Advertisement

Ask Ed: On Finding the Next Ben . . . or Brady

By Ed Bouchette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 7 years ago

Good morning,

Your Ask Ed questions for the weekend:

--- YOU: You, Kevin Colbert, and many others have talked recently about how Ben has shown no signs of slowing down and that he could go strong for another 4-5 years. While it's true that he's playing as well as ever, and that his body seems to be holding up despite the hits he has taken and injuries he has suffered for the last decade, it's not his body I am concerned about. It's his brain.

How many reported or officially documented concussions has he suffered? I feel like I can count at least 2-3 on the field concussions on top of the one he suffered in the terrible motorcycle accident in 2006.

When you also consider his personal feelings on the issue, which you quoted in your article after the Seattle game last year, and how some players are choosing health over football (most recently with the Bills' A.J. Tarpley), it makes me seriously wonder if Ben is one more serious concussion away from walking away.

I'm not suggesting this means the Steelers should try to find Ben's replacement now as many have suggested, but I am afraid that Ben's career may end sooner than he, or any of us, would like it to.

As a lifelong Steelers fan, I would hate to see it happen. But I would also hate to see another Steelers legend putting the rest of his life in danger just to provide us all with a few more fleeting moments of excitement and happiness on Sundays.

 

ED: While I do not want to diminish your concerns about the health of football players, you could make the same generalization about virtually every one of them, especially those in their 30s. All players have had concussions, whether they were documented or not. You can get a concussion riding a bicycle, playing softball, or on the playground as a kid. One of these days, there may be laws that we must all wear helmets when we walk outside our doors.

You say you would hate to see another Steelers legend putting the rest of his life in danger just to provide us with more excitement, then what do you propose? Should the sport be banned? Should they make mandatory retirement for any player with two or three documented concussions, no matter what age? Should players not be permitted to play beyond 30? And while we concentrate so much on the dangers of brain injuries, what about other injuries? Did you know that both L.C. Greenwood and Dwight White died prematurely after complications from back surgeries necessitated because of their days playing football?

Football is and always has been a rough sport as many sports are from auto racing to baseball and rugby and all kinds of winter sports, not to mention the occasional track athlete who gets speared by a javelin. A man was killed while skiing at Seven Springs this winter, run over by an out of control skiier. Did you know that? If it had happened while he were playing football, you would not have missed it.

They’re trying to make football safer, but unless they remove the contact from it, it always will be a rough sport. Is it dangerous? Everything we do is relative in that sense, some riskier than others. Living in a cocoon might help solve some of it, if that’s how you want to live.

--- YOU: If your nose guy is playing 30% of the time it's because he's not good enough. If a guy is quick and can push he can play a lot. Not saying we should, just saying we should consider.

ED: No, the nose tackle plays 30 percent of the time because that is how the Steelers play pass defense. They pull the nose tackle out of the lineup and insert an extra defensive back. Now, if you deem your nose tackle to be better than one of your ends in those pass defenses, then I suppose you could keep him on the field and remove either Stephon Tuitt or Cam Heyward. But they have determined those two are forces in those defenses, so why would you have someone else play? Yes, I can see a rotation to keep them all fresh and that certainly could happen if they get someone like that as a nose tackle. With the draft so deep in defensive linemen, though, they might be able to get that player in that second or third round.

--- YOU: Inferring that it's hopeless to replace Ben, or to have a replacement in place, is going too far. Ben's good, but not that good ... yet. Many good and great QBs have been later round choices.

ED: Other than Tom Brady, I doubt you will find many good and great quarterbacks as late-round draft picks, at least in modern football.

--- YOU: You wrote: "The Steelers will not look to draft Ben Roethlisberger’s successor this year and they may not be in position to ever do so because it’s hard to find the next great one when you continue to draft in the 20s." Hard, yes, but two words clearly show it's not impossible: Tom Brady. Though, as you say, there's no need to work on that problem yet.

ED: The example of Tom Brady has been used so much that people actually believe you can find a Hall of Fame quarterback in the sixth round. Name me another. I have a series of two-word answers myself to clearly show it’s improbable: Landry Jones, Dennis Dixon, Omar Jacobs, Brian St. Pierre, Tee Martin – and that is just in this century.

--- YOU: I haven't noticed the Steelers being in the business of signing the offspring of former players, but also not sure how many opportunities they had to do so. With Mel Blount's son Akil trying to make his way into the league, what are the odds he opens camp in Latrobe?

ED: Akil Blount started the past three years at inside linebacker for Florida A&M, where he also made third-team all-conference and ran back two interceptions for touchdowns. He is listed as 6-2, 238 pounds with a 40-time of 4.6. NFLDraftScout ranks him 25th among inside linebackers and a possible free agent signing. It would surprise no one if the Steelers signed him afterward if he is not drafted or at least invited him as one of the tryout players in their spring practices.