Sports Then and Now

All eyes will be on Ben Roethlisberger during Super Bowl XLV.

The quarterback is the heartbeat of any team. All possessions go through him, and he makes the decisions on the field, albeit with the advice of his coaches. Win the Super Bowl, and the QB is a good bet to be named MVP (Most Valuable Player). Lose, and the same guy often takes a large shame of the blame.

Benjamin Todd ‘Ben’ Roethlisberger, nicknamed Big Ben, is the man tasked with leading the underdog Pittsburgh Steelers to victory against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. At 6 foot 5 and 241 pounds, Roethlisberger is certainly not small. He will however need to be at his best in what the Super Bowl odds suggest should be a really tight game.

Fortunately for Pittsburgh fans, being at his best is what Ben does, well, best, at least most of the time. He has a 63% pass completion percentage and averages 8 yards per completion, which puts him near the top of the field. In layman’s terms, he is super-efficient. When he picks out a man, he usually finds him, for a significant gain.

Roethlisberger is also careful. He went five straight games without an interception this year, and has 19 touchdowns and only seven interceptions in 14 games so far this season.

But before you assume Roethlisberger is the man to lead the Steelers to victory, a word of caution. His worst performance by far was his most recent. No touchdowns, 2 interceptions. A rating of 35.5, horrible by any standard and anyone looking to bet on Super Bowl action may want to bear it in mind. But Big Ben knows how to win ugly. He knows when to give the ball to running back Rashard Mendenhall. And that kind of decision-making might prove crucial.

Roethlisberger will not care about being MVP if the Steelers get the job done. Which they almost always do: Pittsburgh is 6-1 in the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh as a team is a family – win together, lose together. It doesn’t matter who takes the credit.