One year ago: Pittsburgh’s darkest day, or best day?
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Why hasn’t SteelerWatch already mentioned that this is the anniversary of Big Ben’s tiptoe through the tulips some old lady’s windshield? Well, for starters, I don’t care to relive the day. I was sitting around the house when I got a phone call from one of my closest friends — an Eagles fan, can you believe it? — telling me that the future of the Steelers was now in the past, with Ben lost for the season. While he’s been known for stretching the truth so thin you could read a cable company’s fine print through it, the fact that Ben had just peeled his own face off the pavement certainly made me worry. If you ask my wife, she’d probably tell you I spent the day acting like he was my own brother, checking for news updates about every 17 seconds.
Ben himself wants us all to move past it. It happened, and there’s nothing anyone can do to change that. But in the end I think we’ll be celebrating this anniversary as the day Ben got his reality check, rather than dreading its coming as the day that ruined a promising young career.
Darkest day, or best day? What do you think we’ll all be saying ten years from now? Chime in.
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June 12th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
You should’ve told your friend the Eagles fan - hey man, if that’s the case, at least we just won our 5th Super Bowl ring…how many you guys got?
Seriously though, I don’t think it was the worst day but definitely not the best either. I think it taught Ben a good lesson - he’s not invincible. That said, it (among other things) parlayed into a sub par season and plenty of questions about Ben’s mental state. I personally think he’ll bounce back just fine. He puts immense pressure on himself to do what he needs to do to win and I don’t think that will change. Plus, let’s face it, winning cures all. If the Steelers can come out and establish themselves early in the season, I think Ben will feel a lot more comfortable in the saddle.