Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger takes his place among Super Bowl's best

Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger takes his place among Super Bowl's best
February 3
St. Petersburg Times Columnist John Romano

"Given a handful of moments, he changed history.

Entrusted with the dreams of a franchise, he passed for glory.

In one unforgettable evening, Ben Roethlisberger made you reconsider all that you once thought about a quarterback whose bottom line has always been better than his line of statistics.

Remember this moment. Savor this performance. For it was as good as any you will see by a quarterback with a championship in the balance. It took 122 seconds, it covered 78 yards, and it will last an eternity.

"A lot of other quarterbacks have a lot better stats," Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward said. "The only thing that matters with Ben is that he's a winner."

There were hundreds of reasons why the Steelers beat the Cardinals 27-23 in Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday evening. You could talk about James Harrison running away with an interception. You could talk about the catches made by MVP Santonio Holmes, and the sacks collected by LaMarr Woodley.

But comebacks are typically written by quarterbacks, and Roethlisberger has authored one of the finest you will ever see. If the passes were special, the circumstances were extraordinary.

Think about what happened in the final minutes of that game. The Steelers, a team built on defense, collapsed in the fourth quarter. They gave up one quick touchdown drive, and then another even more quickly.

The story should have ended there. Kurt Warner should have walked off with his second Super Bowl MVP award, and a reservation for some future Hall of Fame party in Canton.

All that stood in the way was Roethlisberger's undying will.

The Steelers were trailing for the first time all evening when they walked on the field with 2:30 remaining and the ball on their 22. A holding penalty took them another 10 yards and six seconds farther from victory.

And that was when Roethlisberger took over. He completed 5 of 7 passes for 84 yards, and scrambled for 4 more. By the time the Steelers got to the 6, Roethlisberger had played nearly eight full quarters of Super Bowl football. He had thrown 50 passes with three interceptions, and no touchdowns.

And that's when he nailed Holmes with the winner."
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