“I am Shaquille O’Neal, the Greatest athlete ever formed. Look it up. Google it.” stated Shaq in the intro of the new ABC show Shaq VS.
Mike Goldberg, one of the voices of the UFC, kicked off the broadcast of Shaq in his first test on Shaq VS as O’Neal takes on Ben Roethlisberger, winner of two Super Bowls in his first five years in the NFL.
O’Neal claimed to be an All-State Quarterback and Tight End in High School in the same year, then later said he had never played football in his life.
Shaq and Roethlisberger announced their competition at a press conference at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh three days prior to the event with the announcement that it would be a 7 on 7 competition with 3 possessions each with Shaq starting at the 20 yard line and Big Ben at the 40 yard line. Charlie Batch was named as Roethlisberger’s coach and was later recruited by Shaq using his “Donald Trump negotiation skills” to help show O’Neal a few things about playing QB.
On the line, besides bragging rights, was one week of getting to wear a championship ring owned by the other athlete. With a win Shaq would get to wear on of Roethlisberger’s two Super Bowl rings while Big Ben would get to wear one of Shaq’s four NBA Championship rings should he win.
The show was a lot of build-up showing the two playing HORSE at Roethlisberger’s house, the two training for the competition and Shaq running through some NFL combine skill tests.
For the competition, Shaq and Roethlisberger were able to thrwo to some of the top unsigned Wide Receivers, Tight Ends & Running Backs available for the 7 on 7 competition. With the competition at Ambridge High School in the Pittsburgh area, Big Ben won the toss and deferred to Shaq to let the NBA star have the ball first.
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Shaq’s first two passes landed incomplete before O’Neal nailed his wide open receiver in the end zone to take a 7-0 lead. Roethlisberger then drove his team down the field and threw a 1-yard TD pass to even the score.
Shaq’s second possession saw the 7′3″ NBA Star hit his receiver in stride on the first play for a 20-yard TD pass for a 14-7 Shaq lead. Roethlisberger’s second possession saw Shaq illegally jump in on defense and pick a Big Ben pass and return it for a TD; a touchdown that did not count. Roethlisberger tied the game at 14-14 a few plays later putting the pressure back on Shaquille O’Neal.
Shaq’s third and final possession saw a trick play as the running back tossed the ball to O’Neal for a 14 yard game. But two plays later Shaq tossed a INT to give Big Ben the ball with a chance to win the game. Roethlisberger easily drove his team down the field and hit his WR in the back of the end zone for the 21-14 win.
Final Score: Ben Roethlisberger 21 - Shaq 14
Next week Shaq takes on Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh in beach volleyball in the next episode of Shaq VS.