Baltimore TV Station Antagonizes Pittsburgh Steeler Fans With Billboard Targeting Ben Roethlisberger
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - It's the game of the weekend, maybe the season: the Steelers versus the Ravens, the biggest rivalry in the NFL.
But Steeler fans are taking exception to a billboard that was put up by a Baltimore television station that shows Big Ben on his back. Many fans say it's the kind of inspiration that gives the Steelers a big edge.
The fans call it disrespectful and nasty. What stings more is the TV station in question is KDKA's sister station WJZ. And get this: they think it's funny.
A huge billboard in Baltimore says "Welcome back Ben" as Ben gets sacked.
When KDKA's Paul Martino showed it to Steeler Nation...well, you can guess.
"That's disrespectful," said one fan. "We're gonna own them here in a day or so."
"That's awful. Listen, we're gonna come back. We got you Ravens," said another.
What was WJZ thinking? For an answer, Paul Martino turned to an old friend who's a big Ravens fan: popular WJZ weather guy Marty Bass.
Truth be known, Paul and Marty were classmates and colleagues when they anchored together at their college TV station WSIU.
"It's great promotion, for possibly the most anticipated, coast-to-coast football game of the weekend," Marty says.
But what about the billboard? It's not cool, but Marty makes a good point.
"Don't even tell me that, that same attitude doesn't exist in the fine town of Pittsburgh," he says.
But the attitude in Pittsburgh when it comes to the billboard is "that ain't right."
"That's pretty nasty," said one fan. "That's pretty nasty. That's good chalkboard material for Tomlin and the team."
When it comes to sacking the quarterback, Baltimore's Lamar Jackson better worry about being on his back, because the Steelers lead the league in sacks.