Ben Roethlisberger Cementing his Spot in Canton

By: Steel By Design

Ben Roethlisberger became the only player in NFL history to throw for 12 touchdowns over a 2 game span. Last week he was within striking distance of the single game passing record.

It’s sort of sad that Ben’s really just now getting some of the recognition he deserves, but to the casual fan (and unfortunately much of the media) stats are king.

I argued with plenty of people that Ben was already a Hall of Famer for starting 3 Superbowls. Only 12 Quarterbacks have started in 3 or more; 8 of them are in the hall of fame. The other 4 are Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner, and Ben. All 4 of those guys will be in Canton.

In my opinion though, the only argument you could make against Ben is that he never lit up the scoreboard in his career, and was constantly out-shined by guys like Manning and Brady.

Well guess what? Big Ben has out-played both of those guys the past 2 weeks, and that’s even with Tom Brady playing on fire right now.

Peter King of Sports Illustrated wrote an article last week basically saying, “this Ben guys is pretty good.”

READ MORE: http://www.steelcityblitz.com/2014/11/03/ben-roethlisberger-cementing-spot-canton/

When that day comes that he has to hang them up (which I hope is never ), there is no doubt in my mind this dude should be in the HOF. He's not your conventional QB but he gets results. I love watching him play and the next QB in Pittsburgh has some HUGE shoes to fill and the bar has been set VERY high.

SteelersYak wrote:

When that day comes that he has to hang them up (which I hope is never ), there is no doubt in my mind this dude should be in the HOF.  He's not your conventional QB but he gets results.  I love watching him play and the next QB in Pittsburgh has some HUGE shoes to fill and the bar has been set VERY high.  

I think it was Solomon Wilcotts (that Bengals homer) on NFL Radio yesterday, arguing with a caller that Ben's Super Bowls don't matter. In fairness, he did talk about the "top 5 all time" and maybe Ben isn't in the top 5 ever, but then again, neither is someone like Brett Favre.

However, Ben IS in that top 5 currently playing. IMO, in no order, it's Manning, Brady, Ben, Luck and Rodgers. Everyone else has fallen off a cliff, including Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan.

I always refer to this decently written article on Bleacher Reports. It's dated (2011, right before Peyton lost a year due to injury) but it's spot on...

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/807026-nfl-elite-player-vs-elite-player-peyton-manning-vs-ben-roethlisberger

SteelCityUnderground wrote:

I always refer to this decently written article on Bleacher Reports. It's dated (2011, right before Peyton lost a year due to injury) but it's spot on...

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/807026-nfl-elite-player-vs-elite-player-peyton-manning-vs-ben-roethlisberger

Really good article. And you're right it is fair. The fact is Ben won't get his due credit until he is inducted. Those of us who watch every game we can know he is a walk in.

I've always said that I'd take BR7 over Manning. I want a QB, not an air traffic controller.

solardave wrote:

SteelCityUnderground wrote:

I always refer to this decently written article on Bleacher Reports. It's dated (2011, right before Peyton lost a year due to injury) but it's spot on...

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/807026-nfl-elite-player-vs-elite-player-peyton-manning-vs-ben-roethlisberger

Really good article. And you're right it is fair. The fact is Ben won't get his due credit until he is inducted. Those of us who watch every game we can know he is a walk in.

I think he'll probably gimp in with all the beatings he's taken over the years

I still think one of the pictures on his memorial needs to be "The Tackle". That was one of the biggest plays in Steeler history.

Quote :

I argued with plenty of people that Ben was already a Hall of Famer for starting 3 Superbowls.

I agree that Ben is a hall of fame quarterback, but not simply because he started in 3 Super Bowls. In a team sport, championships have to be put into perspective and can't, necessarily, define an individual player ... whether for good or bad. If that was the case, then Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson are more deserving of the hall of fame than Dan Marino. When measuring individual greatness in a team sport, championships alone can't be the deciding factor.

Ben has that "winner factor". Some guys have great stats (Manning), but can't win the big games. Others were in the right place at the right time (Dilfer). Then you have guys like Ben and Bradshaw who have the winner factor. They may not have the gaudiest stats among their peers, but without them, their teams don't win the Super Bowl. Even Ben's first Super Bowl, if it weren't for Ben and his amazing plays in the playoffs, the Steelers don't win the Super Bowl because they don't get there to begin with. In my opinion, Ben is HOF without this season ... he's just ensuring he's a first ballot inductee.

Oh, and to expand the above list: then you have cheaters who steal 3 Super Bowls and ride the lie to Canton (Brady, 0-2 post cheating).

kirklandrules wrote:

Ben has that "winner factor". Some guys have great stats (Manning), but can't win the big games. Others were in the right place at the right time (Dilfer). Then you have guys like Ben and Bradshaw who have the winner factor.:

Yeah, I agree kirk. The point I was trying to make is that you have to look deeper than just saying that a QB is great because he won a Super Bowl. You have to take a look at how they got there. The Steelers didn't win Super Bowl XL because of Ben, but he helped get them there. Ben didn't play great in that Super Bowl, so the win doesn't do much to help the argument in favor of him. Even if the Steelers had lost, it would have done nothing to take away from what Ben did to help get them there. Just as the Dolphins' loss in the Super Bowl doesn't take anything away from Marino.

If we measure individual greatness by championships alone, Barry Sanders can't be in the conversation of greatest running backs of all time.

Ben definitely belongs in the Hall of Fame. I have a feeling he might struggle to get in though.

steelerdude15 wrote:

Ben definitely belongs in the Hall of Fame. I have a feeling he might struggle to get in though.

A TB SIGHTING!

I'd be surprised if he doesn't get in early.

Ben is a Hall of Fame player.

Put Brady or Manning behind the lines that Big Ben has been behind, and they're retired by now with much lesser stats than what Ben has put up.

Ben's a throwback at the QB position. He's not a QB who plays football, but a football player who plays QB. You aren't allowed to look at guys like Manning, Brady, Brees, and Luck cross-eyes without getting a penalty. The only time it seems flags get thrown on hits on Ben is when they're so flagrant that Ray Charles could see it.

If he wins one more Super Bowl, which I think there's a very good chance it can happen, he's a cinch for first ballot. You can't say Brady goes in first ballot for his three rings (and it was said before he started putting up gaudy numbers), and then say something different about Ben (who didn't have to cheat to get his rings).

I don't think there's any question that he gets in. The only question is how early? I agree with Tom though ...

Tom_the_Torch wrote:

If he wins one more Super Bowl, which I think there's a very good chance it can happen, he's a cinch for first ballot.

That might seem contradictory to what I said earlier about championships, but it's not.
He might be a first ballot hall of famer right now, but I'm not positive that view is shared beyond Steeler Nation. However ...

Ben's entire body of work + 3 Super Bowl wins = first ballot hall of famer. There's no doubt.
-------------------------------------------

Just so there's no confusion about what I was saying earlier, I'll make one more point ...
Let's say Trent Dilfer had stayed with the Ravens, and they went on to win another Super Bowl. Dilfer would then be a two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback. Would that make him a hall of fame quarterback? No. Because the Ravens didn't win because of him, and he doesn't have the body of work to be in the hall of fame. Ben, however, DOES have the entire body of work to go along with the two Super Bowl wins. My point is that when arguing with people who don't think that Ben deserves to be in the hall of fame, saying that he won two Super Bowls doesn't, in and of itself, win the argument. If Ben is a hall of fame quarterback simply because he won two Super Bowls, then we'd have to say that Dilfer would be a hall of a fame quarterback if he won two Super Bowls. But as we know, that's ridiculous. In a team sport, you have to look beyond championships to determine individual greatness. Championships can help the argument, but they don't make the argument. Ben isn't a hall of fame quarterback simply because he won two Super Bowls. He's a hall of fame quarterback because of his entire body of work.

And than this happens.

Drizztbob wrote:

And than this happens.

Ben had a horrible game. But it wasn't just him. The entire team had a horrible game. For all the talk about not looking past the Jets, that's exactly what they did.

Can't put this all on BR7's shoulders. He wasn't crisp but he didn't have much help anywhere else. This was just a total team breakdown. They did not show up ready to play.