Super Bowl QBs face the game of their lives

DETROIT – Ben Roethlisberger was an immediate hit, guiding Pittsburgh to a 15-1 record as a rookie last year and on a stirring playoff run this season.

Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck was on the practice squad as a rookie with Green Bay and couldn’t get into the team picture.

Roethlisberger’s celebrity grows by the week. He’s 26-4 as a starter. He orchestrated playoff road wins over the AFC’s top three seeds – Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Denver – to carry a sixth-seeded team into the Super Bowl for the first time.

He made a game-saving, open-field tackle on Colts’ defensive back Nick Harper after a Jerome Bettis fumble in the AFC Championship game. Roethlisberger, 23, is the second-youngest quarterback to start in a Super Bowl.

Hasselbeck has arrived, too, but there were growing pains. After three years in Green Bay, Hasselbeck was traded to Seattle and promptly named the starter. He played so poorly early, he was booed in the 2001 home opener. He lost the starting job to Trent Dilfer, who would become a close friend and mentor.

Hasselbeck started developing in 2002 and he’s followed that up with three seasons that match up with any quarterback in the NFL. He’s been at his best in the playoffs this season with a 109.6 passer rating.

Today in Super Bowl XL at Ford Field, one quarterback – Roethlisberger or Hasselbeck – will likely experience a life- and career-changing afternoon. One will probably end up on Letterman. One will become a household name globally. One will likely become a pitchman for everything from razors to video games.

“For my career, it had a huge impact,” said ex-Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. “What I’ll be known for the rest of my life was the fact that we won three world championships.

“Right or wrong, the Super Bowl is how, in a lot of ways, a quarterback is measured.”

Quarterbacks have won 20 of 39 Super Bowl MVP awards.

“I believe when you get into big games, the difference that tilts the scales is how the quarterback plays,” Aikman said. “There’s always examples that would dispute that, but when the game ends and you look at the quarterbacks and look at the winner, you’re going to say, ‘Yeah, that makes sense.’ “

Ben there, done that

Roethlisberger was recruited for basketball and football out of Findlay (Ohio) High School. He once topped 40 points in a basketball game, but he only started at quarterback as a senior, waiting behind a coach’s kid who finally graduated.

He was recruited by several marquee football schools, but not necessarily as a quarterback. He dropped Ohio State from consideration when their coaches mispronounced his name. At Miami, Ohio, he passed for 4,486 yards as a junior and decided to skip his senior season. Pittsburgh snapped him up with the 11th overall pick.

Roethlisberger replaced an injured Tommy Maddox in Week 2 last season and the Steelers immediately took off – once he cleared his throat.

“He was talking real slowly (while) there was crowd noise,” receiver Hines Ward said. “He was looking down, calling the play off the wristband and a lot of people couldn’t read his lips so it was a long day.”

Times have changed for Roethlisberger, who at 6-feet-5 and 241 pounds is built like a tight end and custom-fit for blue-collar Pittsburgh. Teammates laud his toughness. He hasn’t shaved in months out of respect for the Steelers’ seven-game winning streak.

“That was the only down part about beating Denver,” he said. “I had to keep this (beard) for two more weeks.”

Sacrifices aside, Roethlisberger is on a playoff roll. He’s completed 67.9 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns and one interception.

His regular-season numbers were even better than last year’s. His passer rating is up (98.6-98.1), his interceptions are down (9-11) and his touchdowns stayed the same (17), despite missing three games in November with a knee injury.

“To get us to the AFC Championship last year and the Super Bowl this year, his development is the reason why we are here,” running back Jerome Bettis said.

Roethlisberger has only two career 300-yard passing games, but that’s never been an emphasis in the Steelers’ system. They prefer throwing 20-25 passes per game.

“He was a very good college player and he went to the right team where he could go in and be covered with a hell of an offensive line, a good defense that can get the ball back for you and they can run the ball,” Seattle offensive coordinator Gil Haskell said. “So he’s the third or fourth guy in order to make them go.”

That has changed in the playoffs, where Pittsburgh has thrown early to build leads, then turned it over to the running game.

“I knew we had a pretty special team coming into this year and I just had to play my part,” Roethlisberger said. “The development has been the big thing. I’ve come a long way and we’ve come a long way as a team. We believe in what we do.”

A picture of success

With a mix of humor and inspiration, Hasselbeck recalls being a wallflower when the 1998 team photo was shot in Green Bay.

“When they take the team picture, I want to be allowed in it,” he said. “I don’t want to stand behind the photographer. It was somewhat of a humiliating experience for the five of us on the practice squad.”

After throwing just 29 passes in three years as Brett Favre’s understudy, Hasselbeck was traded to Seattle in 2001. He was cocky and hard-headed. He freelanced too often and occasionally made passes that left coach Mike Holmgren seething on the sidelines.

“It was tough,” Hasselbeck said. “I had grown a lot to that point, but there was a lot of stuff I’d never been through.”

Instead of brooding, Hasselbeck followed Dilfer’s advice on tactics and leadership. He eventually reclaimed the starting job – ironically from Dilfer – and began earning the trust of his teammates and coaches. The maturation process is evident in his statistics. He had a career-high 98.2 passer rating this season, earning his second Pro Bowl trip.

Hasselbeck has minimized mistakes, throwing only one interception in the last seven games. He’s hurt opponents with well-timed scrambles. He’s proven he can carry a short-handed team. Seattle won when starting receivers Bobby Engram and Darrell Jackson were out with injuries. Seattle won when Shaun Alexander was sidelined with a concussion against Washington.

Hasselbeck wouldn’t take the bait when asked if winning the Super Bowl validates a quarterback’s place in history.

“That sounds like a question that a bunch of sports reporters sitting around a desk should discuss,” he said. “What I do know is the more I focus on football, the better I play. The better I play, the better I’ll do in those kinds of discussions.”