Confidence. So easy to say, so very hard to exude when there seems to have been so many that doubted you. When we hit the Steelers hotel shortly after landing in Tampa, there was the usual, wonderful, large contingent of Steelers Nation out in full force to greet the team as we arrived.
One zealous fan yelled out to Charlie Batch as he entered the hotel “Charlie you can do it!” Charlie looked at the fan with a look that said “Of course I can do it.” Charlie’s look was not contemptuous, nor contentious. Not even the slightest hint of demeaning the fan. Simply confident.
Well, again Charlie did do it. Charlie is 4-1 over the years pitching relief for Ben Roethlisberger. Irony is the man that was the overlooked QB in the 4-week derby because he was perceived as fragile, is the last man standing and getting the job done.
After Charlie threw a INT on his first pass and had a serious “conversation” with Mike Wallace on the sidelines after the play, Charlie didn’t give way to doubt or panic, nor did he move away from Mike in looks, but came right back to Mike Wallace for two 40-yard plus TD bombs. And had enough confidence in Mike to stick a zinger of a comeback route in to Mike who beat Taqib Alib on tight coverage. If Mike doesn’t fight to comeback on that ball, Alib’s got a pick.
No busts on pass protection calls, and Charlie even hoofed it for 24-yards on a scramble to “boot” (pun intended even though there was no boot).
I talked to Charlie in the post-game locker room and mentioned the confidence it took to come back and fire away after throwing a pic on his first toss. He just smiled like the cat that ate the canary.
There’s a difference between arrogance (which is false confidence) and real confidence. What was on display at Raymond James stadium in Tampa Bay was a first class exhibition of the real deal.
That’s quarterbacking on a high level. That’s Charlie Batch
