Final stand for Big Ben?
PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger has been flirting with the idea of retirement for years. This time, however, feels different. For the first time in his nearly two-decade career, the Steelers quarterback did more than just hint that the end is near. It may finally be at hand.
“I would say that all signs are pointing to this could be it,” Roethlisberger said in the run-up to Monday night’s game against the Browns (7-8) at Heinz Field.
The 39-year-old offered no guarantees. Guarantees aren’t really his thing. Yet the signs have been there for most of his 18th season.
The two-time Super Bowl winner has spoken wistfully at times, solemnly at others during a wildly uneven season for both himself and the franchise he has long defined.
He’s made it a point to attempt to stay in the moment, but with the Steelers at 7-7-1 and their playoff chances iffy at best, Roethlisberger will jog out onto the Heinz Field as the starter for the home team for the 135th and perhaps final time. The roar will be deafening. The emotions will be high. The stakes will be too.
“I know that I still have it in the tank to go out there ... and give it everything I have to do everything I can to get us into the postseason,” Roethlisberger said. “That’s always the ultimate goal is to win a Lombardi, and that’s still the goal.”
A look back at few home highlights for a player whose life began in Lima, Ohio, nearly 40 years ago, and whose career will likely end there with his bust enshrined at the Pro
Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, five years after it ends.
Oct. 3, 2004 — The Steelers selected Roethlisberger with the 11th pick in the 2004 draft, but expected him to watch and learn behind Tommy Maddox during his rookie season. Then Maddox went down in September with a right elbow injury. Roethlisberger rode the NFL’s top-ranked defense to victory in his first-ever NFL start before making his Heinz Field debut against the Bengals.
The victory would be the second of 15 straight for Roethlisberger and the Steelers in a season in which he won the rookie of the year.
Dec. 20, 2009 — The Steelers and Roethlisberger — already a two-time Super Bowl winner — were in the middle of a lackluster (by their standards) season when the Packers and Aaron Rodgers came to town before Christmas.
Roethlisberger outdueled Rodgers in a 37-36 thriller, throwing for a team-record 503 yards and three TDs, the final coming on a 19-yard pass to Mike Wallace as time expired.
Dec. 25, 2016 — Just days after the 44th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception, Roethlisberger and receiver Antonio Brown orchestrated the Immaculate Extension in a Christmas Day win over the Ravens.
Trailing by three with less than 20 seconds to play and no timeouts, Roethlisberger hit Brown at the Ravens 1. Brown then shrugged off three defenders to extend the ball across the plane of the goal line to pull out a 31-27 victory to wrap up the AFC North title.