Big Ben Needs a Crutch — You’re Welcome, Pittsburgh

[mesaSteeler]

Big Ben Needs a Crutch — You’re Welcome, Pittsburgh
By Jeffrey Marcus
Pittsburgh Steelers
http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2...me-pittsburgh/

TAMPA, Fla. — Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is listed at 6 feet 5 inches, 241 pounds. Me? I’m a very generous 5-9 (and a ½), 154. So I was bit surprised when Roethlisberger decided to use me as a human crutch to step down from the dais after the Steelers’ first news conference here this afternoon.

“Hold on a second,” he called out as I was unplugging my digital recorder. “I’m an old man, I need some help.” Roethlisberger, who is seven years younger than me, reached out and put his left hand on my left shoulder. I thought he just needed to get his balance, but instead he put a good portion of his weight on me as he made the six-inch descent from the riser to the floor, grunting the whole way down.

You can’t really fault the big guy. As tough as he is, Roethlisberger has endured quite a beating this season.

Judy Battista reported two weeks ago, before the Steelers won the A.F.C. divisional playoff: “From shoulders (sore or perhaps separated earlier this season) to toes (broken or maybe not in 2005), Roethlisberger’s skeleton has sometimes made more news than his statistics, to the occasional dismay of his coaches and the consternation of a small clutch of online fans who wonder if he is exaggerating his ailments.”

There’s no exaggerating the number of times he was sacked this season (46) or the number of times he fumbled (14). Those statistics have prompted some to criticize Roethlisberger for holding on to the ball too long. It’s the one bit of criticism that he finds particularly amusing, and he says it fuels him as he and his teammates prepare to face the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday.

“I laugh at it,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday, before asking for my help. “It may sound mean, it may sound rude, but you’re sitting behind a desk, I really don’t care what you think about me.”

(He’s right, I do sit behind a desk for most of my waking hours. But it didn’t stop me from propping him up and avoiding a potentially disastrous spill on the team’s first day in Tampa — you’re welcome, Pittsburgh.)

“I’ll play even worse than I did last time,” he said referring to his performance in 2006, when he went 9 for 21 with 2 interceptions in Super Bowl XL. “If we win, I don’t really care. That’s all that matters to me is winning the football game.”

[HometownGal]

“I laugh at it,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday, before asking for my help. “It may sound mean, it may sound rude, but you’re sitting behind a desk, I really don’t care what you think about me.”

To all of the Ben boo birds, haters and doubters out there - take note:

“I’ll play even worse than I did last time,” he said referring to his performance in 2006, when he went 9 for 21 with 2 interceptions in Super Bowl XL. “If we win, I don’t really care. That’s all that matters to me is winning the football game.”

[TheWarDen86]

Big Ben Needs a Crutch
- By Jeffrey Marcus

...aaaand it sounds like you need a story Jeffy.