Ben Roethlisberger & the Bad Attitude: Part II

Ben Roethlisberger had it all. He was a Super Bowl winning quarterback on one of the most storied franchises in sports, everybody loved him and it seemed like nothing could derail him from success.

Wrong.

A hobby of Roethlisberger's was to ride his motorcycle, without a helmet. There are no helmet laws in Pennsylvania and Roethlisberger felt that he would never get in an accident so wearing one was not a necessity. He still did not begin wearing one after getting heat from former Steelers' quarterback Terry Bradshaw, Steelers' head coach Bill Cowher and many others for ignoring safety protocol.

Unfortunately, Bradshaw and the others were right, on June 12, 2006 Roethlisberger was in a near-fatal crash and without a helmet suffered numerous injuries. He had a nine-inch laceration to his head, a broken jaw, broken teeth and other injuries. Roethlisberger underwent nine hours of reconstructive surgery and if medical personnel did not arrive quickly, he may have bled out and died right on the pavement.

After an offseason of rehab and recovery, it seemed Roethlisberger would be miraculously ready to play in the team's first regular season game, until he had emergency surgery to remove his appendix just weeks before the opening game. He rushed back to the field in week two and went on to have the worst season of his career with 18 TD to 23 INTs. In the 2006 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers finished 8-8 and Cowher, who had been the Steelers' head coach since 1992, resigned from the position.

Under new head coach Mike Tomlin, the Steelers came out in 2007 with a full-fledged passing attack. Roethlisberger seemed poised to lead the team to another Super Bowl, but with struggles in late-game situations and lack of defensive support, the Steelers lost to the Jaguars in the first round of the playoffs, ending their 10-6 season in which they won a division title.

Gahh, I can't believe it was David Garrard.

After Roethlisberger's career season in 2007, the Steelers made him the highest paid player in franchise history with an eight-year, $102 million contract extension. He responded with a very consistent season where the defense did most of the work. The defense was the best in the league, allowing 14 points per game, 237 yards per game and registering three sacks per game. With Troy Polamalu and Aaron Smith healthy and James Harrison having a Defensive MVP season, Roethlisberger did not have to do much more than protect the football.

The Steelers finished 12-4 in the regular season and went 3-0 in the playoffs, capping it off with a Super Bowl XLIII win against the Cardinals. Roethlisberger was the hero, capping a game-winning drive with a seemingly impossible pass to Santonio Holmes for a touchdown with just seconds remaining.

Hmm, this looks familiar.

Roethlisberger was the man once again, but what could he do this time to screw it up?

Come visit later this week to see Part III and the series finale!