Here are some more little tidbits I threw out there for you to ponder...
Ben Rothlisberger
- Most career touchdowns by a Miami University quarterback - 84
- Most wins by an NFL rookie quarterback (2004) - 13 games (Roethlisberger did not play in the Steelers' wins over Oakland or Buffalo during their 15-1 season)
- Highest quarterback rating by an NFL rookie quarterback (2004) - 98.1
- Highest completion percentage by an NFL rookie quarterback (2004) - 66.4%
- Most consecutive regular season wins by an NFL quarterback before recording his first career regular season loss (2004-5) - 15 games
- First quarterback to start two Conference Championship games in their first two seasons in the NFL (2004 & 2005)
- Second youngest quarterback to play in the Super Bowl (2005), only behind Dan Marino
- 26-4 won/loss record as a starting quarterback in the NFL (as of 2/1/06)
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Trivia- Stated that he wanted to be in a love scene with Eva Longoria, but was quoted saying that this was a fantasy and that he wanted a girl who likes him the way he is.
- Has a burger named after him, called the "Roethlis-burger," which costs $7.00 at Peppi's, a restaurant in Pittsburgh. The burger is topped with sausage, scrambled eggs, grilled onions, and American cheese on a Portuguese roll.
- Visited ECW in June 1994, and admitted he was fascinated by the wrestlers' moves and how the fans could interact with the matches.
- Attends St. Paul's Methodist Church.
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Head coach Bill Cowher
Cowher began his coaching career in 1985 at age 28 under
Marty Schottenheimer with the Browns. He was the Browns' special teams coach in 1985-86 and secondary coach in 1987-88 before following Schottenheimer to the
Kansas City Chiefs in 1989 as defensive coordinator.
He became the fifteenth head coach in Steelers history when he replaced
Chuck Noll on January 21,
1992 – but only the second head coach since the NFL merger in 1970. In
1995, at age 38, he became the youngest coach to lead his team to a
Super Bowl. Cowher is only the second coach in NFL history to lead his team to the playoffs in each of his first six seasons as head coach, joining Pro Football Hall of Fame member
Paul Brown. In Cowher’s 14 seasons, the Steelers have captured eight division titles, earned ten postseason playoff berths, advanced to six
AFC Championship games and made two Super Bowl appearances. He is one of only six coaches in NFL history to claim at least seven division titles. It has become an article of faith among NFL pundits that the Steelers do not have a bad team two years in a row – they have never lost 10 or more games in consecutive years since the 1970 NFL merger. At the conclusion of the 2005 regular season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have the best record of any team in the National Football League since Cowher was hired as head coach. As of the end of the 2005 normal season, Cowher has boasted a 102-1-1 record he has when up by 11 or more points at any moment in a game.
Cowher largely retained the famous "Steeler football" style of a strong running game on offense and an impeccable defense. With
Kordell "Slash" Stewart at the helm in the 1990s, and, more recently, former college QBs
Hines Ward and
Antwaan Randle El as wide receivers along with
Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback, Cowher has added a dash of wildness rarely seen in Pittsburgh during his predecessor's tenure.
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Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck
Matt Hasselbeck is the son of former
New England Patriots tight end,
Don Hasselbeck. His younger brother,
Tim, is a backup
quarterback for the
New York Giants, while his sister-in-law,
Elisabeth is a co-host of
The View and former
Survivor contestant. Hasselbeck prefers to be called "Matthew" by the press, though many do not seem to abide by this wish when giving interviews.
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Seattle head coach Mike Holmgrem
Career as a Player
Holmgren started out as a tight end before becoming a standout quarterback at
San Francisco's
Lincoln High School, where he was named "Prep Athlete of the Year" in
1965. He continued his playing career as a quarterback at the
University of Southern California from
1966-
1969, playing on USC's National Championship team of 1966, and graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1970. Holmgren was drafted by the
St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth round of the 1970
NFL draft and went to camp with both the Cardinals and the AFL
New York Jets that year.
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Career as a Coach
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High School
Holmgren's coaching career began in 1971 at his alma mater
Lincoln High School in
San Francisco, where he also taught history. One year later, he moved to San Francisco's Sacred Heart High School as a teacher and assistant coach. He also coached at Oak Grove High from
1975-
1980.
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College
In 1981 Holmgren became the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at San Francisco State University. From 1982-1985, Holmgren was the quarterbacks coach at Brigham Young University under LaValle Edwards. BYU won the National Championship in 1984.
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National Footbal League
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San Francisco 49ers, 1986-1991
Holmgren began his
NFL coaching career as an assistant coach of the
San Francisco 49ers from
1986-
1991. He coached the 49ers’ quarterbacks from 1986-1988 under head coach
Bill Walsh, working with
Joe Montana and Steve Young. When
George Seifert took over as head coach, Holmgren became the team's offensive coordinator from
1989-1991. During his tenure with San Francisco, the 49ers posted a 71-23-1 (74.7%) regular-season record to reach the postseason each year, and won
Super Bowl XXIII over the
Cincinnati Bengals and
Super Bowl XXIV over the
Denver Broncos. As offensive coordinator in 1989, Holmgren's 49er offense was ranked number one in the
NFL.
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Green Bay Packers, 1992-1998
Holmgren was head coach of the
Green Bay Packers from
1992-
1998, which became one of the most successful coaching stints in
NFL history. One of Holmgren's first moves was to obtain
Brett Favre from the
Atlanta Falcons. As head coach of the Packers, Holmgren posted a 75-37-0 (67.0%) regular-season record, a 9-5 (64.3%) postseason mark, and two
Super Bowl appearances, including a 35-21 victory over the
New England Patriots in
Super Bowl XXXI. By winning at least one game in five consecutive postseasons (
1993-
1997) Holmgren joined
John Madden (1973-1977) as the only coaches in league history to accomplish the feat. Holmgren's Packers posted an NFL-best 48-16 (75.0%) record, finished first in the
NFC Central Division three times, second once, and set a 7-3 mark in the playoffs between 1995 and 1998. By taking the Packers to six consecutive postseasons (1993-1998), Holmgren set a franchise record with a team that had had just two winning seasons in the 19 years before he was hired.
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Seattle Seahawks, 1999-Present
Mike Holmgren resigned from the Green Bay Packers after the
1998 season to accept an eight year head coach contract offered by the
Seattle Seahawks, which he accepted. Originally, Holmgren was the Executive Vice President/General Manager and Head Coach of the Seahawks. Following the
2002 season, Holmgren decided to focus exclusively on coaching and relinquished his duties as general manager.
Holmgren took the Seahawks to their first postseason since
1988 during his first season with the club in 1999, breaking a 10-year playoff drought. Holmgren has posted a 63-49 (56.3%) regular-season record and a 2-3 (40.0%) postseason record, including an
AFC West Division title (1999), two
NFC West Division titles (2004 and 2005), an
NFC championship (2005), and the Seahawks' first-ever berth in a
Super Bowl.
Holmgren's (and the Seahawks') best season to date was
2005. The team posted the best regular-season 13-3 (81.3%) record in franchise history, set a team record 11 consecutive wins, and won their first playoff game since 1984. Holmgren also molded former Green Bay backup quarterback
Matt Hasselbeck into a
Pro Bowl and Super Bowl quarterback in the
2005 season (much as he did with Favre in the 90s), and coached
Shaun Alexander to the NFL's MVP, a 2005 rushing title, and an NFL record 28 touchdowns in a single season.
With the NFC Championship win, Mike Holmgren became the fifth member of a rare coaching fraternity that has taken two different NFL teams to the Super Bowl. With a win in
Super Bowl XL, Holmgren will become the first head coach in NFL history to win a
Super Bowl with two different teams.