Ben Makes It Official, The Best Sports Day of the Year, and One Other Football thought

Ben Roethlisberger made it official this past week and formally announced his retirement from pro football and the Steelers after an historic eighteen year career.  I have written a lot about Big Ben in recent weeks, so I won't belabor it any further in this space, other than to say thanks, and best wishes for a happy life for Number 7.

The speculation now begins as to "who comes next?" for the Steelers at the most important position on the field.  Talk show hosts and callers will be frothing at the mouths throughout the off season and well into the 2022 season and beyond.  What do I think?  Well, I think that Mason Rudolph has earned the right to go into the season at the top of the depth chart.  He has not earned the right to go to training camp without facing competition for the job.  That competition could come from current #3 guy Dwayne Haskins (meh), a veteran that they could obtain via trade or free agency (Russell Wilson? Bring him on.  Mitch Trubisky? Intriguing.  Kirk Cousins?  Please no.), or a drafted QB (Any chance Kenny Pickett might be available with the 20th pick?).  

Whatever and whoever it is, it will no doubt be THE storyline for the next twelve months where the Steelers are concerned.  I am old enough to remember bad quarterback play before Terry Bradshaw arrived in 1970, and I remember some mediocre (with some exceptions) quarterback play in the the twenty years After Bradshaw (AB) and Before Ben (BB), and eighteen seasons of Hall of Fame caliber play at the position since 2004.  HOF worthy QB's don't grow on trees, and I just hope that I live long enough to see another one at the position for the Steelers, but at my age, that is not necessarily a sure thing.

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As I type this, we are less than an hour away from the start of one of my favorite sports days of the year:  NFL Conference Championship Sunday.  It is hard to imagine either of the two games today matching what we saw last weekend in all four of the Divisional Round games, especially that absolute classic between the Chiefs and the Bills and Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.

As for today, I have put coin of the realm on the Chiefs at -7.5 over the Bengals and the Rams at -3.5 over the 49ers.  Cannot want to see the duel at quarterback between Mahomes and Joe Burrow in Kansas City.  

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Final thought following last week's NFL games.....

Has anyone fallen in the Court of Public Opinion as quickly as has Aaron Rodgers?

In the space of the last few months, he went from lovable prospective  "Jeopardy" host and affable State Farm pitchman to lying anti-vaxxer kook and a possible right wing nut job.  When his Number One seeded Packers lost the the 49ers last week, social and mainstream media exploded with people ripping him with a vengeful glee that was almost shocking to read.

Sic transit gloria mundi, A-aron.

 

Pittsburgh and Ben Say Goodbye

 

It was an emotional scene at Heinz Field this past Monday night when Ben Roethlisberger played his final game in front of the home crowd.  Steelers Nation turned out in full-throated support to say goodbye to the future Hall of Fame quarterback, and the nation got to witness it as it all played out on ESPN on Monday Night Football.  No need for me to recite the litany of Big Ben's historic statistical accomplishments.  You can find those easily enough on line, but no statistical table will capture what I will always remember about Roethlisberger: That the Steelers were never completely out of a game when the ball was in Ben's hands late in the fourth quarter.  Everyone remembers Santonio Holmes' amazing catch to win Super Bowl XLIII against the Cardinals, but please don't forget how Roethlisberger drove the team 90+ yards down field with time running out that culminated in that picture perfect pass that he threw to Holmes. And in a season where the Steelers are not-all-that-good a team and where his own skills have diminished notably, at least two Steelers victories this year, the first win over Cleveland and the win over the Ravens, can be attributed to the sheer force of Roethlisberger's will.

In that final home appearance, Ben did not play all that well, 24 for 46, 146 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, the Steelers managed to win against a traditional rival, kept their dim playoff hopes alive, and assured themselves of a non-losing season for the 18th year in a row.  And Roethlisberger put a cherry on top of a career long domination of the Cleve Brownies.   It was somehow even sweeter that Ben's final home game was a victory over the Browns.

Of course, Ben and the Steelers have one more game to play at Baltimore on Sunday.  The Ravens have lost five in a row, so a Steelers/Roethlisberger victory in that one is not unimaginable, and, win-or-lose, it seems appropriate that Ben's final regular season game will be against another traditional AFC North rival.  Too big a domino (Jacksonville beating Indianapolis) has to fall for the Steelers to make the playoffs, and in a perverse way, I almost hope that they don't make it.  As a seventh seed, they would likely have to face the Chiefs or the Titans, and the result of such a matchup would likely not be pretty for Steelers fans.  So let's just let the scene of Ben Roethlisberger's final game be what we saw at Heinz Field this past Monday Night.

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Other thoughts on this Steelers-Browns game...

Lost amid the hoopla for the Ben Farewell was the terrific performance of rookie running back Najee Harris: 188 yards rushing, a spectacular 37 yard TD run that sealed the victory in the final minute of the game, and a stiff arm that turned a Browns DB into a rag doll on a long run earlier in the game.

And, oh yeah, he broke Franco Harris' team record of rushing yards by a rookie.  Let's see what he'll be able to do when (if?) the Steelers are able to get a solid offensive line in place for him.

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And how about those Browns.  Yet another season when Playoff and even Super Bowl ambitions crashed and burned along the Lake Erie shores.  Now, even the future of Baker Mayfield in Cleveland has come into doubt.  One of the big stories of the coming off season will be what will the Browns do with the Mayfield, who can become a free agent after the season.

And where has the Steelers defense that we saw on MNF been all season?  Nine sacks of Mayfield, and they shut down RB Nick Chubb when he was in the game.  And if I'm a Browns fan, I'd be asking the same question that was being asked by Peyton and Eli during the game: why wasn't Chubb in that game are often?

It was pointed out by Joe Starkey on his show yesterday that were it not for their two losses to the Steelers this year, the Browns would now be sitting at 9-7 and in the hunt for a playoff spot. So while the Steelers have not had the kind of season that their fans want and desire, they can take a lot of satisfaction in knowing that they were surely responsible for ruining the Browns' season.

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We will save the agonizing over what-happens-next for the Steelers at quarterback for later, but consider these options:

• Turn the position lock, stock, and barrel over to Mason Rudolph.
• Draft a QB in an early round and turn it into a training camp competition between Rudolph, Dwayne Haskins, and the draftee.
• Sign a veteran free agent QB to serve in the interim before the next Bradshaw/Roethlisberger wunderkind is ready to take the reins.  Names like Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, and even Baker Mayfield have been bandied about.

Oh, it's going to be sports talk show heaven around The Burgh as this scene plays itself out.

Is There Anything Better Than Steelers vs. Ravens?

 

Yesterday's matchup between the Steelers and the Baltimore, the thirtieth time that head coaches Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh have faced each other (more on that later), a 20-19 win for the Steelers, produced an obvious answer to the question stated in the headline above:

No, there is nothing better than games between the long time AFC North rivals, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.  I remember on one Sunday night  game between the two teams, Chris Collinsworth said something to the effect that he could watch these two teams go at it 16 games each season if the schedule makers would allow it, and it is hard to disagree with the sentiment.  Yesterday's game was no exception.

The Ravens came in with an AFC best record of 8-4, and the Steelers were on life support at 5-5-1 coming off of two straight losses where they gave up 82 points and were soundly thrashed by the Cincy Bengals 41-10 last week.  The Ravens dominated the Steelers defense and the Steelers offense was totally impotent in the first half, yet Baltimore went into the locker room at half-time with a mere 7-3 lead.

The headline over Ron Cook's column in the Post-Gazette this morning said it all about what then transpired:

On this day, the old guy came through for his team

The "old guy" in this case was, of course, 39 year old quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.  He may be a shadow of his younger self, but he somehow summoned up a measure of his past greatness by producing 17 fourth quarter points and produced the 39th fourth quarter comeback of his career.  If an athletic performance can be defined as "heroic", Big Ben's game yesterday falls into that category.  If this is to be his final season, as was reported this past week, then it is a shame that yesterday's game wasn't the final game of the year.  A gutsy comeback win over the team's bitterest rival would have been a great way to walk into the sunset.  However, there are more games to play, and if the Steelers still have life in their playoff hopes, then it will be the sheer force of Roethlisberger's will that will get them there.  It might not happen, probably won't happen, but it will still be fun to watch down the stretch.

T.J. Watt, the team's best player and perhaps the best defensive player in the NFL, did not practice all week due to COVID protocols, but was able to play, and he dominated the game, with sacks and pressures on Lamar Jackson, including one on the Ravens' final play, the attempted two point conversion with :12 to play that would have won the game for the Ravens.  Watt forced Jackson's pass to wobble just enough so that his pass to TE Mark Andrews fell out of reach.

About that two point conversion.  After the Steelers took a 20-13 lead with 1:38 to play, the Ravens proceeded to march down the field and score a TD to make it 2019 with :12 left.  Baltimore HC John Harbaugh eschewed the sure PAT that would send the game into overtime and went for a two point conversion to win the game outright then and there.  It was a gutsy coaching call, and he is no doubt being second guessed all over the Inner Harbor today, but why in the hell not go for it?  And it added yet one more layer of lore and legend to the Steelers-Ravens rivalry.

Oh, and about those Tomlin-Harbaugh face-offs.  Yesterday, was the 30th time that these two coaches' teams have played against each other.  This is the most such coach-to-coach encounters in the Super Bowl Era, and the third most in NFL history.  George Halas and Curly Lambeau faced each other 41 times , and Halas and Steve Owen went against each other 31 times.  After yesterday's game, Tomlin holds a 16-14 edge over Harbaugh.    Tomlin's Steelers are 2-1 in post season games with the Ravens.  The Steelers have been to the Super Bowl twice (1-1) in that time, the Ravens once, winning it.  The teams and the coaches meet again in the final game of the season on January 9.  At that point, the game may be meaningless for one or both of the teams, but it will no doubt be another epic encounter, and I can't wait to watch it.

If you want a better write up on this game and the nature of this Rivalry,  I cannot recommend the Post-Gazette's Gene Collier's column in this morning's paper.  You can read it here. 

The Pittsburgh Football Weekend That Was

It was a rather remarkable football weekend here in Pittsburgh what with Pitt giving us a "This Is Why You Follow Sports" moment, and the Steelers giving us everything from severe stomach cramps to euphoria to major letdown all in one game.  

Let's start with the Pitt Panthers.

As you no doubt know by now, Pitt clinched the ACC Coastal Division title and  a spot in two weeks in the ACC Championship game with their thrilling, and I do mean thrilling, 48-38 win over Virginia.  It was Senior Day at Pitt, the final home game for Pitt's senior players, most notably quarterback Kenny Pickett.

As he has over the course of a career that has seen him seize every significant passing record in Pitt history, Pickett delivered big time.  He passed for over 400 yards and threw four TD passes, two of them on fourth down plays.  All four of those TD passes went to sophomore wide out Jordan Addison.

It was a remarkable and electric performance by both Pickett and Addison.  Pickett will no doubt be a Heisman Trophy finalist and Addison has become the favorite to win the NCAA Biletnikoff Award as well.  Pitt now sits at 9-2, is nationally ranked, and will be favored to win their final game at Syracuse this coming Saturday.  Their opponent in the ACC title game is still TBD, and should they win that, a New Year's Day Bowl game is all but assured.  By any measure, it as been a successful season for HC Pat Narduzzi and his squad, and a very entertaining one for those of us who have been in attendance at Heinz Field throughout.  I was there on Saturday evening for that game, and it was truly a thrilling experience.

It has also been a joy to follow the career of Kenny Pickett and see his development.  His first start as a freshman was a win over a then undefeated and Top Five Miami team.  It was a portent of things to come.  His decision to forego the NFL Draft last year was a wise one.  From the probable late round pick he would have been last spring, it now appears that he will be among the first 2 or 3 QB's selected in the 2022 Draft, a surefire first round pick.  Panthers fans will surely miss him next year, but many Steelers fans are savoring the possibility of seeing Pickett just switching from Blue & Gold to Black & Gold come 2022 and replacing future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger.

And that brings us to last night's Steelers-Chargers game.  Let's call that game a Tale of Two Quarterbacks.

Facing a Steelers defense without all-pro DB's Minkah Fitzpatrick and Joe Haden, and, oh yeah, their best player and perhaps best defensive player in the NFL, TJ Watt, Chargers QB Justin Herbert shredded the Swiss cheese of a defense that Steelers had out there last night for over 380 passing yards, 90 rushing yards, and three TDs.  He is scarey good, and so young that it doesn't even look like his teenaged skin has cleared yet. He's going to be a force in the NFL well into the 2030's.

After three quarters, LA had a 27-10 lead.  No doubt TV sets were being switched off all over Western Pennsylvania.  However, a blocked punt, a bizarre interception of a Herbert pass, and some remarkable quarterback play from a "He's-still-got-some-gas-in-the-tank" Big Ben, and presto-change-o, the Steelers found themselves with a 37-34 lead with 3:24 remaining in the game.  Alas, the fairly tale ending was not to be as Herbert, on the third play of the ensuing Chargers possession, hit Mike Williams for a fifty-plus yard touchdown, a play that probably wouldn't have happened had Fitzpatrick been in the game.

In its own way, the Steelers losing effort was every bit as entertaining and compelling as Pitt's big win was the day before.  The Steelers now sit at 5-4-1, but in an AFC North Division that no team seems to want to win, who the hell knows what might happen the rest of the way?

Next week....On to Cincinnati!

 

Ben's Coming Back

 

A couple of Saturdays ago, I was in the car and heard Joe Starkey come on the air on 93.7 The Fan to do a solo Saturday afternoon show.  To start off, Joe said that he had lots of topics to discuss that afternoon, but one of them was NOT going to be Ben Roethlisberger and his ongoing contract  will-they-or-won't-they dance with the Steelers.  "I've become exhausted talking about it, and I just need a day away from it," Joe said.  Yep.  Couldn't agree more, which is why I have not talked about it in this space since that God-awful playoff loss against Cleveland in January.

Has any subject been beaten to death more in the papers, on radio and TV, both local and national, and social media than the Steelers-Ben Drama?

Well, now it's over (and it is STILL being beaten to death on The Fan), and we know that Ben will be back in 2021 for one more go-round with the Steelers.  In no particular order of importance, here are some Grandstander thoughts on the subject.

• First of all, I am glad that he will be back. Period.
• If Ben is coming back for only one more season, I am glad that it will be with the Steelers.  The image of Franco Harris in a Seahawks uniform kept going into my mind throughout this whole mishegas, and I would have positively hated to see Ben playing out the string in Houston or Philly or the Jets.  
• From a football perspective, I am not convinced that Ben is done.  I still think that there is enough gas left in the tank for him to lead the Steelers to a winning and even a playoff season, provided, of course, that the Steelers do some things to beef up both the offensive line and the running attack.  It will also help if the receivers don't drop so many passes.
• I am also not convinced that Mason Rudolph is NOT the answer in the Steelers QB succession plan.  I've addressed this before, so I am not going to go into it  yet again.  However,  2021 will be the fourth year of Rudolph's rookie contract and it doesn't appear that the team is in any hurry to offer him an extension, so what the hell do I know?  If they do not do so, it is probably that the Rudolph will be gone after this season, and then what?
• Dwayne Haskins was a first round draft pick of the Washington Football Team, and he proved to be a bust and was released at the end of last season, only to be signed by the Steelers.  Some sub-thoughts on that:

1. Haskins displayed a distinct lack of maturity and self-discipline while in Washington.  How much of that was his fault, and how much of it was the fault of the WFT organization, which at times over the last several years have made the Pittsburgh Pirates seem like the very model of a great sports organization.  
2. If he thinks about it, maybe Haskins will say to himself, "If an organization like the Steelers wants me, maybe I better buckle down and take advantage of this opportunity."
3. It cost the Steelers nothing to sign Haskins.  If he flames out, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
4. At some point, somebody felt that Haskins was worth a first round draft pick, so there is obviously some talent there, and if Mike Tomlin and the Steelers manage to bring it out in him, terrific.  If not, then see Point #3 above.

• Whatever happens, Season Number 18 for Big Ben looks to be his last one, and the Steelers need to be thinking to 2022 and beyond.  The team seems ambivalent, at best, about Rudolph, and Haskins is a gigantic question mark, so what happens in this year's Draft will be of interest to Steelers fans, all of whom all well aware of the parade of quarterbacks who toiled under center for the team AT (After Terry) and BB (Before Ben).

And as cornball as it is, I am glad that Big Ben will be getting a Farewell Tour with the Steelers in his final season.  As Captain Renault once said of Rick Blaine, I'm a rank sentimentalist.

NFL Quarterbacks in Transition 2020

The news that was leaked yesterday concerning the announcement that Giants quarterback Eli Manning will be formally announcing his retirement tomorrow, prompted me to sit and offer some comments that have been bubbling in my cranium (to use a Myron Cope-ism) for sometime now, and that is that the 2019 NFL season and post-season may be looked back upon at some future date as the year where an  "Old Guard" of outstanding and even Hall of Fame worthy cast of NFL quarterbacks gave way to a new wave of quarterbacks who will dominate the League for the next decade or so.

Let's begin with the three QB's who were drafted within the first eleven picks of the 2004 NFL Draft.

Eli Manning  Manning pretty much began showing signs of being washed up in the 2018 season.  The Giants drafted a QB in the first round last year, and Manning was benched early in this season.  His retirement comes as no surprise.  He was not the quarterback that his brother was, but he is a two time Super Bowl MVP, so his enshrinement in Canton is virtually assured.

Phillip Rivers  Rivers had a great season in 2018, and his Chargers made the playoffs, but his numbers were off this year, the team wasn't any good, and Rivers is an unrestricted free agent who undoubtedly will be playing with another team next year.  He might be able to help a good team who really needs a QB, but he is near the end of a good career.

Ben Roethlisberger  Big Ben left the second game of 2019 with an elbow injury that required surgery, and he was lost for the season.  He plans on coming back in 2020 for a 17th season.  In 2018, he was easily the best of his draft class counterparts, but in 2020, he will be 38 years old, will be coming off of major elbow surgery, and he will not have played in an actual game since September, 2019.  the Steelers and their fans can hope that he will be as good as ever, but there are no guarantees.

Before I continue with this little essay, let me offer this Fun Fact.  In addition Eli, Phillip, and Ben, fourteen (14!!) other quarterbacks were drafted by NFL teams in 2004.  The most notable name among them was Matt Schaub, and two other recognizable names were J.P. Losman and and Luke McKown.  After that, you get names like Jeff Smoker, Casey Bramlet, and Bradlee Van Pelt.  None of them are going to Canton unless they buy an admission ticket.

Let's look at a few other guys:

Tom Brady  He is undoubtedly the greatest quarterback of all time, but this year he began to show some slippage.  Part of that can be attributed to the fact that his surrounding cast wasn't as good as it had been in the past.  He did lead the Patriots to a division title, but in the Playoff game against the Titans, he looked just like a 42 year old guy who just may have reached the end of the line.  His last pass in that game was an interception thrown from his own end zone that was returned for a touchdown.  He is now a free agent, and he says he wants to keep playing.  Can he help a good team that just needs an experienced quarterback as a final piece of their puzzle?  Probably he could, but it seems almost unthinkable that we would see Tom Brady in another uniform next year.  The picture of Willie Mays as a New York Met comes to mind.  Not that I love or even like the Patriots or Brady, but I hope that this doesn't happen.

Drew Brees  Like Brady, Brees had a good year, but he also looked like a 40 year old guy in the Saints playoff loss to the Vikings.  He says that he is "undecided" about coming back next year.

Andrew Luck  After missing all of 2017, Luck came back in '18 with a terrific season, but after yet another injury, he retired right before the start of the 2019 season at the age of 29.

Cam Newton  At the age of 30, one time league MVP was benched this year by the Panthers and will be playing elsewhere in 2020.

Aaron Rodgers  Maybe not fair to lump Rodgers into this category, because he had a very good season and led the Packers to a playoff win against Seattle, but he had a very bad first half against the 49'ers in the NFC title game, and his facial expressions and body language showed every bit of his 36 years.

On the other end of the spectrum were whole raft of exciting and young quarterbacks who appear to be ready to take over the NFL.  Leading the way are Patrick Mahomes, last season's MVP and probably the best and most exciting player in the NFL right now, Lamar Jackson, the presumptive MVP this season and deservedly so, and Deshaun Watson.  Maybe even throw in Baker Mayfield  into this mix if he can survive the mess that is the Cleveland Browns.  Then there a some guys like Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott, Matt Ryan, Jarrod Goff, and Carson Wentz, who have been around for awhile and could be factors for years to come in the NFL.

And finally, looming out there is LSU's Joe Burrow whom the Bengals, presumably, will take with the overall Number One selection in this year's Draft.

Yep, the guard is changing at the most important position in the NFL, and 2019 maybe seen as the year that this change took place.

Before I leave, let me speak as a partisan Pittsburgh Steelers fan for a moment.  If you've been paying attention, you know that the Steelers will be going into 2020 with a sure fire Hall of Famer at QB, but one who is 38 years old, and they will be in a division that will be requiring them to play two games a year for the next decade or so against teams led by Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and Baker Mayfield.   This is not a hopeful sign.  Maybe Mason Rudolph will one day be the guy who will be the equal to these three Central Division rivals, but 2019 showed that he is still very much a work in progress.  There is also the very real possibility that the well demonstrated ineptness of the Bengals and the Browns could nullify the skills of Burrow and Mayfield.  In any event, the Steelers, who are aging in other areas as well as at quarterback, appear to have their work cut out for them in the next few seasons.

What A Week On The North Shore

Real Life Stuff has kept me away from the keyboard this past week, but before another sports weekend commences, I feel compelled to comment upon the Pittsburgh Sports Week that has just concluded.

The Steelers took a 0-1 record into their home opener against Seattle where they proceeded to serve themselves up as a tasty meal, dessert included, for the Seahawks' Russell Wilson.  More significant to the season than this 28-26 loss, however, was this scene:

Late in the second quarter, Ben Roethlisberger took himself into the Steelers clubhouse to have an injured elbow looked at.  The next day we learned that this was far more than one of the usual run of the mill dings that football players suffer through the course of the season.  The injury would require surgery that will end the season for Big Ben.  

And so the Mason Rudolph Era begins for the Steelers.

Rudolph was drafted in the third round in 2018 as the heir apparent for Roethlisberger.  I'm sure that no one expected or wanted this Era to begin this soon, but here we are.  He acquitted himself fairly well in relief last week (2 TDs and one INT that wasn't his fault), but now he becomes the Steelers starting quarterback.  He set records at Oklahoma State, went toe-to-toe with Baker Mayfield while there, and for two seasons in a row, we in Pittsburgh watched him thoroughly dismantle the Pitt Panthers.  Granted, the Big XII and Pitt aren't the NFL, but the pedigree seems to be there, as do the physical tools.  We'll see what happens.

Rather than bemoaning the loss of their best player and their 0-2 record, the Steelers refused to throw in the towel on the season, and, in fact, doubled down by making a significant trade:  2020's first round draft choice to Miami for second year safety Minkuh Fitzpatrick.  The Steelers addressed what they felt to be a significant need in an effort to get better on defense.  Good for them, and as is the case with their new starting QB, we shall see where it takes them.

We shall also see what this portends for the future of Ben Roethlisberger.  He will be 38 years old when the 2020 season rolls around.  If Rudolph lights it up for the remainder of the year, will Ben automatically be given back his starter's roll?  Will the Steelers even want to do that?  Will future HOF'er Big Ben want to put himself in the position of competing for a job with Rudolph next year?  All the sorts of questions that will guarantee that the popular Pittsburgh soap opera "As The Steelers Turn" will continue into next season.

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Meanwhile, at the other end of General Robinson Street, the Pirates came home from a series in Chicago where they surrendered 47 runs in three games while losing three straight to the Cubs.  It was an historical humiliation.  Things only got worse on Tuesday with the news of Felipe Vazquez' arrest on the horrific charges of sexual misconduct with a thirteen year old girl.  I'm not going to comment on that, because, honestly, what can you say?

No one on the Pirates or in Pirates management can be faulted for the acts Vazquez has been alleged of committing, but it is just one more awful happening to a season that has been marred by awful play on the field and awful blunders on the part of team management.  As Chuck Noll might have put it, the Pirates' problems are many, and they are great, and I seriously doubt that this team and its current management are capable of even addressing these problems, let alone fixing them.

Since Vazquez' arrest, the Pirates have lost four more straight games.  Yet another seven game losing streak.  I don't know what the record is for seven game losing streaks for a team in a season, but this years' Buccos are surely in the hunt for setting it.

Next weekend the team will be honoring Steve Blass, who will be announcing his final games in the Bucs' broadcasting booth.  However you may feel about Blass as an announcer - and, yes, we have all heard his many stories many, many, and perhaps too many times - he has served the Pirates honorably and well as player, World Series star, broadcaster, and good will ambassador for sixty years.  He sure as hell did not deserve a final season like this one.

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Coming up this weekend:

• The Pirates begin the last eight games of a season that cannot possibly end soon enough
• The Pitt Panthers, and, yeah, I didn't even address that 17-10 loss to Penn State and HCPN's questionable in game decisions - take on Central Florida at Heinz Field.  It might not be pretty for the home team.
• The Steelers and their second year QB travel the San Francisco to take on the surprisingly 2-0 49er's.  Again, it might not be pretty for Rooney U.

Sports, Money, and Morgan Freeman

Sports and money much in the news this past week......

Bryce Harper finally signed a contract this week.  It's with the Phillies for 13 years and a total of $330 million, which comes out to $25 million and change per year.  Harper will NOT be the highest played player in MLB.  That will be the Rockies Nolan Arenado at $32.5 million, and there are several others out there who make north of $25 million, including his new teammate, pitcher Jake Arietta.

There is a report out there that Harper and his agent, Scott Boras, turned down an offer from the Dodgers for four years and $180 million, which would have come out to $45 million per year.  Plus, it would have made Harper a free agent once again at the age of 30, when, assuming his career arc continues as it has over the years, he could have cashed in on yet ANOTHER mind boggling contract.

I guess it was more important to Harper (and Boras) to sign the contract with the largest total payout ($330 M) versus getting the highest single season contract ever ($45 M).  That is a real first world problem.  No wonder it took so long to hammer out a deal.  Plus, Boras gave out this memorable quote:

"It was important to Bryce to sign a contract where he knows he'll be in one place with the same team for a long period of time." (Those may not be the exact works, but that's the gist of it.)

Okay, I realize that this Phillies contract includes no-trade and no-opt-out clauses, but what are the odds that Harper will spend the entire thirteen year length of that contract with the Phillies?  I say that there is not a chance in Hell that that will happen, and I'd bet a hundred bucks to that effect.  Trouble is, that contract expires after the 2031 season, the year in which I will turn eighty, so there is a chance that if he is still with Philly then, I won't be around to see it, or to pay off or collect upon said bet.

Oh, and I can't wait to hear and see how the denizens of Citizens Bank Park are going to react the first time Harper goes into a ten game 5-for-44 slump.

However, I also know this, if the Phillies strike it rich and reach a World Series or two during the first five or six years of that contract with Harper playing a key role in their success, both the team and its fans are going to be really, really happy with the deal, and that is something that we followers of the Bob Nutting Pirates are never going to experience.

And in football, we Steelers fans are being inundated with news coverage and endless talk show bleatings about (a) negotiations of a contract extension for Ben Roethlisberger, (b) the team not "tendering" or "franchising" Le’Veon Bell, and (c), the entire Antonio Brown fiasco.

Here is what The Grandstander thinks.

(a) The QB is the most important position on the team.  They have to do this deal.  Even though Ben turns 37 today (Happy Birthday, Big Ben!), and his skills may not be what they once were.  Just don't make these negotiations turn into yet another media circus.  Fat chance.

(b) Seeya Le'Veon, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.  I do admit, though, that I am interested to see where he ends up and how much money he gets.  He bet big time on himself by skipping a season last year, and he may never get back that $14.5 million that he didn't get from the Steelers last year, but we'll see.

(c) Brown is perhaps the best receiver in the NFL, maybe the best ever in Steelers history (think  about that if you will), but he is a selfish and narcissistic team killer, who quit on his coaches and teammates last season, and I hope that the door DOES hit him in the ass on his way out.  I don't care about him, and I don't care to read or hear about him anymore.  As far as AB is concerned, I refer you to the great Morgan Freeman (I know you were wondering where he came into this discussion) and this quote from "The Shawshank Redemption":

"I don't give a shit."

A Tale of Three Quarterbacks

Pro football fans will all remember the 2004 NFL Draft when three quarterbacks were selected within the first eleven picks of the first round:  Eli Manning by the Chargers-and-then-to-the-Giants, Phillip Rivers by the Giants-and-then-to-the-Chargers, and Ben Roethlisberger by the Steelers.  Each of them lived up to their billing, and each of them achieved success in their NFL careers.  Each of them will probably,  eventually become Hall of Famers.

The circumstances of that particular convergence of QB talent in one draft was discussed much this past season when (a) it seemed that Eli Manning was struggling with the Giants over the past two seasons and may well be washed up,  (b) when Phillip Rivers led the Chargers to a double digit win season and the playoffs, and (c) when Ben Roethlisberger piled up impressive statistics while also throwing a lot of interceptions as the Steelers had a late season collapse.

So, of those three QB's, who was/is the best?  Which one did the most for his team?  Which one would you pick today if for your team if each was in his prime?  Such questions just screamed for a Grandstander Spreadsheet, so here you go (all stats are according to pro-football-reference.com)...

	Ben Roethlisberger	Eli Manning	Phillip Rivers
Games Played	216	232	212
Games Started	214	230	208
Completion %	64.4	60.3	64.5
Total Passing Yards	56,194	55,981	54,656
TD Passes	363	360	374
TD Pass %	5.1	4.5	5.3
Interceptions	190	239	178
Int. %	2.7	3.0	2.5
QB Record	144-69-1	116-114	118-90
Winning %	0.675	0.504	0.567
QB Rating	94.2	84.1	95.6
PLAYOFFS
Games	21	12	11
Completion %	62.4	60.5	59.4
TD Passes	30	18	14
Interceptions	24	9	10
Record	13-8	8-4	5-6
Winning %	0.612	0.667	0.455
Super Bowl Record	2-1	2-0	0-0

Like most sets of statistics, you can bend these numbers any way you'd like to make a case for one guy over the other two. Rivers has more TD passes and a higher QB rating, but a losing record in the playoffs, Manning has a perfect record in Super Bowls, Roethlisberger has more passing yards, has won more games, has a higher winning percentage, and has played in and won more playoff games.  All things considered, I'm glad that the team for whom I root, the Steelers, had Roethlisberger over these last fifteen seasons that either of the other two.

Oh, and just for shits and giggles, I thought that I would add one more name to the spreadsheet, that of a guy who is a contemporary of that 2004 triumvirate, albeit he has played nineteen seasons as opposed to the fifteen seasons of Ben/Eli/Phillip.

	Ben Roethlisberger	Eli Manning	Phillip Rivers	Tom Brady
Games Played	216	232	212	269
Games Started	214	230	208	267
Completion %	64.4	60.3	64.5	64.0
Total Passing Yards	56,194	55,981	54,656	70,514
TD Passes	363	360	374	517
TD Pass %	5.1	4.5	5.3	5.5
Interceptions	190	239	178	171
Int. %	2.7	3.0	2.5	1.8
QB Record	144-69-1	116-114	118-90	207-60
Winning %	0.675	0.504	0.567	0.775
QB Rating	94.2	84.1	95.6	97.6
PLAYOFFS
Games	21	12	11	38
Completion %	62.4	60.5	59.4	63.3
TD Passes	30	18	14	72
Interceptions	24	9	10	31
Record	13-8	8-4	5-6	28-10
Winning %	0.612	0.667	0.455	0.737
Super Bowl Record	2-1	2-0	0-0	5-3

Is there any doubt who the greatest quarterback of this century, if not of all time, is?  Brady has led his team to EIGHT SUPER BOWLS (and has a good chance of making in nine in another couple of days).  Let that sink in.  That is just an unbelievable fact, and I doubt that it will ever happen again.  Ever.

Oh, pro-football-reference.com also shows figure for "Comebacks" and "Game Winning Drives", although it didn't mention how they define the two stats.  Regardless, and given some intuitive thinking of what those terms mean, you may find those numbers of interest as well.

	Brady	Roethlisberger	Manning	Rivers
Comebacks	35	31	27	26
Game Winning Drives	44	42	37	30

If you believe that a quarterback really and truly earns his keep late in the game, when your team is down, when their back is to the wall, and any other cliche you care to use, then you see that Roethlisberger, given four fewer seasons in the league, is right there with Brady in these particular categories.  However, we all know what the Brady-Ben record is when these two guys have gone head to head over the years, and it is pretty one sided in Brady's favor.

Just some numbers for you to chew on to make the case for your favorite quarterback, or a case against a guy you might not like.