When Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger are warming up for Super Bowl XLV in Dallas, neither one of them may realize the potential each one holds in their multi-million dollar right arms. Both athletes have the unique opportunity to achieve legendary status for legendary franchises.
Of the few quarterback with the skill set, even fewer are fortunate enough to land on franchises as historic as these two. The Packers have been at it since the beginning, clanking heads with the Bears since 1921. The Steelers were there shortly after in 1933, and became the NFL’s first Super Bowl era dynasty in the ‘70’s. The franchises’ roots run deeper, as do their fans’ devotion, than other franchises. One needs to look no further than Rodgers’ predecessor, Brett Favre, to see what a championship for the right franchise can do to advance one’s legendary status. Favre may as well have had his name legally changed to “NFL Legend Brett Favre,” it’s been uttered so many times by ESPN.
When it comes to championships, history matters. Eli Manning's championship will always carry more clout than Brad Johnson’s even though they had similar stats in their Super Bowl seasons. That’s because the phrase, “Super Bowl Champion New York Giant (founded in 1925)” has more importance to Joe Footballfan than “Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneer (established 1976).” Sorry Brad.
It’s a matter of style
Outside of the luck to be drafted by two premier franchises, the quarterbacks
have such similar styles and can be so dominant that we could be looking at a Super Bowl shootout for the ages. Both are uber-competitive athletes that will lift his team on its shoulders and carry them to victory. Both are surprisingly mobile, arguably the second and third best scrambling QBs in the league, respectively. Rodgers is like Big Ben’s smoother little brother, darting around the pressure with surprising agility, while Roethlisberger throws defenders around like he is the tight end he was in high school. Roethlisberger may look awkward and ugly out there at times, but damn is he effective.
It is, in fact, their mobility that separates them from the two men widely regarded as the best quarterbacks in the league: Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Manning and Brady are fantastic, there’s no denying that. However, the game plan to beat them is always simple: Get consistent pressure and knock them around. Not all teams can execute this strategy, but the ones that can will beat them more often that not. Rodgers and Roethlisberger can beat the rush; neither seems to mind getting knocked around, and both adopt a “if I can walk I can play” mentality.
At their best, they can shred even the best defenses, as they proved in 2009. In their only head-to-head matchup (a 37-36 Steelers’ victory), the two QBs combined for 915 total yards and seven touchdowns. The game didn’t end until the last play when Roethlisberger rifled one into Mike Wallace in the corner of the end zone for the game-winning score. Both were going against top ten defenses with Defensive Players of the Year winners (James Harrison in ’08, Charles Woodson in ’09). Even if you’ve seen the highlight 1000 times, watch it again. It can't hurt.
Two great QBs, two different paths
For two quarterbacks whose style is so similar, they can’t have had more different starts to their careers. Roethlisberger is the poster boy for early success. Expected to be a bit of a project coming out college, he was starting for the Steelers by the second game of his rookie year. Relying mostly on dominant defense and a strong running game, he helped the Steelers go 15-1 and reach the AFC championship game. A year later, he was the NFL’s youngest Super Bowl winning quarterback in history.
Conversely, Rodgers had to bide his time behind Favre, making seven brief appearances in his first three seasons. Again, the antithesis to Roethlisberger’s career, Rodgers threw for over 4000 yards and had 28 touchdowns (with only 13 interceptions), but the team wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs. He’s done more of the same ever since, as his stats have been incredible. The team around him has gotten better, and he led the Packers to a playoff appearance last year, and now the Super Bowl.
For Rodgers, this championship is about exceeding the greatness of Brett Favre in Green Bay. He will have won a Super Bowl for the Packers in just three seasons as a starter, two years quicker than Favre, with a lot fewer interceptions along the way.
For Roethlisberger, nothing erases controversy like winning. Ask Kobe Bryant and Peyton Manning, both of whom have recovered their reputations and marketability after similar allegations. (In the case of Manning, his allegations were barely covered in the media, but it happened.) Roethlisberger’s third Super Bowl would also match him ring-for-ring with Brady while being five years younger, setting him up to be the greatest winner of the current generation.
Both of these teams have an enormous amount of talent on both sides of the ball, so it is as likely we could be looking at a 17-14 final score as another 37-36 shootout. One thing seems certain, though: The quarterback with the ball in his hands last is going to be bringing home the Lombardi Tropy, and an important piece of NFL history.
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