Is This The Dumbest Blogger At Barstool?
Last week I regretfully blogged a blog asking "Is Ben Roethlisberger The Most Overrated QB Of Our Generation?"
Despite prefacing the entire thing with the fact that the question came from a place of envy, and citing very relevant statistics from a very similar QB career (Philip Rivers), it did not go over well.
At all.
I admitted I wavered back and forth on even submitting it to the editors to be blogged. Because I know how ̶p̶s̶y̶c̶h̶o̶t̶i̶c̶ passionate Steelers fans are. They wouldn't take a piece questioning the love, loyalty, and pride they have for #7 lightly. Well framed or not.
And boy was I right.
I got lit up pretty hard on twitter.
Mostly from twitter eggs, people hiding behind lame usernames and avatars, or mouth breathers like this kid
Luckily, the social media team doesn't @ anybody in content who does anything in this company, (zing),
because I would have probably had to deactivate my twitter for the weekend.
But one person taking offense to the blog in particular really stood out and made me feel legitimately bad.
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Now full disclosure, before I met Jerry I thought he wasn't really playing with a full deck. But I got to meet him in NY at HQ about a month ago, right after he beat up Nadu, and he couldn't have been nicer and more put together. Super polite, and friendly. I loved him.
So yah, him telling me in a subtweet to "shut my fucking mouth" hurt me. And frightened me.
After seeing what he did to Jeff "The Body" Nadu in the ring, this is not a guy whose wrong side I want to be on.
If that wasn't bad enough, the Steelers had a game coming up in less than 24 hours against one of the only teams I hate more than them. The Ravens.
These fucking assholes.
I mean there was an 8% chance or some shit that the Steelers could make the playoffs, with a win, and a Jaguars win, and a Raiders or Chargers win.
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So worst case they beat up on the injury-riddled Ravens, Big Ben rides off into the sunset, and Tomlin and co. head to the Caribbean for the winter.
Boy was I fucking wrong.
Roethlisberger delayed his retirement for a little longer, guiding Pittsburgh to a 16-13 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday that left the Steelers on the verge of an improbable playoff berth.
It looked as if this would be the end for Roethlisberger when Baltimore led 10-6 and was driving in the fourth quarter, but Tyler Huntley threw an interception in the end zone.
The 39-year-old Roethlisberger threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Chase Claypool with 2:54 remaining to give Pittsburgh a 13-10 lead.
“You've got to pay respect where respect is due. We made it hard on him and he kept coming,” Ravens defensive lineman Calais Campbell said. “He made the plays he needed to. Big Ben, he’s a legend for making the plays in critical moments. He’s a warrior.”
Justin Tucker tied it with a 46-yard field goal late in the 4th qtr to send it to overtime.
That's where, in true karmic fashion, Roethlisberger orchestrated yet another late-game drive to set his team up for success.
He was gracious in victory and you could tell he was just happy to get another shot (slim as it was at the time) to play one more game.
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If that wasn't enough karma shoved up my ass, the stats started to pour in.
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So yah, I looked like an idiot in the most perfect way possible.
I guess the guy is pretty fucking good (still), despite not being in the shape he once was, and he's still a winner.
And I look like an idiot with a lot of egg on my face.
Good times.
I still love you Jerry. I still love you Fiori’s, D&G, Police Station Pizza, Enrico’s, and Beaver Brewing!
h/t to Magee for this gif. well played