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Ben Roethlisberger was a legendary quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers during his playing time, which spanned from 2004 to 2021. He led the franchise to multiple Super Bowls. While his final years were somewhat disappointing, it's impossible to deny that he was an above-average quarterback for the biggest part of his career.
Roethlisberger's decline, however, was accentuated, especially in his final two years, when his lack of mobility was evident and his arm strength waned. So when the Steelers drafted Mason Rudolph in the third round of the 2018 NFL draft, many expected the transition to begin, with the Oklahoma State quarterback taking over following Roethlisberger's retirement.
Now that Mason Rudolph has emerged as QB1 for the Steelers, a recent declaration from him about past quarterback groups not being cohesive has garnered attention. Many took this to be a shot at Roethlisberger for seemingly not helping the young quarterback in his development years.
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Roethlisberger, however, declined that he wasn't willing to help the young quarterback, even if it meant that he was prepping the guy that was a threat to his job:
“When Mason played for me, I was trying to help Mason as much as I could,” Roethlisberger shared on his “Footbhalin'” podcast on Dec. 31. “Then he just… he didn’t want my help anymore, so I backed off. I never had an issue with Mason when he got drafted. I’m going to put it out there now. I had more of an issue with the pick.
"We were a really good football team, and he was drafted early. I just felt like we could have maybe picked a player that could have helped us at the moment. We were still a team that was that was competing."
Ben Roethlisberger's career
The former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback played for the same franchise during his entire time in the league, which spanned 18 seasons. He won both Super Bowl XL and XLIII as a starter.
Ben Roethlisberger was voted to the Pro Bowl six times and led the league in passing yards twice (2014, 2018). He was never named an All-Pro.
