINGLE HANDEDLY lost the game against the Indianapolis Colts. Steelers are up 21-18 with less than two minutes on the goaline. The only thing Bettis has to do is not fumble. So what does he do? He FUMBLES!!!!
Luckily for Bettis and Steeler Nation, Roethlisberger makes a shoe string tackle on Nick Harper. If Harper scores and the Steelers lose that game, Bettis becomes the new Bill Buckner of the NFL.
Even more ironic is the fact that Roethlisberger is the one who told Bettis to come back after the 2004 season. Roethlisberger promised Bettis a Super Bowl. After every single playoff win Roethlisberger gave Bettis the game ball. That's a teammate!
For Bettis to diminish Roethlisberger's role on the team and his impact is laughable and disrespectful. Roethlisberger is well on his way to being one of the greatest and most important players in the history of the Pittsburgh Steeelers.
Roethlisberger might not have performed well in Super Bowl XL, but the Steelers wouldn't have got there without him.
Roethlisberger certainly had more to do with that victory and Super Bowl run than Bettis. Just saying.
He said he was a role player his first year or two but developed into a leader for the Steelers dumb ass
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