Ben Roethlisberger, a two-time Super Bowl champion and one of the NFL’s greatest quarterbacks, announced his retirement on Thursday after an 18-year career spent entirely with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 39-year-old, who entered the league as the 11th pick in the 2004 NFL draft, epitomized the working-man feel of Steeltown by delivering season after season, reaching the playoffs 12 times and winning Super Bowls in 2006 and 2009.
“I don’t know how to put into words what the game of football has meant to me and what a blessing it has been,” Roethlisberger wrote on Twitter. “While I know with confidence I’ve given my all to the game, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for all it has given me.”
Photo: AP
From the small town of Findlay, Ohio, and the unlikely program at Miami of Ohio, Roethlisberger earned his NFL opportunity. He started third on the depth chart, but was on the field by the second game in his rookie season, then went 13-0 as a regular-season starter and the legend of “Big Ben” was born.
Now the clock has struck midnight and the fairy tale is over.
“The journey has been exhilarating, defined by relationships and fueled by a spirit of competition,” Roethlisberger said. “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. I retire from football a truly grateful man.”
The expected announcement came 11 days after the Steelers lost 42-21 at Kansas City in the NFL playoffs after Roethlisberger had hinted he might be calling it quits in the final days of a 9-7-1 season.
Roethlisberger set an NFL record by never enduring a losing season in his 18 NFL campaigns.
He finished with 5,440 completions on 8,443 passes for 64,088 yards — all ranking fifth on the NFL’s all-time list — and was eighth overall with 418 touchdown tosses. He also ran 515 times for 1,373 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Roethlisberger guided the Steelers into the playoffs as a rookie and in the 2005 season led Pittsburgh to the NFL crown, becoming the youngest Super Bowl-winning quarterback a month shy of his 24th birthday.
Three seasons later, “Big Ben” threw the game-winning six-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds remaining to give the Steelers a Super Bowl triumph over Arizona.
Roethlsiberger also led the Steelers to the 2011 Super Bowl, where they lost to the Green Bay Packers.
With 165 triumphs, Roethlisberger ranks second behind Tom Brady with New England for the most victories by an NFL quarterback with a single team.
Roethlisberger led the NFL in passing yardage in 2014 and 2018, when he delivered a career-high 5,129 passing yards.
His toughness on the field included taking an NFL record 554 sacks.
“To all my teammates and the endless friendships that I have gained, I appreciate you and our shared commitment to wearing the black and gold with pride and dignity,” Roethlisberger said. “Putting that jersey on every Sunday with my brothers will always be one of the greatest joys of my life.”
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on
RSS