First Call: Ben Roethlisberger asks Bill Cowher about ’04 draft; over-under odds for local college football teams
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Tuesday’s “First Call” has quite a personal conversation about Pittsburgh Steelers history between Ben Roethlisberger and Bill Cowher.
We have a positive report about one of the Steelers draft choices. The Brewers keep in line with the Pirates atop the NL Central. Duquesne is in the hunt for a big-conference transfer.
And over-under win totals are out in college football.
Truth or consequences?
As legend has it, in advance of the Steelers’ 11th selection of the 2004 NFL Draft, owner Dan Rooney encouraged coach Bill Cowher and director of football operations Kevin Colbert to choose Ben Roethlisberger instead of Arkansas offensive lineman Shawn Andrews.
“When our turn came, I couldn’t bear the thought of passing on another great quarterback prospect the way we had passed on Dan Marino in 1983, so I steered the conversation around to Roethlisberger,” Rooney wrote in his 2007 autobiography.
Cowher has always had a different version of the story. In his book, Cowher presented the choice as much more of a collectively aligned front-office decision.
That’s also what he said to Roethlisberger in person this week when the quarterback confronted him with the question during his most recent “Footbahlin’ with Ben” podcast.
“I was told that Mr. Rooney got up and was the only one that stood up for me,” Roethlisberger said.
“No. That’s not … no,” Cowher said with a laugh.
Cowher recounted the version of the story that he has said in the past. In his recollection, the Steelers were set on Andrews because they were in desperate need of linemen at the time, he was highly touted, and few thought that Roethlisberger, Eli Manning or Philip Rivers would make it out of the top 10.
Once that happened with Big Ben slipping to No. 11, though, as Cowher tells it, he, Rooney and Colbert were all in lockstep that Roethlisberger should be picked.
“I told Mr. Rooney that we were going to take a lineman. But if one of the quarterbacks gets to us, we’re taking them. Because they are too good,” Cowher told Roethlisberger. “I said I don’t think we would trade up for any of them. …When you were there, I said you were the best one on the board.”
Roethlisberger didn’t weigh in on who he believed.
More on ‘Mt. Washington’
ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler posted a list of late-arriving draft nuggets for all 32 teams. For the Steelers, he ran a quote from an NFC scout on the fall of tight end Darnell Washington into the third round. That’s where the Steelers got him out of Georgia at pick No. 93.
The 6-foot-7, 265-pound smooth-moving, mammoth athlete was feared to have injury concerns. But an NFC scout that Fowler interviewed doesn’t see it that way.
“I had him as a late-first-round talent,” the scout said. “He really moves well for his size. … It’s laughable — he’ll end up playing at least eight years.”
Washington did have foot and ankle problems in Athens, but he denied the degree of knee concerns that seemed to push him down the board.
More sports
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• Penguins get 14th overall pick in NHL Draft
Total time
College football win-total bets are out for the Power 5 conferences via BetOnline.AG. Here is how it looks for the local teams.
The over-under for Pitt is 6.5 wins. The odds are an even split at minus-115 in either direction. If that’s the case, give me the over. I know Pitt may have slipped some from last year, but the ACC is still average at best and Pat Narduzzi should be able to find a way to win at least win seven games.
Penn State’s projected total is 9.5 wins. But the payout is at minus-140 for the over and +110 for the under. If I’m getting plus-money on that split, give me the under.
As for West Virginia, the Mountaineers are at over-under 4.5 wins. They are getting minus-150 to go over and +110 to go under. While five wins is a low bar, that’s a hefty price with a tough schedule. I’m leaving that one alone. If you want to play the over on the Mountaineers, play it small.
Welcome one from the Wolfpack?
A high-major transfer was reportedly visiting Duquesne’s campus Monday.
According to New York Times college basketball writer Adam Zagoria, North Carolina State big man Dusan Mahorcic is considering joining coach Keith Dambrot’s roster as a transfer. However, Power 6 schools such as St. John’s and Ole Miss are said to be in the mix, as are a bunch of other mid-majors.
NC State transfer @DMahorcic will take an official to Duquesne on Monday , per source
Western Kentucky and Ole Miss officials are next up https://t.co/d5yaTPVAd4
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) May 7, 2023
The 6-foot-10 Mahorcic has been around. Prior to NC State, he was previously at Utah and Illinois State. Last year in Raleigh, he averaged 8.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
Dambrot has already been active in the portal, adding Andrei Savrasov (Georgia Southern), along with twin brothers Hassan and Fousseyni Drame (La Salle).
Former players Quincy McGriff (UTSA), Kevin Easley (Coastal Carolina), Devin Carney (Denver), and Jaylen Cole-Williams have all left the program.
Keeping pace
The Pirates (21-15) may have snapped their seven-game losing streak on Monday night, but they didn’t gain any ground on the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.
As the first-place Pirates were beating the Colorado Rockies 2-0 at PNC Park, the second-place Brewers out-slugged the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-3. After homering Sunday for the Brewers, Willy Adames did it again Monday night.
101 home runs and counting.#ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/UJUtAJPW46
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 9, 2023
That’s the seventh of the season for Adames and the 101st of his career. The Brewers are now 20-15, half a game back of the Pirates for the NL Central lead.