The real Ben?

Ben is such a polarizing guy and I would really like to know him personally to see where the truth lies.

My niece is a chef at Oakmont and I have a friend who was an assistant pro there. I have heard very unflattering things?

The entire world painted Ben as fat and out of shape during his recent recovery yet he is, in fact, in possibly the best shape ever. And I never heard him say a word about the criticism?

He has called players out seeming to be a douche but he is also a no non-sense "win at all costs" type of guy so I can't fault him for that?

He seems to have found God like all athletes do right after they **** up big time?

He said Heath was the best team-mate he ever had and how could you not love Heath?

Anybody know any first hand info about him? First hand meaning you personally witnessed it and not because your cousin's friend's uncle said so.

 

I've never met him. But, being that I have watched his entire career. Here are my thoughts.

Young Ben, I don't think was the most professional, nicest guy off the field, he had instant success. 15-1 record rookie year, won Super Bowl year 2, Won a 2nd Super Bowl by year 5. He was the toast of the franchise and he acted like it, you heard a lot of the stories, This guy was really successful on the field. If you ever notice he used to always wear his ball cap backwards on the side line, but he had a lot of problems off the field, the accusations etc.

But you hand a 21-26 year old guy that kind of money, and instant success on the field. It can be hard to handle. Who wouldn't want to go have fun? It be really hard not too. He was never charged for his accused crimes, but did settle civilly. To this day I think DAR had a heart to heart with him, and was really starting to part ways with Ben, if he didn't change his ways, because after 2010 Super Bowl loss (season), he changed a lot.

Ben started wearing his ball cap forward, never backwards again ( JUST FYI if you wear ball cap backwards, doesn't mean your a bad person) but this is a change I noticed.
He became a lot more of family guy, he got married, settled down, had 3 kids etc. I think when he met his wife Ashley she settled him down a bit too.

But more mature Ben hasn't been the winner younger immature Ben seemed to be. A lot of that is based on team, you could argue the 2004-2010 Dick L. led defenses were the 2nd best in franchise history, next to the 70's Steelers steel curtain. Up until now we never had a Super Bowl Caliber defense, offense was great and Ben was a catalyst of that.

I think Ben doesn't get enough credit for how good he is and how durable he has been (up until last year, Ben never missed a full season)

Personally I think off the field, you could chill with the guy, and go golf or hunt or something and he be totally normal. I don't think Ben is guy who loves off the field glamour of being an NFL QB and getting hit up for pictures and autographs all the time, I'm sure it would get old.
I'm sure at times famous people just want to be normal like the rest of us, but it goes with the job I'm sure.

 

I've taken a lot of **** for Ben over the years. I try to remind people I don't give a crap about what these players do in their lives. I care about them for the 60 minutes they are playing football.

 

I might be 100% wrong but I get the feeling Ben was a world class douche when he came into the league. Made one bad choice after another, put himself in really stupid positions, etc. But I love the way the guy goes about playing and winning....other than the fact that he is always a slow starter.

I think Ben might be an odd duck, but he is all about winning and he has kept his stuff out of the news since his first couple years.

However, I really cherish the days when the odds were if you loved a guy for his play, you loved him period despite quirks and personality traits. Today, you can love a player for his on the field stuff and when you find out that he is an absolute ass, like AB, it ruins the rest.

 

I remember as a kid I was in love with every Pittsburgh Pirate and in this young boys eye they could do no wrong. Then again there was not all this social media. Once this media crazy world started I started trying my best to separate sport life from personal life. AB and LB changed so much for me. I tried to overlook it but it's way to hard.

 

Who cares...95%of them are probably arrogant Assholes...This isn't a popularity contest

 

He's a multimillionaire. He probably doesn't care what everyone thinks all the time. Everybody has had days, he is human.

 

I know a lot has been said about Ben calling out players on his talk show. Calling out Washington saying he knows he has to make that catch, etc. I don't think that was such a horrible thing to say about a rookie receiver. I'm sure they talked about it on the sideline shortly after it happened (before the radio show). Now calling out AB on the air I think was a completely different story. Whether it was wrong or not, I think it was an AB locker room issue that boiled over because AB was not being a team player and putting himself first. I still argue in Ben's favor that he was speaking for the rest of the guys in the locker room at that point. Additionally, it has been well documented hindsight that Tomlin was a better coach than given credit for of how he potentially contained AB. Once he was out of Pittsburgh, it was like he was completely unhinged without any restriction what-so-ever. Anyway, bottom line,... Ben has matured and has been a better QB and leader over the past few years.

 

Exactly. He is not my kid who I am worried about how he behaves except on the football field. I don't count on or want any professional entertainers to be role models to anyone I care for. This is a business in sports and its about wins, losses, money and entertaining a crowd. They come and go following the money trail and their primary goal is to make more money next year than this year. That is reality and the way it is no matter how in depth someone wants to know about them.

 

My son went to Miami University when Ben was there. He was a jerk in college. Nobody liked him. He had a "date rape" reputation, and "big man on campus" attitude.

I know he wasn't well liked in his hometown of Findlay, Ohio. People there say he used to eat at the local restaurants and bars, and never paid for anything, let alone leave a tip. They said he thought they should give him everything free because he graced their establishment with his presence.

I will say, I think he's matured a lot in the last few years.

 

As I have learned as all will learn, with age comes maturity. I met someone who went to the same college but 2 years after Ben left. Seems his legacy was of a cocky piece of ......

 

Maturity comes with experience, not age. Some people never grow up. Me for example.

 

We know

 

Two peas in a pod

 

We will need the good Ben. Only time will tell. I am having a hard time getting excited for football
or anything. And I love football, the Steelers, Pitt etc. I guess just too many life concerns.
I hope the enthusiasm comes back and soon.

 

Sometimes it just makes a nice 3 hour diversion from the life concerns.

 

So its not just me than. I get you. totally agree

 

I think Ben is a good dude who has grown up in front of our eyes. Because he's so hush-hush, it's just hard to gather a ton of info about him.