Did Ben Roethlisberger Retire?

Let us go back in time a little, when there were three incredibly talented quarterbacks on the rise and who came into this league at the same moment. That was the year 2004. The NFL world had somewhat of an inclination of what was about to come, but in sports there are no guarantees. However, there were to be no surprises this time as Ben Roethlisberger along with Eli Manning and Philip Rivers stepped foot on the biggest stage of all and ruled for almost two decades.

Roethlisberger is a stalwart for the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise. Spending all of his eighteen seasons in the same place showed his loyalty and resonated his deep love for the city and its fans. Early career success on an individual as well as a team level helped him gain a lot of positive publicity and he quickly became the fan favorite around Heinz Field as it was called not too long ago. Having given his body and soul to this great city for so many years, it still seems as if he will be back in the dazzling black and yellow kit.

Unfortunately, though, that will not be the case and Steelers fans now have a new generation of quarterbacks who will try to build on the team’s past legacy as their beloved ‘Big Ben’ as he is referred to has settled well into his retired life.

When did Ben Roethlisberger retire

On January 27, 2022, Ben Roethlisberger called time on his long career in the NFL after the Steelers 2021 campaign came to an end in the Wild Card Round against the Kansas City Chiefs. Although there was some talk going around that he might reverse his decision the same way that Tom Brady had done, Roethlisberger refuted those rumors and put them to rest.

Once again in 2022, there was talk that he might come out of retirement and play for the San Francisco 49ers as they had lost Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo to injuries. But, the former Steeler great declined to make a comeback even if it was for a temporary period of time.

Ben Roethlisberger’s career

Looking back at his memorable time in the league, the most important takeaway is that he led the team to two Super Bowl victories within his first five years. In 2011, he came close to winning yet another one but came up short against an inspired Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay Packers.

Roethlisberger got off to the best possible start that he could have asked for, going 13-0 in the 13 games he started in his rookie year. Till date this is still an NFL record. Needless to say, such an exemplary performance garnered him the 2004 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. For all the success he achieved early on in his career didn’t last for long after that. Having picked up two rings and another championship appearance, Steelers fans and management would have expected a couple more trips to the big game in the next decade of his career.

But, having said that, Roethlisberger has had a huge impact on the game. Standing 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighing around 240 lb., he was not the most agile quarterback out on the field. When it comes to his passing game, the two time champion has over 64,000 passing yards in the regular season putting him fifth overall in the history of the NFL. Furthermore, his 418 passing touchdowns puts him in the number 8 spot all time. In the end, Roethlisberger gave everything he had for the fans and the city of Pittsburgh leaving the game with his head held high.