Ben Roethlisberger was a two-time Super Bowl winner with the Pittsburgh Steelers, triumphing in 2006 and 2008, before losing in a third appearance in 2011; the 39-year-old helped the Steelers reach the play-offs during his final NFL season
Thursday 27 January 2022 22:29, UK
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has announced his retirement from the NFL after 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The announcement came via a two-minute video posted on Roethlisberger's Twitter account on Thursday, with the 39-year-old saying: "I retire from football a truly grateful man."
The quarterback affectionately known as 'Big Ben' won two Super Bowls with the Steelers and was named to six Pro Bowls over the course of his career.
Roethlisberger finishes with a career win-loss ratio of 178-91 (including the playoffs) and one tie. He never once posted a losing season with the Steelers after being selected with the 11th overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft.
Big Ben's last NFL game was a heavy 42-21 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card round of this year's playoffs. Though, a week earlier, he was given a rousing send-off by the Pittsburgh fans after winning his final home game at Heinz Field to book their place in the postseason.
In Roethlisberger's retirement video, he said: "I don't know how to put into words what the game of football has meant to me and what a blessing it had been.
"I know with confidence I have given my all to the game. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all it has given me... The journey has been exhilarating, defined by relationships and fuelled by a spirit of competition.
"Yet the time has come to clean out my locker, hang up my cleats and continue to be all I can be to my wife and children."
Sky Sports journalist Cameron Hogwood...
It's fourth-and-eight with 2.27 to play in overtime and the Steelers needing just a field goal against the Baltimore Ravens to keep their playoff hopes alive on the final day of the regular season. Big Ben takes the snap, waiting for Pat Freiermuth to draw the attention of both the hook-curl linebacker and low safety on the scissor route with Ray-Ray McCloud before firing a dagger to the latter for a 10-yard gain and a new set of downs.
Four plays later Chris Boswell's 36-yard field goal would clinch the win, ultimately clinching the Steelers an unlikely postseason berth confirmed by the Las Vegas Raiders' overtime win against the Los Angeles Chargers later that evening. It was classic No 7.
For all that regressive arm strength and mechanical wear-and-tear had limited the Steelers throughout the season, here was a final reminder of an on-field legacy built on grit and fight. Roethlisberger showing that he still had a moment of clutch magic in him, regardless of the physical restrictions.
"Ben defied the TB12 Method in favour of the 'Throw Some Ice On It' method his whole career, and ended up an all-time-great with 6 Pro-Bowls and 2 Super Bowls," wrote seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady. "There's more than one way to bake a cake!"
At the peak of his powers, his improvisation and trademark pump-fake and marauding hustle-and-bustle outside the pocket garnered the gushy appreciation the NFL's new breed of all-singing-and-dancing quarterbacks receive for their modern enterprise.
He would bludgeon defensive linemen on the ground and dissect coverages through the air; such has been his passing prowess he sits fifth in all-time yards (64,088) in NFL history.
"Ben has always been a fighter," said Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward. "Always given us a chance. He's battled a lot. He's been rewarded with two Super Bowls, but we needed every bit of Ben Roethlisberger in every game he's played. You can't just replicate that."
Roethlisberger's departure leaves head coach Mike Tomlin facing a quarterback conundrum for the first time in his Steelers tenure.
At it stands 2019 first-round pick Dwayne Haskins is poised to compete with Mason Rudolph for the job, potentially in addition to a quarterback from the upcoming NFL Draft, in which Pittsburgh occupy the 20th overall pick.
Neither make overly-convincing cases, Haskins having lasted just two seasons with the Washington Football Team after finishing 3-10 as a starter with 12 touchdowns to 14 interceptions, and Rudolph going 5-3 as a starter with 1,765 yards, 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions in the absence of an injured Big Ben in 2019.
It also remains to be seen what comes of offensive coordinator Matt Canada, who endured a disappointing first year in the job having arrived from the college scene promising an innovative 'moving with the times' playbook of deception and misdirection.
This was Roethlisberger's time to go, there is no question. What awaits Tomlin and the Steelers brass is rare uncertainty.
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