A Rookie Ben Roethlisberger Drove Steelers' Bill Cowher 'Crazy' Forcing Him To Play 'Good Cop Bad Cop' To Control Him

The Pittsburgh Steelers' 2004 season was the start of the Ben Roethlisberger era. After being drafted 11th overall, Pittsburgh's plan was to let Roethlisberger sit his first year behind Charlie Batch. Roethlisberger was third on the depth chart behind Batch and Tommy Maddox, but when both went down to injury, the 22-year-old rookie was given the football. 

Roethlisberger also wasn't expecting to play in 2004, but he ended up taking his first snap in Week 2 when Maddox got injured during the game. After going on to lose 30-13 to the Baltimore Ravens, Roethlisberger would end up 13-0 as the starting quarterback that regular season for the remaining games. On Monday, Roethlisberger had former Steelers Head Coach Bill Cowher on his Footbahlin podcast to discuss the magical season. Cowher gave his thoughts on how Roethlisberger played the game:

"We win, and the next week we win, and you're getting more comfortable, mostly really comfortable out of the pocket, just kind of running around, as I would call it 'Streetball.'"

With the 2004 season being almost 20 years ago, this type of quarterback play wasn't insanely popular like it is today. Roethlisberger played this way his entire rookie year, and was quite good at it, leading Pittsburgh to the AFC Championship. He continued this playstyle for most of his career, only switching to more of a pocket passer in his later years as he lost mobility. The "Streetball" that Cowher is referring to is very similar to current-day Josh Allen, with Allen most likely taking a few notes from the Steelers quarterback. Roethlisberger remembered how Coach Cowher felt watching him play in his rookie year:

"That drove you nuts."

Cowher immediately followed Roethlisberger's comment:

"Drove me crazy, crazy, crazy, because you were getting away with it, you'd be running to the right and then see Plax [Burress] on the left and throw it across the field... I'm like, 'He had the check down right there, his progression says check down,' he's like, 'I ain't checking anything down.'"

This "reckless" playstyle is what made Roethlisberger so good for so many years, but it was also what Cowher had a problem with. After watching a couple more games, Cowher went up to Ken Whisenhunt, Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator from 2004 to 2006, to talk about his issues with Roethlisberger. Cowher recites his conversation with Whisenhunt:

"I said listen, 'He's playing Streetball again, I'm gonna pull him in, I gotta talk to Ben, he's making it seem too easy for him, it's reinforcing bad habits.'"

After winning game after game, you wouldn't think the coach would have such a big issue with his quarterback. Cowher had a valid complaint at the time however, Roethlisberger was abandoning progressions and game plans. This is what scared the coach and why he didn't want to put his fate in the hands of the rookie quarterback. Cowher elaborated on his dislike of "Streetball":

"I need to let him know, 'You should be going through this progression and doing this, look this guy off, trust what you see, take what's given to you right here. And then if you see two-high you can run, you can't be running on single-high and you can't just get out of the pocket the first time you feel any kind of people around your feet, you can't do that.'"

He continues with what Roethlisberger said back to him: 

"And then you're like, 'My gosh, I just threw for 300 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, I'm in your meeting Monday morning and you're yelling at me about playing Streetball.' And I'm thinking, 'That guy's got a good point.'"

Steelers Coach Cowher's Good Intentions

Cowher continued talking on the topic, going into more detail about why he wanted Roethlisberger to limit the "Streetball" plays:

"I told Whiz, 'Tell him it's okay, I'm just trying to make sure he understands there are progressions, there's a reason why we're going through and calling different plays, we're trying to set certain things up. And every time he runs out and does these things, it's not, it's okay every now and then, but tell him to trust his instincts. He's got pretty good instincts.'"

The Roethlisberger playstyle that fans fell in love with ended up driving coach Cowher crazy, but not without good reason. Cowher and Whisenhunt had game plans going into every game, as does every coach and coordinator. Roethlisberger's "Streetball" messed up their schemes, but they learned to let him go with his natural instincts and make plays when there was nothing there. Cowher ends with his last reasoning for disliking Roethlisberger's playstyle in 2004:

"I gotta keep telling him this because at some point, he'll understand. I almost feel like he wants to get hit... He's the only quarterback we got and I can't let him go out there and play Streetball, we got nobody else left and I don't want to go back to the other guys right now."

What made Roethlisberger so special was his off-topic plays. Eluding sacks and extending plays is what he was known for. Everyone liked Roethlisberger's "Streetball," everyone but the guy coaching. As the games went on, Cowher grew more and more trust in his rookie quarterback. Roethlisberger and Cowher went on to win Super Bowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks in 2005, with a handful of "Streetball" plays sprinkled in.

Do you find it weird that Coach Cowher initially didn't like Roethlisberger's off-topic plays? What is your favorite Roethlisberger "Streetball" play? Let us know in the comments below.

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