Ben Roethlisberger planning to strike his Super Bowl flop from memory

BY OHM YOUNGMISUK
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
http://www.nydailynews.com/
Monday, January 26th 2009, 9:20 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Nate Washington and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger record their arrival on video cameras in Tampa, Florida January 26, 2009 to prepare for the NFL's Super Bowl XLIII football game to be played February 1.(Reuters)

TAMPA - Ben Roethlisberger went to his first Super Bowl with a camera he barely used and a case of nerves that contributed to one of his worst performances.

Monday, Roethlisberger stepped off the Steelers' plane for his second Super Bowl carrying a camcorder to record every moment and a determination to redeem himself for his Super Bowl XL effort.

"The first time around I brought a camera and I took maybe 25 pictures," Roethlisberger said. "I thought to myself, of all the greats that have never had a chance to do this ... this may be my last one. I hope not but you never know so I am going to soak it all up, every single minute and just enjoy it because you never know if it is going to happen again."

Listening to Roethlisberger, it's easy to forget that he actually won Super Bowl XL when the Steelers beat the Seahawks, 21-10, in his second season. But the quarterback says Pittsburgh won despite him. Saying he was overwhelmed by nerves, knowing that millions were watching, Roethlisberger completed just nine of 21 passes for 123 yards and threw two interceptions. The Steelers' lone passing TD came when Antwaan Randle El threw a 43-yard score to Hines Ward on a trick play.

While Roethlisberger did score on a 1-yard run, he has waited nearly three years to wash the foul taste that remains from that Super stinker. "It was the months and years after that when you start thinking, man, I played really bad and I didn't help this team win the football game," Roethlisberger said. "That kind of eats at you a little bit. My play didn't help them to win, almost helped them lose it. I expect it to be different this time and to treat it like it might be my last (game)."

A more experienced Roethlisberger also downplayed any feud with his former offensive coordinator and current Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt. After Whisenhunt left for Arizona in 2007, Roethlisberger criticized Whisenhunt's offense for being too conservative when he was asked about playing under new coordinator Bruce Arians. "We were so predictable - run on first, run on second, throw on third-and-long - and that killed us," Roethlisberger said during 2007 training camp. "Last year, if we took a shot downfield and it was incomplete - or, heaven forbid, intercepted - we weren't throwing it again for a long time. It will be nice to know that Bruce isn't going to handcuff us."

Roethlisberger also took issue with some innocuous comments Whisenhunt made in 2007 about the quarterback perhaps being less confident when he struggled in 2006 - a year in which Roethlisberger endured a preseason motorcycle accident, an appendectomy and a concussion. "There were a lot of things I didn't agree with Whiz about, and that's another one," Roethlisberger said in the past in reaction to Whisenhunt's comments.

Prior to a 21-14 loss to Whisenhunt's Cardinals in 2007, Roethlisberger reportedly avoided Whisenhunt and later texted the Cardinals coach an apology.

Here at the Super Bowl, Roethlisberger gushed Monday about how Whisenhunt developed him into the player he is and that he was a terrific mentor for three years.