Hardest, Riskiest, Toughest, Greatest Job In Sports

RYAN: Let me be completely honest here. [All laugh.] I've always been told, starting in high school, to say very little. My offensive coordinator at Boston College, Dana Bible, told me before my first start, "Listen, the less you say, the less you have to take back." It remains true. I don't think we're dishonest, but you might not always get entirely everything.

KING: There must be somebody or some team you really hate. Fess up.

PALMER: I'm a fan of everybody at the table....

RYAN: Here comes one of those 70 percent answers.

PALMER: Since I've been in the league, the Steelers have been at the top of our division. We just happen to be in the same division. You always want what you don't have. You're always jealous because you all want the same thing. [Palmer turns to Roethlisberger.] He's got two Super Bowl rings, and we all want one. You're jealous, you're envious, you want what they have. Ben, don't take this the wrong way, but when the Steelers were in the playoffs, after I got hurt [against Pittsburgh in January 2006], I was watching in California, Jon Kitna was back in Cincinnati, and we were talking during every playoff game. It was like, "I just can't watch. I can't believe they're winning." And I'm just pissed off and mad, throwing bottles against the walls because [the Steelers] just kept going. It's nothing personal; it's about pride. Everybody at this table wants to win Super Bowls, and when you don't win it, you're mad.

ROETHLISBERGER: I don't hate anybody. I dislike certain teams because of their defense. I don't like playing the Ravens because they're so complicated, they do so many different things. They've got great players, and [safety] Ed Reed is back there. Everyone hates the Steelers because we're the Steelers.

PALMER: No. We hate the Steelers because you're on top.

KING: What do you say about the criticism that the league is too protective of quarterbacks?

ROETHLISBERGER: Nobody wants to see a Colts game without Peyton [Manning]. Nobody wants to watch the Patriots without Tom [Brady]. Or the Bengals without Carson. No one wants to see that. Overprotective? No. You have to protect us because we're not looking at the rush. If we're stepping into the throw and guys are diving at our legs, we don't necessarily see them every time. So, yes, maybe sometimes we get protected a little more. But nobody wants to see a game without the stars.

RODGERS: You've got to keep the faces of the game intact. Like Ben says, the quarterbacks, like it or not, sell the games. When they show a promo for Sunday Night Football or Monday Night Football, it's the two quarterbacks: Tony Romo against Eli Manning. They're not going to show Flozell Adams against I don't even know who for the Giants.