"The first pass!" Eli Rogers was marveling in the form of a whispered shout Wednesday afternoon. "The first pass of the season! To me! Can you believe it?"
In all candor, I could.
Right then, when Rogers caught that first Ben Roethlisberger pass of the Steelers' 38-16 rout of the Redskins, I could very much believe it:
Not because Martavis Bryant's suspension and Markus Wheaton's shoulder injury had helped him claim a starting slot in the season opener.
Certainly not because of anything he'd done as a rookie in 2015, given that a foot injury had cost him the whole year.
And absolutely not because of his draft pedigree, given that none of the 32 teams over seven rounds bothered to take him coming out of Louisville.
No, I believed for the simple reason that Roethlisberger believed. And it was so easy to see.
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