The Pittsburgh Steelers' last Super Bowl appearance was in Super Bowl XLV against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. The Steelers lost 31-25 despite a furious comeback that was marred by a Rashard Mendenhall fumble, which many fans still blame for the loss. It turns out that, there is a more nefarious culprit that has escaped blame for over a decade.
Ben Roethlisberger and his cohost Spencer T’eo released episode 24 of his "Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger" podcast on YouTube. During the portion of the show that centered around fan questions, the future Hall of Famer revealed a villain that Steelers fans have rarely blamed for the Super Bowl loss.
“My financial advisor rented a house down in Dallas,” Roethlisberger explained. “Our family was there, agents, everybody was there just hanging. It had this ping pong table, and shuffleboard table. We were just hanging out. It was a hardwood floor and we took our shoes off out of respect for the house and we were playing shuffleboard. We would throw and then run down and slide on the wood floor, being silly. As I slid on the floor a piece of a wood shank broke off and stuck in the bottom of my foot.”
Roethlisberger had missed the first four games of the 2010 season after being suspended by the NFL for an incident near the University of Georgia. The freak injury was not the first instance of him getting hurt while having fun. In June of 2006, after leading the Steelers to the Super Bowl, he endured a severe motorcycle crash that threatened his career.
A wood shank in the foot seems tame, by comparison, but it happened just before his third Super Bowl appearance in five seasons.
“It was in there so deep. I had to go see the trainers and the doctors to get it out,” Roethlisberger continued. “It wasn’t like one piece, and it came out, there were little pieces in there. It was awful. It was one of the most painful things I have ever had to deal with. We soaked my foot. I wore a bigger size shoe. Doc couldn’t shoot it up cause if your foot goes numb you are done.”
The former Steelers signal-caller had an extremely high tolerance for pain during his career. He rarely missed games, but he wasn’t shy about sharing how much pain he was in when he played with an injury during his playing days. In fact, Roethlisberger played so well when in pain that it was occasionally suggested he was exaggerating his conditions for media attention.
“I remember going through warmups,” Roethlisberger said. “Looking at Mike [Tomlin], saying I don’t know if I can play. I had shards in there for almost a year later. People think I was this diva and talked about my injuries. Y’all don’t know what I went through. It was so bad, I was in so much pain before the game. I was like I can’t move. Am I going to hurt the team by playing? It was one of the most horrible things I have ever experienced.”
Roethlisberger did, of course, end up playing for the Steelers, and they fell into a deep 21-3 hole just before the end of the first half. The Steelers initially could not move the ball, and after falling behind 7-0, Roethlisberger threw the first of two interceptions. Nick Collins returned one for a touchdown. After a long drive resulting in a field goal, he threw a second interception to Jarret Bush in Green Bay territory and the resulting possession led to the 21-3 deficit.
Steelers Rashard Mendenhall Still Avoiding Blame For Super Bowl XLV Blunder
Despite the excruciating pain, the Pittsburgh signal-caller rallied to throw two touchdown passes and had the Steelers on the move for what looked like it would be the go-ahead score. When Mendenhall fumbled and ended the drive, it sealed the Steelers' fate in the game. The former running back for the black and gold gets a lot of blame for the loss, and rightfully so. The fumble was a huge play that killed the momentum in the second half.
Steelers fans aren’t likely to forgive him anytime soon, but maybe a little vitriol should be reserved for the hardwood floors in a Dallas rental home that hobbled the franchise quarterback just when they needed him most.
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