Off-field drama means little
Ravens don’t put much stock in player problems weighing on rival Steelers
Ben Roethlisberger had just tossed five interceptions and watched the Jacksonville Jaguars dismantle his team, 30-9, before a stunned stadium full of Pittsburgh football fans.
“Maybe I don’t have it anymore,” the Steelers quarterback murmured in a postgame interview Oct. 8, setting off 1,000 pre-emptive obituaries for the kings of the AFC North.
You already know how the 2017 season played out from there. Pittsburgh won 10 of its next 11 games, including a 39-38 classic against t he Ravens in which Roethlisberger threw for 506 yards.
Which is a roundabout way of saying the Ravens are unlikely to believe any reports of the Steelers’ demise as they prepare for their annual Sunday night fracas in Pittsburgh.
“We’re going to get their best shot,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “There’s no team that rallies for big games more than they do. They come up big for the big games, and playing the Ravens is a big game, and I’m sure the Steelers will play their best on Sunday night, like they always do against us.”
This has been an unsettled season for the Steelers, who opened by blowing a twotouchdown lead in a tie with the Cleveland Sunday, 8:20 p.m. TV: Chs. 11, 4 Radio: 97.9 FM, 1090 AM Line: Steelers by 3
year approach when considering how long he might continue playing.
“Twelve years is amazing,” he said. “I’ve told people, as long as I can run and do what I do defensively, I’ll keep playing. As soon as I think it’s dropping off or my wife is going to leave me, then I’m going to step away and ride off into the sunset. But I still love the game. I love the grind. I love competing. I love being around the young guys and trying to find ways to lead and to relate to them and get the most out of them and to help them have better careers. But I can’t play forever. I know that.”
In the interview, Weddle also discussed why he ended up in Baltimore and not playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Ravens’ “Sunday Night Football” opponent. In addition to the Ravens, he said he considered the Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers — all of them either Super Bowl contenders or recent Super Bowl winners — when he hit free agency. Weddle said he thought he was a “perfect fit” for the Steelers, and even said that Pittsburgh “was a destination that I wanted to make happen. But it just never happened.”
The Steelers “just were hanging around” in free agency, said Weddle, who’s close friends with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
“They had some other options and guys that they needed to get done before me, and they just never wanted to come get it,” Weddle said.
Ultimately, the choice came down to the Ravens and Dallas, where former Chargers assistant coach Rich Bisaccia had relocated. The franchises were “neck-and-neck,” he told McAfee, but in his gut, Weddle felt the Ravens were the best fit.
Even two-and-a-half years later, he said, Steelers fans are still chirping at him over the perceived snub.
“They always get on me like, ‘ You should’ve came here. You picked wrong,’ ” he said. “I’m like, ‘Look, man. I didn’t have a choice. They didn’t really want me.’ ” Safety Eric Weddle has another year remaining on his contract in Baltimore after this season and plans to finish his career playing for the Ravens.