We may be nearing the end of an era in Pittsburgh.
In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Ben Roethlisberger admitted his 14th season could be his last.
I’ve been blessed to do this a long time. I think it’s just seeing my kids growing up, and in the offseason I love getting to spend time with them, and then I come here and football season just has to take up so much of your time. Even when you get home, I try my best to turn it off when I walk in the front door. I think I do a pretty good job of that, but it still consumes you in a way.
Along with family matters, there are others things causing him to think about retirement after the ’17 season.
Just all those things combined — being healthy, being able to play catch with my kids. I feel good mentally, I know this new study that came out that 90 percent [of NFL] players’ brains who were studied had CTE.
There’s a lot of scary things, and I think my wife would be OK if I hung it up, too. But I still love the guys, I still love the game, so it was right for me to come back and give it everything I have this year.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard Big Ben talk about retirement. After the Steelers loss to the Patriots in the AFC Championship, Roethlisberger wouldn’t even commit to playing in ’17.
I’m gonna take this offseason to evaluate, to consider all options, to consider health and family and things like that and just kind of take some time away to evaluate next season — if there’s gonna be a next season.
Roethlisberger has started the most games at QB in Steelers team history at 169 and holds the most wins during the regular season at 113. He reached 40,000 passing yards in just 163 games, the fifth-fewest games in NFL history needed to reach that mark.
The list goes on and on…Big Ben is the man.
It’s safe to say that when the day finally comes and Roethlisberger retires, hearts will be broken.
Because once he’s officially done, things will never be the same in Pittsburgh.
