Peter Diana, Post-Gazette
	Ben Roethlisberger: Continuing a legacy. MORE COVERAGE Steelers Report: Quarterback Quinn signs up for practice squad

The last rookie to start a game at quarterback for the Steelers has some advice for Ben Roethlisberger.

"Just go out there and have fun and play," Bubby Brister said from his home in Monroe, La. "He's a first-rounder, he's big and strong, and the times I've seen him play, he was good. Just go out and be yourself, and everything else will take care of itself.

"And, after the game, don't listen to any of the reporters."

Roethlisberger will become only the fourth Steelers rookie to start at quarterback since the NFL merger in 1970 and the first in the past 18 years when he plays Sunday against the Dolphins in Miami. The others were Terry Bradshaw in '70, Mike Kruczek in '76 and Brister in '86.

Brister, a down-home yet brash and exuberant third-round draft choice, made his first start Oct. 13, 1986, in Cincinnati on Monday Night Football. Like Roethlisberger of Miami, Ohio, Brister played at a non-major football school, Northeast Louisiana. And like Roethlisberger, he earned his first start through an injury.

Brister replaced Mark Malone, who had a hand injury. Brister did not have as much time to prepare for his first start because coach Chuck Noll waited until the last minute to decide.

"I really didn't know I was going to start until Chuck told me right before the game," Brister said. "I said, mmmmm, man, I appreciate the heads-up."

The Bengals beat the Steelers, 24-22. Brister completed 12 of 33 passes for 191 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions and engineered a late drive that almost won it for a team that would finish the season 6-10.

"I was a little nervous going into the game," Brister said. "Cincinnati was good, too, and it was at Cincinnati on Monday Night Football. I was a rookie, Pittsburgh had all this tradition, Chuck Noll was the coach and I'd been watching them win Super Bowls for years. Now, I'm in the huddle with Mike Webster and John Stallworth. Yeah, it was a little nerve-racking."

"But, once you get that first snap or two and get the hell knocked out of you, you just start playing."

Brister started one more game, then Malone completed the season. It was not until 1988 that Brister became the Steelers' full-time starter, which he remained until new coach Bill Cowher picked Neil O'Donnell to become his starting quarterback in 1992, Brister's last season with the Steelers. He went on to play for the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets and earn two Super Bowl rings as John Elway's backup in Denver. He's now a national pro staff member for Hunter's Specialties and also does work for Ford Trucks.

Brister said Roethlisberger will never forget his first start and figures the Steelers will surround him with help.

"He probably has a few more tools to work with than we did back in the day. He'll throw to some of those great receivers they have now. They won't put it all on his shoulders -- let everyone else help you win.

"In my first game, Stall was helping me out, Webby was helping out, calling the blocking assignments."

Kruczek is the only one of the three previous rookie quarterback starters to win. He replaced an injured Bradshaw at home Oct. 17, 1976, against Cincinnati. He completed 5 of 12 passes for 58 yards and one interception in a 23-6 victory, the first of nine wins in the final nine games after a 1-3 start.

Noll installed Bradshaw as his starter from the get-go after the Steelers made him the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. He opened the 1970 season at home Sept. 20 and completed 4 of 16 passes for 70 yards in a 19-7 loss to Houston.

Cowher hopes Roethlisberger and his team have better results Sunday in Miami .

"We are not going to cater the whole offense around him," Cowher said. "But we will try to do some things that we feel he does very well and that he is comfortable with.

"I think it is not so much what we are doing with Ben, it is that everyone around him right now has to make sure that they hold up their end of the bargain. I think Ben will be fine."

The Steelers wanted to baby Roethlisberger this year before he took the reins, but that's out the window. If he plays well enough, he likely would remain the starter even when Tommy Maddox's injured right elbow heals.

There are two approaches to handling rookie quarterbacks.

Cincinnati and the New York Jets had quarterbacks Carson Palmer and Chad Pennington mostly watch as rookies. Jacksonville, on the other hand, let Byron Leftwich start from the beginning.

Of the nine Hall of Fame quarterbacks whose careers began in the 1960s and later, seven received significant playing time and started games as rookies -- Bradshaw, Elway, Dan Fouts, Bob Griese, Jim Kelly (with the USFL), Joe Namath and Fran Tarkenton. An eighth will be added when Dan Marino is elected in the next class.

Only two did not play much as rookies -- Roger Staubach, who had not played football in five years because of a Navy commitment, and Joe Montana, who was a third-round draft choice.

In other words, evidence shows that the great quarterbacks usually become their teams' starters as rookies.

Sunday, it's Ben Roethlisberger's turn.