Ben's Comments about Bruce Arians

I agree with you PWP. In my post I stated that Ben doesn't want to piss the Rooney's off. I think he better be careful. He needs to let it go. BA is the scapegoat so let him ride. The bottom line is, who is the owner and who is the player? Bens job is to play and produce, the Rooney's job is to own the team and do what is best for the team. ART II made the right decision about Arians, it was time to move on especially since ART II asked Arians to do certain things with the running game, but Arians did not listen, he went right back to his old ways, so that constituted ART II to not bring him back.

Who really looks bad in all of this is Tomlin. How much weight does he carry, how much respect does Ben have for Tomlin? Ben is talking abot going over Tomlins head and talking to ART II. Whats up with that? I bet this BS wouldn't have happened under Cowher's watch!! The San Francisco game comes to mind for me. Ben should not have played in that game, why was he allowed to play. How much input did Arians have in that, and why did Tomlin let it happen. Tomlin should have told Ben, you are not playing in the 49er game, case closed. However, I believe that Ben has so much power that he told Tomlin he was playing. So who's in control.

Now that Arians is gone, this is Tomlins chance to take charge by hiring the right person who can control Ben. I believe ART II will let Ben know who is in charge and Tomlin would do himself a favor if he does likewise.

 

And Rooney is Tomlin's boss, therego, Rooney IS Ben's boss. Rooney is THE boss, its his team.

 

It seems that everyone saying Ben has a bad attitude skipped this part of the article:

""For your leader to be gone is kind of a shocker for us, but you've got to be ready for it, and whatever the Rooneys and coach (Mike) Tomlin decide is our next step"

Just sounds like to me that Ben is very disappointed that his long time coach, who also happened to be his friend, is no longer there, but that he's going to accept the direction the organization wants to go.

While I've never been a fan of BA, I can't blame Ben for being upset about it. Sounds like he just wants a clearer picture of what is expected, since it isn't exactly what he was thinking. Of course he's somewhat disappointed about it, he just apparently didn't see the need for change (or didn't want to see it) as much as everyone else did.

 

I doubt that Tomlin is signing any paychecks!

 

It is beyond me how Ben does not see that this team simply cannot score in the redzone. The playcalling is laughable once we get inside the 15. Empty set shotgun and WR bubble screens. It just doesn't work. Defenses are too fast for that garbage. The team hasn't been in the top 10 in PPG since 2007 (9). For a perenial SB contender, that just isn't good enough.

 

Funny he doesn't seem to know what is expected of him. Evidently he doesn't think Tomlin has or will make the expectations clear. The fact that he feels the need to go over Tomlin's head speaks of a bit of a problem.

If, as some of you suggest, that he is upset about losing his friend, that is another problem. BA was not hired to be BR's friend, was he?

 

While that's true, it's just a fact of life that people do often tend to develop bonds with people they are around all of the time.

 

I agree with this. As unfortunate as it may be for some fans... Ben IS replaceable. Team. First.

 

It does sound that way. But hopefully, this is something he's already spoken with Tomlin about.

 

"When I get back I'm going to go up to Mr. Rooney's office and ask him what he wants from me..."

When I first heard this, I laughed, then tought 'uh-oh', then thought 'Ben = Fredo'.

 

Ben was arguably MVP of Super Bowl 43 and has helped this team get to 3 Super Bowls in his short career.

People challenge their boss's all the time. Just because someone signs your paycheck doesn't mean you have to bow down to them and agree with every single thing they say.

 

Do you honestly think that CEOs and presidents of big companies are all yes men?

 

Agreed!! I posted this earlier in this thread but it's buired now...but think about it this way...

As the starting QB, I think this is completely within his rights and Rooney should be glad that Ben is wanting to come in and talk with him. If I was the most productive employee at my company (haha!) and my immediate supervisor was let go by the big boss, I would be in the big boss's office to make sure I understood the decision and how it would impact the future. And I think my boss would appreciate that proactive approach....as should Rooney.

 

I think both the defenders of Ben and Rooney get too far ahead of themselves. I don't see anything in Ben's comments which should be construed as "I am pizzed off." I also think Rooney has every right to determine whether he wants to renew a contract or not. Let's face it Tomlin isn't exactly on the same par as Bill Belicheat to have complete autonomy when keeping or getting rid of an OC.

So personally I will give some defense and warning to both sides (not that I expect anyone to take it).

First for those of you who think Ben is just some mediary chess piece in the scheme of things - you got to me smoking something. Blah blah blah we win because of defense. Well the Steelers regularly had a Top 10, even Top 5 defense through the 90's before Ben and won squat. It was routinely a team that if you could get on top of Pittsburgh, you pretty much had them beat because you could focus on stopping the run and put the ball in the hands of their QB and your chances were good you were going to win the game. Hey O'Donnell, for a couple of years Stewart, and finally Maddox were actually decent QBs. But they weren't franchise QBs - Ben is a bonafide franchise QB, I still think he is elite, though his magic late in games has lost a little luster with the stumbling last minute drives against GB in the SB and against Timmy Teblow. Yes he can be erratic, yes he holds the ball too long, yes he drives me nuts - but he is also a winner and is a huge part of the Steelers winning two more Lombardi's.....Point of all this - Franchise QBs have/deserve a say/big say in how the offense should be run. It would be very unfair to Ben to create something he is completely uncomfortable with.

Counterpoint portion on Ben - I am willing to buy: He has to understand the offense (as noted especially in the Red Zone) has not performed well enough which is in no small part to OL issues and playcalling that maybe more than anything seems to have no identity. Also Ben needs (and someone has to tell him this) to understand he is 30 years old, he simply cannot continue to play the game he has played his first 8 years. If he does, I think it is highly likely the guy has 3-4 years left him before he is toast, you look at Brady that guy might play until he is 40 because of being the play it safe QB 90%+ of the time, with the 10% killer assassin in him. Ben is a winner - but he should consider this change with consideration of his legacy. If Ben wants to win, get to another SB, continue to build solid stats, and line himself up for the HoF - it is going to have to be in a far more controlled, playcalling execution way than some of the sandlot heroics he has put together so far.

As far as Rooney, I have no problem with the change, but he should welcome Ben's input as having a pizzed off QB is no way to move forward. It would be absolutely ludicrouse for the Steelers to think that they can just plug in any QB and expect great results. For those of you who point to going 4-1 with Charlie Batch/Dennis Dixon at the helm ask yourself if that is doable over an entire season. And some of those games, like the win over Tennessee and to some extent Atlanta were "let's hide our QB" type of games. You cannot win over the long haul with a strategy like that.

I never liked Arians - my hope is that Ben, Tomlin, and Rooney will work together to select an OC that everyone likes. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

 

Ben: Mr. Rooney, where would you like the offense to go?

Rooney: Let's start by going into the opponent's end zone.

 

I think Ben's infatuation with BA has been strictly about money. BA has helped ben earn a ton of money through performance clauses. So Ben is more than happy. Now with the loss of Arians, ben's worried about the all-important "stats". I have no problem with Ben wanting to schedule a meeting, but it's rather immature to pull this sh!t in a public interview.

Rooney is the owner of a billion dollar team that just got booted from the playoffs by an inferior team, without the chance to get any more game revenues, all while paying his star QB performance bonuses based on his "stats"

Grow up Ben

 

I seriously doubt that. Ben is the QB of the Steelers... probably the largest fanbase in the NFL. He doesn't need an OC that's openly hated by the fans to get him the money. This just sounds like more fishing to make up reasons to hate Ben.

 

No they are not all yes men, but they are savy enough to know how to address these things. Not to make comments like that in the media while at the pro bowl. Thats the diffrence.

To all who think that this is ok and acceptable. Challange the owner of your company and see where that gets you.

As Herm Edwards said today "The Rooneys know more about football than Ben could ever imagine". Isn't that the truth? Ben Roethisberger's will come and go, but a family like the Rooney's that runs one of the most stable successful organizations in all of sports and help build NFL will not.

 

I don't see how you draw Ben challenging his boss from that interview.

 

I don't see how you don't. The majority of the other Steeler fans on here do. Isn't that the reason everyone is talking about it? Did you read the article?

 

No, the majority of the fans that actually listened to the interview didn't have an issue with it. The few people who did see a problem are those who didn't bother to listen to the interview for themselves or are looking for any excuse they can to hang Ben.

 

ok thats why there are so many people taking Ben's side on here? The majority of the people on here clearly think what he said was not right. You are one of the few who doesn't.

Regardless, Ben should never have made those comments in the media. It s hows his arrogance and immaturity. No other Steelers players come out and say they are going to address things with Rooney. Shouldn't he be discussing these things with his coach?

If he said... "Coach Tomlin and i are going to sit down and see where we are going to go with the offense from here", that would be tolerable. Not what he said.

Lets be real though... Ben is pissed that they didn't bring Arrians back and he made these comments stemming from that. Guess what, Ben does not run the organization and does not make those decisions.