1-19-05 Alan Faneca called out Ben Roethlisberger saying he’s going to have to play better if they’re going to beat the Pats. Faneca said, “He’s going to have to pick his game up. We’re all going to have to pick our game up and it’s going to take our best effort of the season to win.” Fact is, Roethlisberger nearly cost them that game. He didn’t play well. He had one pick returned for a TD and his second interception set up what could have been the winning field goal for the Jets. They do need him to play better if they’re going to beat the Pats. Of course, this isn’t the first time he’s called out Roethlisberger. Remember, when Tommy Maddox went down earlier this season, Faneca said, he wasn’t all that excited to be going into a game with, “some little young kid who’s just out of college” as opposed to a veteran like Maddox. Thanks for that. Trust me, Roethlisberger knows he needs to play better in order to beat the Pats. I don’t think he needs one of his linemen calling him out publicly. Nobody knows he played like garbage more than himself. I think Roethlisberger knows that throwing in the playoffs is bad. I don’t think he needs one of his linemen to bust him in the mouth with that. That’s not the way you do it. You don’t go to the press with that; if you need to say something, or you really have concern, you pull the guy aside and say, you know what, we dodged a bullet, you’re our girl, but we’re going to need a little more. Let’s get it done. That’s how you handle this.
See, the same people in the media hate it when players give the standard, safe answers. Then they crucify them when they're brutally honest. Screw that. Faneca said what he and everybody else was thinking. It's not like it's some breaking story. Rome's making something out of nothing. I'm glad to see he has so much experience in how to handle rookie teammates, and specifically, how to handle Roethlisberger. Give me a break
Big Ben, I guarantee will not come back and say Sh*t, to the media because he knows who watches his back.
I tend to like Rome - how good is this impression of him? Watch the video, it's really funny. Click on Jim Rome... http://www.frankcaliendo.com/foxvideo.html
I agree with Alan Faneca.... All the Steelers must play better if they plan on beating the Pats......
i agree, but i think this might be an example of quoting out of context. if a reporter asked faneca "does ben need to play better?", and faneca said "yes sure he does, and so do all of us" whats the big deal. the steelers have to play better against the pats than they did against the jets. rome might be stirring up $hit (nothing new)
