First in a 10-part daily series:
It's often talked about with great athletes: They have "it."
Nobody can really put a finger on what "it" is exactly, but the great athletes are teeming with that innate ability to will their team to victory, even under extremely dire circumstances.
For years, it was unquestioned that Ben Roethlisberger had "it." For a quick reminder of what that looked like, turn on tape of Super Bowl XLIII.
Now 37, Roethlisberger enters the 2019 season -- his 16th -- with perhaps more questions about his leadership and ability than ever before. He'll take the next step in disproving his critics July 25, when the Steelers report to training camp at Saint Vincent College.
Roethlisberger has always had his critics. But the past year has seen them grow even more vociferous.
Roethlisberger is No. 6 on the league's all-time passing yardage list with 56,194 yards. He's seventh on the touchdown passes list with 363. He's won two Super Bowls and been to another.
Yet even during the season last year, there were people questioning his credentials for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Remember this gem from the Saints' Cameron Jordan?
#Saints star pass-rusher Cam Jordan doesn’t believe Ben Roethlisberger is a future Hall of Famer. “I’d honestly put Eli before Ben.” #Steelers @ #Saints coming up Sunday. pic.twitter.com/uOC2Sx1H0y
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) December 20, 2018
Then, the offseason happened. Or, actually, Week 17 of the 2018 season happened. One week after Jordan questioned Roethlisberger's hall-of-fame credentials, Antonio Brown went AWOL from practice.
That's when things really went sideways.
Brown began a scorched earth policy on Roethlisberger, in particular, raising questions about the quarterback in the national media.
Kevin Colbert fueled the fire with his innocuous answer to a question about Roethlisberger's leadership skills when he said the quarterback has "52 kids" in the team's locker room.
"I just took it as him saying I was old," Roethlisberger later said. And that was the joke Colbert meant to make, which everyone who was in the room that day understood.
On their own, however, the quotes grew legs of their own.
All the extra attention seems to have motivated Roethlisberger. He was in attendance at every one of the team's OTA sessions and was fully engaged throughout the process.
He also signed a new three-year contract that will keep him with the Steelers through 2021 and the age of 40.
"You never take him for granted," backup Josh Dobbs told me. "It’s good to have him here."
But can he still play at a high level, or at least one high enough to lead the Steelers to another Super Bowl?
Roethlisberger led the NFL with 5,129 passing yards. He also led the league in passing attempts, completions and interceptions.
That last stat is the one that attracts his critics' focus. But his interception percentage of 2.4 per 100 attempts was actually his lowest since 2014. Roethlisberger just threw more passes in 2018 than he had thrown in his career, setting his career high by 67 attempts.
With Brown now with the Raiders, the Steelers don't figure to have Roethlisberger throw the ball 675 times, as he did last season. What that might look like remains to be seen.
One thing's for sure, the Steelers need Roethlisberger to be efficient and show that "it" factor more often.
He's manufactured 31 career fourth-quarter comebacks in his career, two of which came last season. That ties him with John Elway for sixth on the all-time list.
Elway didn't win a Super Bowl until his final two years in the league, at ages 37 and 38. That is where Roethlisberger finds himself now.
The only difference is, unlike Elway, Roethlisberger won two Super Bowls early in his career.
After taking criticism from a lot of different places this offseason, Roethlisberger figures to have a pretty big chip on his shoulder.
He wants to show he's a better leader than is being portrayed in some circles. He wants to show he still has "it."
"As professional athletes, we always talk about (having) thick skin," Roethlisberger said. "Naturally, we have to have it. But I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t bother us at times.
"It does start to hurt. It affects your family. When it starts to affect your family, then it can definitely affect you. You also understand that we live in an amazing country and people can have opinions and say what they want. You have to focus on the guys who are here and make sure everyone is good. Everybody I’ve talked to here is good with me."
Related: Brown tweets at Roethlisberger
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