PITTSBURGH -- The barkeeps along Carson Street say they haven't seen Ben Roethlisberger around in a while. They'd know if he were here. Pittsburgh, at its core, is one big little city. And people talk.

Steel mills used to drive the South Side, but sweat and grit have been replaced by Abercrombie & Fitch. It's a trendy area now, loaded with yuppies, college kids and watering holes. This used to be Roethlisberger's stomping grounds -- well, one of them -- and stories flow like Iron City beer from a tap.

There was a time, back in the boozy, pre-scandal days, when Roethlisberger could triple a bar's foot traffic within an hour. He'd show up at Jack's Rose Bar, a couple of patrons would grab their cell phones and text BIG BEN'S HERE, and the party would begin.

"He frequented our place a lot," said Chris Dawso, who owns Jack's. "We used to call him the Pied Piper.

"But he hasn't been around at all this year."

Roethlisberger, his supporters say, has grown up. He had to. The face of the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise stood in front of an angry and disappointed city this past spring, at the precipice of losing everything. In April, prosecutors had decided not to charge him with sexually assaulting a woman in Georgia, but he was facing a six-game suspension by the NFL. (It was later reduced to four.) He had two Super Bowl rings, and a locker room many suspected he had lost. Team president Art Rooney II said Roethlisberger had to work hard to earn back trust.

On the field, it's clear the 28-year-old quarterback has done that. He has hobbled around on an injured foot, toughed out a broken nose and led the Steelers to the AFC Championship Game, which will be played Sunday night at Heinz Field against the New York Jets.

Off the field, Roethlisberger has spent the past nine months lying low. He's rumored to be engaged, a claim his camp will not confirm, and no longer travels with bodyguards or entourages. He eschews the bar scene, which has been the root of just about every one of his problems.

Has he changed? On the north side of Pittsburgh, the jury's still out. Mark Baranowski is watching Roethlisberger's progress with skepticism and hope. Baranowski is known as sort of the Norma Rae of bar owners in Pittsburgh, the man who stood up to Roethlisberger a few years back when the quarterback, according to Baranowski, showed up at his Cabana Bar and acted immature and entitled, and refused to pay a $5 cover charge.

It wasn't about five bucks, Baranowski says. It was about being a Pittsburgher.

"The town was really fed up with him," Baranowski said. "They were really down on him, and there were a lot of people who just didn't want him to be our quarterback.

"But it seems like he's trying to turn it around. I haven't heard one bad story. I hope he keeps it up. He's got everything going for him. He's big and strong and tough, and people just idolize him. I mean, he could own this city."

'He's worked at it'

Eventually, they'll forget. If No. 7 leads the Steelers to their seventh Super Bowl title, the anger will subside and Roethlisberger's misdeeds will ultimately be a distant memory.

"The thing about life is that if you're a winner, people will forgive a little bit easier," said Jim Coen, the owner of Yinzers, a popular novelty store in the Strip District. "As long as you're heading in the right direction and not doing anything stupid, the city will forgive."

Ben Roethlisberger reads a statement in the team's locker room April 12, saying he is "happy" to put sexual assault allegations in Georgia behind him and knows he must work to regain the trust of his teammates and the team's large fan base. AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the Strip was bustling with lunchtime shoppers buying black-and-gold gear. Nine months ago, when the Big Ben news hit the fan, Yinzers marked down Roethlisberger jerseys to $10. But now they're back at full price and selling at a steady clip.

Sixty-four thousand fans screamed for him Saturday night, after the Steelers' 31-24 win against Baltimore, and he lingered on the field to take it all in. Trust, in late-game situations, was never an issue with Roethlisberger. He plays on the edge, without fear, and is one of the most clutch quarterbacks in the league. Saturday night was no exception. The Steelers were down by two touchdowns to start the third quarter. Roethlisberger couldn't be rattled.

On third-and-19, late in the game, he uncorked a 58-yard pass to rookie receiver Antonio Brown. It set up the winning touchdown and put the Steelers in their fourth conference championship game in Roethlisberger's seven years with the franchise.

"I'm very pleased," team owner Dan Rooney said as he made the rounds in the locker room late Saturday. "He's worked at it. He's doing what he has to do on the field and off."

Roethlisberger won't say it -- he has declined interview requests for stories that focus on him -- but it's clear that the whispers of his demise in Pittsburgh motivated him. He came to training camp slimmer and in possibly the best shape he's been in his career. He seemed to approach every game as a proving ground.

Roethlisberger was required to go through offseason counseling for what commissioner Roger Goodell called a "pattern of behavior" that damaged the integrity of the game. A year before the allegations of sexual assault in Milledgeville, Ga., a woman in Lake Tahoe filed a lawsuit claiming Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her at a hotel-casino in 2008.