A Long Line of Quarterbacks

Well, Ben’s locked up for another 5 years and all is well for the Steelers. Of course there are those out there in Steeler Nation that unexplicably are not happy with the fact that the Steelers extended Ben’s contract. I think they are few and far between, but cruising through various blogs, I did find some. Let’s just take a walk down memory lane and check out the quarterbacks that roamed the NFL fields this year. In Arizona with Ben’s former OC they used several quarterbacks each one not lasting under the same system that Ben played under. Carson Palmer, Drew Stanton, Ryan Lindley, Logan Thomas. Those are household quarterback names right? Not quite. Carson Palmer has been around a while and is somewhat proven as a serviceable quarterback in the NFL, but has never proven to be a Super Bowl caliber player. Also, once you install the Bruce Arians offense where it is acceptable for the quarterback to get his head pounded in continuously during the season, Carson Palmer will find himself on the disabled list and the quality of play goes down with the backup, backups backup and backup, backup, backup.  Anyway, so you get down to Ryan Lindley and Logan Thomas in the playoffs. Not the ideal situation and one that Arizona will probably keep finding itself in as long as it has the hold the ball as long as possible then pass it offense. Ben knows it well and has been sacked many many many times because of it.

Then there's that team in northern Ohio, they keep drafting new ones, some in the first round, some in other rounds and they keep crashing and burning.  It looked like Brian Hoyer might have a chance from his performance the year before, but he's just another casualty of the Browns ineptitude.  Oh, by the way, thanks Cleveland for taking Kellen Winslow Jr. instead of Ben that year.  How'd that turn out for you?

So here’s a list of many of the other quarterbacks in the league that were on rosters in 2014. Pittsburgh – Ben Roethlisberger***
Atlanta – Matt Ryan, TJ Yates
Baltimore – Joe Flacco*
Buffalo – Kyle Orton, EJ Manuel
Carolina – Cam Newton
Chicago – Jay Cutler
Cincinnati – Andy Dalton
Cleveland – Johnny Marzetti, Brian Hoyer
Dallas – Tony Romo
Denver – Peyton Manning**
Detroit – Matt Stafford
Green Bay – Aaron Rodgers*
Houston – Case Keenum, Ryan Mallett
Indianapolis – Andrew Luck
Jacksonville – Blake Bortles
Kansas City – Chase Daniel
Miami – Ryan Tannehill
Minnesota – Teddy Bridgewater
New England – Tom Brady***
New Orleans – Drew Brees*
New York Giants – Eli Manning**
New York Jets – Geno Smith, Michael Vick
Oakland Raiders – Derek Carr
Philadelphia Eagles – Mark Sanchez, Nick Foles
San Diego Chargers – Phillip Rivers
San Francisco 49ers – Colin Kaepernick*
Seattle Seahawks – Russell Wilson*
St. Louis Rams – Shaun Hill, Sam Bradford
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Josh McCown
Tennessee Titans – Charlie Whitehurst
Washington Redskins – Robert Griffin III

That list of 37 quarterbacks contains 9 quarterbacks that have played in the Super Bowl and 7 quarterbacks that have won the Super Bowl. 7 of 37. Not a very big number. How many of those 7 played in 2 or more Super Bowls? 5. I’d have to say with that number there aren’t too many Super Bowl quality quarterbacks available. Now you could hope to find and I say this begrudgingly, one of the best quarterbacks in the league who plays on a team that regularly cheats, in the 6th round. I’d have to say you’re nuts, though, if you think you’re going to find one that far down in the draft.

So, with that in mind, if you have one of those quarterbacks that have been to 3 Super Bowls you might want to rethink your logic that they are not one of the best quarterbacks in the league and they should be signed at all costs. How many active quarterbacks have been to 3 Super Bowls? I may be mistaken, but I’m thinking there are only 2. Ben Roethlisberger and that guy from the New England Cheaters.

It appears that The Rooneys, Kevin Colbert, and Mike Tomlin were well aware that Ben was the best chance they had at the quarterback position to get them back to the Super Bowl. Let’s hop in the time machine and look at how easy it is to find a Super Bowl caliber quarterback. Let’s see, after Terry Bradshaw finished his career(70-83), it only took the Steelers a short 12 years to get back to the Super Bowl.

 Unfortunately the guy that took them back liked to throw to defensive backs more than his own receivers in that game so he lost and decided that Pittsburgh wasn’t the place for him.  He left for NY and shortly after leaving, his career was over. Then it was just a matter of a short 10 more years until they got back. This time the year before they drafted Ben, a guy that knew that Pittsburgh was a great NFL football City that loved their Steelers. It wasn’t easy to find that guy. There were a few quarterbacks in between winning Super Bowls, but when you find a guy that can win ‘em you need to keep em. You might recognize this list of players. These are the guys that the Steelers went through in trying to find another Super Bowl winning quarterback. Again, it’s not an easy thing to do. Pete Gonzalez, Kent Graham, Mark Malone, Tee Martin, Jim Miller, Neil O’Donnell, Mike Quinn, Rick Strom, David Woodley, Anthony Wright, Cliff Stoudt, Kordell Stewart.

If you’re still not convinced that Ben should have been extended, here’s a few more things that you’ve probably seen Ben do that very few or no Steeler QBs have done, including the Great One, Terry Bradshaw.

Only quarterback with 2 500 yard passing games
One of only 4 quarterbacks to win 100 games in first 150 starts.  The other guys in the club are also legends
Two 6 touchdown games in one season
4 division titles
3 AFC Championships
3 Super Bowls
2 Championships
9 time AFC Offensive player of the week
2nd fastest to reach 25,000 yards
2nd youngest QB to win 2 Super Bowls
Holds most Steelers passing records. Would you have got rid of Terry Bradshaw?
If this is not enough to convince you that Ben is one of the elite Quarterbacks in the league and his contract needs to be extended then you better look for another sport, because NFL football is not the sport for you.

To summarize I think the Steelers knew that to be in position for more of these:

You gotta have him: