Teammates should not publicly rip their fellow teammates

... did not happen after Super Bowl XL 

As a former football coach and player, I learned that one of the most important aspects of being a teammate is accepting the mistakes of one player as a mistake that had to be shared by the team.

In short, if the special teams allow the opponent to block a punt, everyone on the team has to accept the error as part of their effort. They do not have to like it, but they should not rip the efforts of the other players who made the mistake.

In short, the offense should not rip the defense, the line should not rip the backs, the receivers should not rip the quarterback, and so on.

Steelers

That happened after the Steelers game on Sunday when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger criticized his receivers for dropping passes. He should have been upset with them because those mistakes hurt the team effort, though everyone else was making mistakes, too.

Roethlisberger said, "It’s a little frustrating. We talk about how sometimes it’s just one play here, one play there. Tonight we didn’t make those plays. Was [the moment] too big? I don’t know. We need to make every single play in a game like this, in a moment like this.

“Hopefully, this is a learning game for guys to understand this isn’t promised to anybody. Tomorrow isn’t promised. Just to make the playoffs isn’t enough. A lot of guys have been in the league for a long time and haven’t been to any of these. I hope they understand the importance and relish the opportunity if it comes again.”

Forgot about his play in Super Bowl XL

What Roethlisberger failed to mention was how poorly he played in Super XL in Detroit in 2005. This was a game against the Seattle Seahawks.

The Steelers did not play well in the first half in that game but had a 7-3 advantage because Seattle had a touchdown called back, one that would have given them a 10-7 lead at the break.

However, at the start of the third quarter, fast Willie Parker broke off the longest run in Super Bowl history, aided by tremendous blocking by his offensive line, outracing Seattle to give the Steelers a 14-3 lead.

After Seattle missed a field goal on the next possession, the Steelers then followed that with a drive down to the Seattle 6.

That is where Roethlisberger threw a horrible pass. Instead of Pittsburgh moving ahead 21-3 or even 17-3, the pass was picked off by defensive back Kelly Herndon, who returned it 76 yards to the Steelers 20. Two plays later, the Seahawks scored a TD to narrow that lead to just four points, 14-10.

In the fourth quarter, the Seahawks had moved to the Steeler 1-yard line with a chance to take the lead, but the play was negated by a holding call.

The Steelers then iced the game with a halfback pass from Antwan Randle-El to Hines Ward for a 21-10 lead that became the final score.

The Seahawks had two touchdowns called back because of penalties in that game. With those, the score could easily have gone the other way.

After that game, none of the veterans called out Roethlisberger for his QB rating of 22.6, which is the lowest in Super Bowl history. They simply chalked it up to experience.

Remember those lessons

That is why Roethlisberger should have just kept his mouth shut about the young receivers. They were embarrassed enough on a national stage. They did not need to have their QB piling on.

If the Steelers had lost Super Bowl XL, would the vets have been ripping their young QB, who was in his first Super Bowl? Probably not.

Good history lesson for Ben.