PITTSBURGH —Can we agree quarterback is the most important position on a football team?
That's easy, right?
How about Ben Roethlisberger as the best quarterback in Steelers history?
That makes for a good debate, doesn't it?
And if Roethlisberger is the best quarterback, does that make him the most important player in franchise history?
OK, let the heated arguments begin.
I'm not quite willing to put that label on Roethlisberger, but it is fun and instructive to think about where he belongs among the Steelers' all-time greats.
Just about everybody, including the Rooney family, will tell you Joe Greene was the greatest Steeler. He came to the Steelers as "Joe Who?" in 1969 and quickly became "Mean Joe." He was the chief building block of the Super Steelers dynasty of the 1970s. He might have been the best interior defensive lineman in NFL history.
I would put a few Steelers Hall of Famers right there with Greene.
Start with Mel Blount, maybe the finest all-around cornerback in NFL history. He changed the game by forcing a rule change to protect wide receivers because he was so physical. Have you seen him lately? He is 73 and still looks as if he could play. He's the most incredible physical specimen I've seen.
Jack Ham was another legendary player. Teammates marveled at how technically perfect he was. Andy Russell often has told the story of the other defensive players standing in a dark film room and giving Ham an ovation after reviewing his play. For me, he was the second-best outside linebacker in NFL history after the incomparable Lawrence Taylor.
The only other Steelers player I would put in that category is Mike Webster. His toughness set the tone for the franchise's dynasty. Iron Mike, indeed.
Is fifth place on the Steelers' all-time list so bad for Roethlisberger?
And, yes, I think Roethlisberger was better than four-time Super Bowl-winning, Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw.
You read that right.
Better than the great Bradshaw.
"I would give it to Ben," Bradshaw told Post-Gazette columnist Joe Starkey and me on our 93.7 The Fan radio show two years ago. "His numbers far exceed mine. I may have more Super Bowls, but he is a much better quarterback. I wasn't bad in my era, but he is big, strong, accurate and puts up monstrous numbers and has two Super Bowls. I passed that baton to him, gladly. I absolutely have no problem with that. He deserves it."
I had to laugh when I heard Bradshaw's analysis. I always have questioned his sincerity on any topic and long have said he's the biggest phony in Pittsburgh sports history. I don't know if he actually believes Roethlisberger was better, but his assessment in this case was spot-on.
Roethlisberger owns all of the Steelers' significant passing records. He passed for 36,000 more yards than Bradshaw. He threw 206 more touchdown passes. He won 58 more regular-season games as the starter.
Roethlisberger's 64,088 passing yards rank fifth all-time in the NFL, his 418 touchdown passes eighth. His 165 wins rank fifth.
You might argue Bradshaw would have similar numbers to Roethlisberger's if he played in the same pass-happy era. I would counter by saying Bradshaw played at a time when there was no NFL free agency. He was able to play his entire career with Webster, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth and Franco Harris. Roethlisberger did not have that luxury.
I know a lot of people can't get by Bradshaw's edge in Super Bowl wins, 4-2. I get that. I also know a lot of old-timers refuse to acknowledge a younger player could be better than someone of their generation. Well, I'm an old-timer and I think Roethlisberger was better. For the record, I also think Antonio Brown was the best receiver I've ever seen in Pittsburgh, better than Hall of Famers Swann and Stallworth.
Don't get me wrong.
Bradshaw was tremendous. His throws to Swann in Super Bowl X and Stallworth in Super Bowl XIV were spectacular. But so was Roethlisberger's 6-yard pass to Santonio Holmes with :35 left to win Super Bowl XLIII against the Arizona Cardinals.
Roethlisberger was terrific on that winning, 8-play, 78-yard drive — actually, it covered 88 yards because of a holding penalty on guard Chris Kemoeatu — by completing 5 of 7 passes for 84 yards. Holmes was just as terrific on the drive with four catches for 73 yards.
But football people will be talking about Roethlisberger's touchdown pass to Holmes for as long as there are Super Bowls. It might have been the best pass in Super Bowl history.
Bruce Arians won't argue that point. He was the Steelers' offensive coordinator for that Super Bowl and now coaches Tom Brady with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"As great as that catch was by Tone, the throw was even better," Arians told the Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac earlier this month. "There aren't five people on this planet that could make that throw."
Roethlisberger will tell you that pass was the best of his career. It is the best part of his wonderful legacy with the Steelers.
What an amazing legacy it is.
