There’s irony, there’s mad irony, and then there’s Ben Roethlisberger resolving off-the-field crises for the Steelers’ stars.
But oh, yeah, there was the franchise quarterback Tuesday morning, upon the opening of OTAs on the South Side, with plenty more on his plate than showing up Landry Jones in shorts once he faced the cameras and microphones.
What about Antonio Brown’s widely reported holdout threat?
“There was never a doubt in my mind he’d be here,” Roethlisberger responded when that was raised. “Because I talked to him, we joked about it … he didn’t know where it came from, but he said it wasn’t him. I believed him when he told me that. I know AB. I know where AB’s heart is. He took a lot of heat from the fans and the media, and that bothers him because he’s a fan guy. I think the passion he plays with shows that. He doesn’t want anybody, the fans or you guys, to think he wasn’t going to be here.”
What about Le’Veon Bell being set to miss the first three games of 2015 for that DUI?
“I’m not worried about Le’Veon. I know what he’s all about as a person, and I know he can be the league’s best running back.”
Heck, one wag had the nerve to ask Roethlisberger about Tom Brady’s deflated footballs:
On a follow-up regarding whether the Patriots deserved to be Super Bowl champs, he came back without pause: “They’ve won a lot of football games. That’s what I think.”
Specifically regarding Brady: “It’s a guy who I’ve said is the best in the business. He proved it again last year by winning his fourth. I have a lot of respect for him on the football field and the things that he’s done.”
Still, when someone brought up Brady’s four-game suspension that would keep him out of the Sept. 10 opener against the Steelers, pending appeal, Roethlisberger wryly smiled and quipped, “Oh, do we know that for sure?”
I offer all this primarily as a reminder that, for all else that surrounds this franchise at the formal opening of the year’s offseason work, both bright and bleak, nothing matters nearly as much as having this particular individual at the helm. Meaning, of course, this mature, grounded, twice-a-new-daddy Roethlisberger.
Never underestimate or underappreciate how much that means toward general stability.
Think the quarterbacks in Baltimore or Cincinnati are capable of navigating matters like this?
Or Johnny Nightclub or Brian Clipboard or whoever the Browns plan to stick behind center?
For all that Joe Flacco has achieved with the Ravens, he’s always been known more as a follower than a leader, and that once was true of Roethlisberger, as well. But no more. It’s one thing to report for a wholly voluntary session in late May, but quite another to carry such cache that all of the other 89 players on the roster did likewise. It’s one thing to show up for OTAs, but quite another to round up a bunch of receivers and running backs and arrange for informal throwing sessions at the University of Georgia earlier this month, as Roethlisberger did with Bell and others thanks to Marty Schottenheimer’s hospitality. And you’d better believe it’s one thing for a football leader to speak up before, during or after a game, but quite another to come to teammates’ aid when times get truly tough.
So start right there, and the Steelers are in a good place.
It’s no longer some dirty secret that they’re built on offense, and that the offense is built on Roethlisberger, so they’re very much in a good place.
That goes for the other two foundational pieces, as well. Or so it appears.
Brown looked like he’d rather have been undergoing double root-canal than facing us media types, this undoubtedly because of the voluminous national and local reports April 20 that he was determined to hold out unless the Steelers restructured his five-year, $42 million extension signed just two years ago. The reaction, as Roethlisberger correctly recalled it, was fast and furious, both from the fan base and from those in this business.
The column on this site that day was hardly an exception.
Well, since then, AB evidently worked out an alternate route. A full day later on Twitter — and that’s an eternity for an active tweeter like @AntonioBrown84, he shared with the world: “I’ll be there 4sho,” then soon thereafter popped up on the South Side for workouts that were smartly photographed by the team and also shared with the world.
But Tuesday marked the first time he had to answer questions about it, and he was visibly uncomfortable in deferring the first few to his agent without elaborating.
That’s when that same wag tried a more direct approach:
Right, so that didn’t work much better.
But Brown did ultimately go on to say this: “This community is important to me. And my kids go to school here. I want to keep a good reputation. Obviously, money’s not important to me. I’ve got enough. The organization has blessed me to the extreme. I’m here to play football. That’s why I’m here.”
Hey, bottom line: Regardless of what happened that day, who did or didn’t put the word out, Brown is very much in camp, very much fulfilling his contract.
4sho.
Bell might have been in the most buoyant spirits of all, dancing through drills, laughing and teasing his mates along the way, this despite coming off that season-ending knee injury and, of course, the three-game suspension the NFL meted out for his DUI and marijuana possession last summer on McKnight Road.
I asked him to describe what he was feeling Tuesday:
Good for him. I’ll say it again: He’s a terrific kid who made a dumb, dangerous mistake. Here’s betting he’s learned from it.
Wonderful. All of that.
And it wasn’t all.
Roethlisberger and James Harrison both spoke with pride about being the last men standing — along with Heath Miller and Greg Warren — among what Harrison calls “the two-ring club.” Mike Mitchell recalled what he described as a “powerful, unforgettable influence” Troy Polamalu had on him “as a man, as a person.” Ike Taylor, who never was going to be kept away, showed up at Tomlin’s invitation to get a taste of coaching. “Not much, just some video work,” Taylor told me. “We’ll see.” Sean Spence was admonished by more than a few folks for executing a tackle — a big no-no at these sessions — but simply shrugged and strutted back to the line. Martavis Bryant, who’s been challenged by the staff to step up as a legit No. 2 receiver behind Brown, swatted at the facemask of a rookie safety on a sideline route.
My favorite moments came at the beginning and end.
Mike Tomlin turns and asks reporters, “Is there any place you’d rather be?” — DEJAN KOVACEVIC
At the opening stretch, the vibe clearly wasn’t what Tomlin wanted. Too quiet. But rather than barking out something routine, he glanced over at Lawrence Timmons and bellowed loud enough to bounce off the nearby Slopes: “WHAT UP L.T?”
Everyone roared the same in unison.
Near the end, as the rain-stained event was wrapping up, two Pitt players emerged from their adjacent headquarters to watch, and one commented to the other: “Dude, that No. 92, he’s got no pads on.”
The other came back, “It’s just walk-throughs.”
“You didn’t hear me. He’s got no pads.”
“Oh. Wow. Who is that?”
“I don’t know.”
Not all of it was a hoot, of course. Watching Cortez Allen take all the first-team drills at corner is about as scary as it gets in this Nation.
But the formula being what it is around here, just add a 7, and everything looks a whole lot brighter.
Thank you for a great recap! This site just keeps getting better and better! Here is to hoping Cortez Allen improves. The secondary will be much better if he can forget last year and make strides to becoming a player worthy of the contract he signed.
Cortez Allen, even at his worst last year, was pretty much step for step with the receiver. I'm certain that Carnell would rather work with a guy that can do that and needs technique improvements than the reverse situation. Looking forward to a nice year from Cortez.
If Brown doesn't make that holdout threat, I'm not sure they take Coates in the 3rd. Maybe they take a WR later. I'm not saying they sent a message. They just hedged their bet.
Still think this bears watching over the next year. Especially when the next batch of wideouts get paid.
Ben Roethlisberger does some light tossing while his teammates stretch Tuesday. -- DEJAN KOVACEVIC
May 26, 2015
Column: Big Ben fends off Steelers’ issues
by Dejan Kovacevic • Columns • Steelers
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
There’s irony, there’s mad irony, and then there’s Ben Roethlisberger resolving off-the-field crises for the Steelers’ stars.
But oh, yeah, there was the franchise quarterback Tuesday morning, upon the opening of OTAs on the South Side, with plenty more on his plate than showing up Landry Jones in shorts once he faced the cameras and microphones.
What about Antonio Brown’s widely reported holdout threat?
“There was never a doubt in my mind he’d be here,” Roethlisberger responded when that was raised. “Because I talked to him, we joked about it … he didn’t know where it came from, but he said it wasn’t him. I believed him when he told me that. I know AB. I know where AB’s heart is. He took a lot of heat from the fans and the media, and that bothers him because he’s a fan guy. I think the passion he plays with shows that. He doesn’t want anybody, the fans or you guys, to think he wasn’t going to be here.”
What about Le’Veon Bell being set to miss the first three games of 2015 for that DUI?
“I’m not worried about Le’Veon. I know what he’s all about as a person, and I know he can be the league’s best running back.”
Heck, one wag had the nerve to ask Roethlisberger about Tom Brady’s deflated footballs:
One by one, he flicked them all away like the common Cleveland edge rusher.
On a follow-up regarding whether the Patriots deserved to be Super Bowl champs, he came back without pause: “They’ve won a lot of football games. That’s what I think.”
Specifically regarding Brady: “It’s a guy who I’ve said is the best in the business. He proved it again last year by winning his fourth. I have a lot of respect for him on the football field and the things that he’s done.”
Still, when someone brought up Brady’s four-game suspension that would keep him out of the Sept. 10 opener against the Steelers, pending appeal, Roethlisberger wryly smiled and quipped, “Oh, do we know that for sure?”
I offer all this primarily as a reminder that, for all else that surrounds this franchise at the formal opening of the year’s offseason work, both bright and bleak, nothing matters nearly as much as having this particular individual at the helm. Meaning, of course, this mature, grounded, twice-a-new-daddy Roethlisberger.
Never underestimate or underappreciate how much that means toward general stability.
Think the quarterbacks in Baltimore or Cincinnati are capable of navigating matters like this?
Or Johnny Nightclub or Brian Clipboard or whoever the Browns plan to stick behind center?
For all that Joe Flacco has achieved with the Ravens, he’s always been known more as a follower than a leader, and that once was true of Roethlisberger, as well. But no more. It’s one thing to report for a wholly voluntary session in late May, but quite another to carry such cache that all of the other 89 players on the roster did likewise. It’s one thing to show up for OTAs, but quite another to round up a bunch of receivers and running backs and arrange for informal throwing sessions at the University of Georgia earlier this month, as Roethlisberger did with Bell and others thanks to Marty Schottenheimer’s hospitality. And you’d better believe it’s one thing for a football leader to speak up before, during or after a game, but quite another to come to teammates’ aid when times get truly tough.
So start right there, and the Steelers are in a good place.
It’s no longer some dirty secret that they’re built on offense, and that the offense is built on Roethlisberger, so they’re very much in a good place.
That goes for the other two foundational pieces, as well. Or so it appears.
Brown looked like he’d rather have been undergoing double root-canal than facing us media types, this undoubtedly because of the voluminous national and local reports April 20 that he was determined to hold out unless the Steelers restructured his five-year, $42 million extension signed just two years ago. The reaction, as Roethlisberger correctly recalled it, was fast and furious, both from the fan base and from those in this business.
The column on this site that day was hardly an exception.
Well, since then, AB evidently worked out an alternate route. A full day later on Twitter — and that’s an eternity for an active tweeter like @AntonioBrown84, he shared with the world: “I’ll be there 4sho,” then soon thereafter popped up on the South Side for workouts that were smartly photographed by the team and also shared with the world.
But Tuesday marked the first time he had to answer questions about it, and he was visibly uncomfortable in deferring the first few to his agent without elaborating.
That’s when that same wag tried a more direct approach:
Right, so that didn’t work much better.
But Brown did ultimately go on to say this: “This community is important to me. And my kids go to school here. I want to keep a good reputation. Obviously, money’s not important to me. I’ve got enough. The organization has blessed me to the extreme. I’m here to play football. That’s why I’m here.”
Hey, bottom line: Regardless of what happened that day, who did or didn’t put the word out, Brown is very much in camp, very much fulfilling his contract.
4sho.
Bell might have been in the most buoyant spirits of all, dancing through drills, laughing and teasing his mates along the way, this despite coming off that season-ending knee injury and, of course, the three-game suspension the NFL meted out for his DUI and marijuana possession last summer on McKnight Road.
I asked him to describe what he was feeling Tuesday:
Good for him. I’ll say it again: He’s a terrific kid who made a dumb, dangerous mistake. Here’s betting he’s learned from it.
Wonderful. All of that.
And it wasn’t all.
Roethlisberger and James Harrison both spoke with pride about being the last men standing — along with Heath Miller and Greg Warren — among what Harrison calls “the two-ring club.” Mike Mitchell recalled what he described as a “powerful, unforgettable influence” Troy Polamalu had on him “as a man, as a person.” Ike Taylor, who never was going to be kept away, showed up at Tomlin’s invitation to get a taste of coaching. “Not much, just some video work,” Taylor told me. “We’ll see.” Sean Spence was admonished by more than a few folks for executing a tackle — a big no-no at these sessions — but simply shrugged and strutted back to the line. Martavis Bryant, who’s been challenged by the staff to step up as a legit No. 2 receiver behind Brown, swatted at the facemask of a rookie safety on a sideline route.
My favorite moments came at the beginning and end.
Mike Tomlin turns and asks reporters, “Is there any place you’d rather be?” — DEJAN KOVACEVIC
At the opening stretch, the vibe clearly wasn’t what Tomlin wanted. Too quiet. But rather than barking out something routine, he glanced over at Lawrence Timmons and bellowed loud enough to bounce off the nearby Slopes: “WHAT UP L.T?”
Everyone roared the same in unison.
Near the end, as the rain-stained event was wrapping up, two Pitt players emerged from their adjacent headquarters to watch, and one commented to the other: “Dude, that No. 92, he’s got no pads on.”
The other came back, “It’s just walk-throughs.”
“You didn’t hear me. He’s got no pads.”
“Oh. Wow. Who is that?”
“I don’t know.”
Not all of it was a hoot, of course. Watching Cortez Allen take all the first-team drills at corner is about as scary as it gets in this Nation.
But the formula being what it is around here, just add a 7, and everything looks a whole lot brighter.