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Roethlisberger not concerned with Warren's threat
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review
Big deal.
"I have so much confidence in our offensive line, the guys up front," Steelers rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said on Friday in response to threats issued Thursday by Browns defensive tackle Gerard Warren. "If he gets to me once it'll be a big shock to me. I'm going to go out there and just play football.
"Our guys are going to do a good job on him, I know it."
Warren let it be known Thursday he'd be coming after Roethlisberger's head -- literally -- when the Steelers visit the Browns on Sunday.
"We're going across his head, regardless of cost," Warren said.
By "across his head," Warren meant "on his head," he said, and if fines from the NFL resulted, so be it.
"That's what we get paychecks for," Warren said. "We pay the cost.
"That's my personal way of rattling him. That's not extreme; that's very shallow. That's not even digging deep into the batch of things I have planned for him. This game is all about being malicious and violent."
Roethlisberger sounded more amused than frightened in reacting to Warren's threats while appearing on the WDVE Morning Show.
"I guess they don't know me too well, or know this team," he said. "It takes a lot more than some talk to get into my head.
"We have bigger things to worry about than someone coming to try and take my head off."
The NFL was not amused, and issued the following statement yesterday morning:
"Art Shell, senior vice president of football operations for the NFL, has notified the Browns and Gerard Warren if a player commits a flagrant foul after having made such a statement, it may be a decisive factor supporting the suspension of the player, depending on the entire set of circumstances."
Warren, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2001 draft, has appeared in five games this season. He's accounted for five tackles (two solo), one-and-a-half sacks, one forced fumble, one tackle for a loss and five quarterback pressures.
Warren was inactive for the Steelers' 34-23 victory over the Browns on Oct. 10 at Heinz Field, the third of three consecutive games he missed due to a pectoral injury.
Roethlisberger, the No. 11 overall pick in April, ranks fifth in the NFL in passer rating at 105.2. He has completed 69 percent of his passes, which ties for second league-wide.
Roethlisberger completed 16 of 21 passes for a season-high 231 yards, with one touchdown and one interception, in the Steelers' initial meeting with Cleveland.
A Steelers spokesman said yesterday that coach Bill Cowher had no comment on Warren's statements.
Guards Alan Faneca and Keydrick Vincent also had no comment.
Warren backed off his initial comments somewhat yesterday during a media session arranged by the Browns' public relations staff.
"I can't necessarily say it was misquoted," Warren said. "Just say it was a misrepresentation of what I think the Browns would like is the idea of the team. Me personally speaking on how I feel about things, I think that's overshadowing the team, and I shouldn't do that."
Warren had a rap CD with the lyrics "kill the head and the body's dead" playing while meeting the media yesterday.
He wanted to clarify the issue, he said, "just on the simple terms of people might have took it in the wrong sense. That's just me explaining my way of how I approach football and the way I play it in the mind-frame. I play it at a valid level, and it's a valid game.
"I'm still going to listen to my songs and get pumped before the game and play the game the way I know how to play. You've got to play the game on an all-out level; that's what I'm talking about. You're not out to hurt nobody; we're all in this game to try to play for a long time. We're not trying to injure anyone's career or anything of that nature. I just play the game hard, and I'm aiming to try and get the quarterback."
As for any negative reaction Warren's comments might have inspired in Steelers fans, "Tell them they're supposed to be hot; it's Pittsburgh week," he said. "They need a little something to get their stew boiling. We're not on the right track right now. We've got to go out and try to set a presence on Ben and the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend."
