Ben Roethlisberger Quotations

Leadership is something you earn, something you're chosen for. You can't come in yelling, 'I'm your leader!' If it happens, it's because the other guys respect you.

I try to live my life like my father lives his. He always takes care of everyone else first. He won't even start eating until he's sure everyone else in the family has started eating. Another thing: My dad never judges me by whether I win or lose.

I take my life and put it on the football field, and I take the football field and put it in my life.

I don't ride a sport bike. If I'm riding a sport bike and trying to do tricks, and going 200 miles down the highway, that's probably pretty stupid. But when you're riding a Harley or a chopper, and you're riding with a group of people and you're not on the highway and you're cruising, you're relaxing.

There will always be hard times. Use adversity to fuel your fire. In high school, I wanted to play quarterback but couldn't until I was a senior. I played wide receiver instead, and this ultimately helped me because I learned more about the game.

I've always been big into snowmobiles, four-wheelers, jet skis, all kinds of those X Games kind of things.

As your body deteriorates, your natural talents start to go a little bit. You have to bring in physical working out, building, taking protein and doing extra stuff.

I've seen fathers criticizing their sons the moment a game's over. Not my dad. It doesn't matter if I threw an interception or a Hail Mary, he always says, 'Good job, son, I'm proud of you.' Then he shakes my hand and gives me a hug. Every time.

I ride a Harley and a chopper. Those are the two bikes I ride the most.

I was so mad that we lost the game. I kind of went into a depression and didn't shave and we ended up winning the next game. And I am kind of superstitious - just a little bit to people who know me - but we won that game and I said I am just going to keep it going until we lose and we kept it going. I don't really like the beard you know. But we were winning so I had to keep it going.

Oh, wow. That's tough. I'd probably have to go with Willie.

No one plays a similar defense to what we play. I think our guys move around so much it's hard to identify who people are. I think with (the Texans), they kind of show you what they have and then they'll bring a few things off of it.

No one thought we could win this game except for the guys in that locker room. We knew if we wanted a chance to win, we had to come out firing on all cylinders.

Obviously that helps fuel the fire a little bit. But you move on.

Obviously, the strength of our offense again is going to be our offensive line, ... I think that will help in our run game and in the passing game.

Obviously it hurts us to have Duce and Jerome hurt, but ... I am excited to watch Willie Parker play this week. He is a fast guy. He has got a lot of moves.

Obviously, Tommy can handle this team, ... but I'm going to make sure that I'm out there.

Nobody gave us a chance last week and that's fine with us.

I'd like to go out and play. You don't want to sit there and be rusty for the next week. I'd like to get out there and get some snaps for however long that coach thinks is necessary.

I don't have any wood to knock on here, ... Now, you can't be talking about those things. We're going to go out and try to play smart football and, hopefully, keep the ball out of their hands.

My job is to lead this team, ... We knew it was going to be a battle and a challenge. We made some mistakes, but we had each other's backs when we need to have it and pulled through.

When you're a quarterback and you're remembering a tackle... I think I turned him enough times that he got close to me and couldn't decide which way to go. I was just hoping I could slow him down.

I would say that when Heath is at his best is when we get inside the 20-yard line. He's a big guy who's strong with great hands, and he has a knack for making plays. When you area quarterback and you get out of the pocket and are scrambling around and you can find a 6-foot-5 tight end with beautiful hands, it's a good thing.

There are still some throws it's still painful with and I don't quite have the zip I normally do or the spin on the ball but it's coming along and hopefully we'll get it healed up soon.

I feel that I'm not losing the game for our team. I'm trying to give us the best opportunity to win the football game. I did everything I could to lose the Jets game but we won. And the Patriots game, I didn't play well. I think that this year, I just come out and play smart football. I got some good advice the other day (from CBS Sports' Dan Dierdorf): Every drive that ends in a kick is a good drive.

I don't think anybody is picking us to win. Obviously, they're the best football team in the NFL and we're just the Pittsburgh Steelers. We're going to go in and obviously try to find a way to just put a few points on the board and compete.

I don't think anybody is picking us to win. We're going to go in and obviously try to find a way to just put a few points on the board and compete.

I get that a lot. There's kind of a theme that people are happy to see me but disappointed that we beat Cincinnati. I'm used to it. I have a lot of friends around here who are Cincinnati fans.

I don't think we're there yet. But we got the win today. That's what's most important. It wasn't a perfect game. But it was a win.

I felt I should have been the quarterback. But what could I do?

I felt really comfortable out there. A lot of that has to do with the offensive line. They gave me a lot of time. I didn't get touched too much today.

I felt happy I could keep my promise to get (Bettis) back home to Detroit.

I have a lot of confidence in my offensive line, ... I think (it) will do a great job of protecting me.

I always talk about how I feel I can be a better quarterback, but just because I feel like I'm more experienced and better doesn't mean I'm going to play better. You'd like to think so. But with Carson as their quarterback, and as good as he is, I don't think their lack of experience will hurt them too much.

He is going to be held to a very high standard,

I make sure if I have a bad play or make a mistake to stay away from him.

I'm a lot more comfortable. I understand what's going on a little bit more and hopefully, it will translate into better football.

Hopefully this proves we can win the game if we throw the ball,

We talked a couple of times this week. He called me and said, 'Listen, enjoy it and have fun there because you never know if it is going to come back.' He said that he thought he was going to make it back (to the Super Bowl) and he never got to play in it again.

He looked like he was about ready to fall asleep. That's how I was last year.

I was disappointed with how I played last year. That's definitely motivation for me this time. I don't want to let my teammates down.

Matt is a phenomenal quarterback. He's a great leader. He's very good with his feet and he has a great arm. He always seems to know what he's doing, making sure his offense has the best play possible.

Some guys never get to a Super Bowl, and then there are people like Danny Marino who get there in their second year and don't get back.

That doesn't mean anything to me. I'm just focused on trying to win the game.

People need to realize, and I know they won't, that there was 45 mph winds out there, and it was tough, ... A lot of those plays were not (Tommy's) fault. The wind was knocking the balls down. There was no way he should have got the criticism he did.

I think Carson's a much better quarterback than I am.

People are always trying to compare quarterbacks and that's tough to do because everybody is his own quarterback and own person. Tom's obviously a phenomenal quarterback, player and person, so that's an honor to be compared to him.

It is Carson's first playoff game, but he's a better quarterback than I was. So I don't know how much it will affect him.

It definitely motivates you to play better and not let your guys down, especially guys like Jerome Bettis, who are in this game to win it. You don't want to let him down like I felt I did last year.

I think they can count on me. And I want them to be able to count on me.

I think an XL shirt might be a little too small for Jerome, but Super Bowl Forty is a good size for him. It's just a great opportunity.

Rodney Harrison. He's a guy we have to locate and keep our eye on because he's going to give a lot of things away, hopefully.

Our goal every week is to keep Gardocki off the field. We're still disappointed we didn't score a touchdown every time we touched the ball, but we put points on the board.

I think he's going to be a very valuable person, especially when we get in the red zone. You got a guy who's big and strong, he can go up and make a catch when it matters. That's the thing you have to have.

I think Indianapolis misunderstood me. I wanted to knock the rust off, I didn't want them to. I was sluggish at first, but then we picked it up a little better -- just not as well as we should have.

I was trying to buy as much time as I could on third-and-long. I saw Hines make a move and cut it to the right side. He made a great play coming back for it.

I was thinking about falling down at the 1 so I could get him another one.

I think people have misconstrued that. I don't think we've been playing the underdog card. We've been playing the us-against-the-world card. I don't care if you're a favorite or not, you can still play that card. I think it's us. We believe in ourselves and we believe that nobody believes in us except us. That's the approach we're going to continue to take because that's all we need is each other.

It feels like an eternity since I've been out there. I can't wait to get out there and get on the field so the guys know I'm back, and hopefully I'm back to stay for a while.

I think the guys have kind of accepted that with me and I think I try to go on the field and play that way. I'm not a guy who's going to be yelling or ranting and raving and trying to talk to be a leader. I'd rather lead by example. It's made me feel more comfortable out there on the field.

It is a growing-up process. I'm a long way from mastering anything.

I threw the ball so hard. You would have thought I threw a little screen pass to him.

I think I turned him enough times that he got close to me and couldn't decide which way to go. I just saw his leg and grabbed it, and luckily he went down.

I think we did a good job; give our offensive line a lot of credit. We did all silent count. We went on two, on three, mixed it up. They did a phenomenal job up front of being disciplined.

I thought about falling down at the 1 so he could get a fourth one. I guess I didn't think fast enough.

I talked to Dan Marino. He told me to stay focused and that I'd get butterflies and be nervous and that there would be anxious feelings, but to make sure I stayed under control and not let it get the best of me. He said to enjoy it, have fun, because you never know if it's going to come back.

I was nervous the whole game. . . . I couldn't get it done throwing the ball, for whatever reason.

We'll probably still think we're underdogs. We know we're going into it believing in each other, and if no one else believes in us, that's fine with us. Because we know the mentality that we need to take into the game, and that's the mentality we'll take into the game.

We've done both. It's kind of been a situation of just taking what the defense gives us. If they've loaded up against the run, we've been able to work the passing game. It's just recognizing what approach they're taking, and making calls based on that.

I was probably more nervous before this game than any professional football game I've ever played.

Willie has been playing great. He adds a different dimension to what people are used to seeing when they think Steelers football. They think hard, grind-it-out football getting two yards at a time. Not that we really have changed that, but Willie kind of adds that dimension that he can bounce it outside and get you 10, 15 or 20 yards on any given run.

Willie has done so much for this team. The new and exciting running game that he has brought has really been awesome. Otherwise, I'd give it to our entire offensive line if I could.

You don't expect that from a guy like that. Obviously, he was a little frustrated. But I don't remember complaining. It's just unfortunate coming from a guy like that.

That's been my driving force all year. I'm glad I didn't have to cry and apologize to him that I didn't get him there. I feel a lot better I can keep my promise to Jerome getting him back to Detroit.

That's been my driving force all year. I'm just glad that I didn't have to cry and apologize to him that I couldn't get him there.

That's the microscope we live under as professional athletes, ... That's part of the deal when you sign on the dotted line and see the fine print.

We haven't run a lot of plays that fit me getting out of the pocket, ... Once we start game-planning, that's to our strength and our advantage.

When it's do-or-die for us, this team gets down to the nitty-gritty.

We don't think about that. We take it one game at a time. Every week we have a one-game season. This week we are 0-0 going against New England.

We can't change anything, but there's still going to be tomorrow. We're still going to play, and we still have a long season ahead of us. The main thing is that the guys in there are not discouraged. We're disappointed that we didn't get the win, but we know that we still have a long season. All this loss means is that we can't go undefeated.

We really want to get it done for him.

We don't have a crowd with us. We don't have the people picking us, but we have each other. And that's all we need.

That's the way I want to go out, whenever my time is up.

That was one where my mind was telling me to throw it over the top and my arm didn't throw it over the top. I read it right, I just didn't throw it good.

The O (offensive) line did a great job and it made my job a whole lot easier.

There is a pretty good blueprint they had,'' Orton said.

We had nothing to lose. Everyone expected us to lose the first game. Everyone expected us to lose the second game. Everyone expected us to lose this game. We had each other's back the whole way. Sometimes that's all you want is each other.

We had nothing to lose. No one believed in us but us. We're going to feel like it's us against the world one more time.

We did exactly what we wanted to on that drive, ... We used the pass to get inside of the 50 and then completed two more passes to get into field goal range and ran the ball well enough to make (Baltimore) use their timeouts.

We want to go there because they got us last time. That's just the nature of the beast.

When there are doubters, it always fuels the fire a little bit. When people say you can't do something, if you are a competitor, that drives you.

I know I probably never will win the league MVP or passing title. That is not why I play the game. I try to win football games and championships.

In my heart, I know I haven't been the best person, the best quarterback for the Steelers. I'm not talking just on the field, I'm talking off the field.

I feel that Im not losing the game for our team. Im trying to give us the best opportunity to win the football game. I did everything I could to lose the Jets game but we won. And the Patriots game, I didnt play well. I think that this year, I just come out and play smart football. I got some good advice the other day (from CBS Sports Dan Dierdorf): Every drive that ends in a kick is a good drive.

It's an honor to be compared with Terry Bradshaw. If I could do half of what he did, I'd be very happy.

Big Ben just kept building up. It ended up coming off the field. It kept taking over. Superman kept taking over Clark Kent and you just never saw who Ben Roethlisberger was any more.

The biggest thing isn't necessarily how I play, but that we win. That's my number-one goal. I could be the worst quarterback out there, but if we come out with a victory that's all that matters to me.

Usually when we lose a game is because we turn the ball over or not play well enough and usually it is the turnover thing. We have to take care of the ball. It is starts with me and not turning it over.

You have to be able to step up when your name is called.

My family and friends and teammates, just having their support has been unbelievable.