For 18 seasons, Ben Roethlisberger has been the face of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ franchise. He’s earned two Super Bowl titles with the historic organization and will be a first ballot Hall of Famer.
Unfortunately for Big Ben, his career came to an end in a blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Wild Card Playoffs Sunday evening.
Pittsburgh took a 7-0 lead on a T.J. Watt scoop and score before seeing Patrick Mahomes lead the Chiefs on five consecutive touchdown-scoring drives to put this game away before the fourth quarter even started.
As for Roethlisberger, he took time to address reporters following the game — pretty much announcing that he has officially retired after 18 seasons. Check it out.
Rumors had persisted that Big Ben would call it quits on a hell of a career at the age of 39. That’s now all but official.
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Ben Roethlisberger retires, ending Hall of Fame career
It certainly isn’t the way Big Ben and his Steelers wanted this era to end. However, the simple fact that Roethlisberger’s career was extended a week tells us just how important he is to his head coach and teammates.
Remember, Pittsburgh was on the verge of missing out on the playoffs altogether with the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders seemingly set to tie in Week 18. That’s when Chargers head coach Brandon Staley had a brain fart of epic proportions, leading to a Raiders win and a playoff appearance for Pittsburgh.
In any event, Big Ben ends his career with some absolutely amazing numbers. Of the 18 seasons he played with Pittsburgh, they didn’t finish with a losing record. All said, Pittsburgh earned 11 playoff appearances under Roethlisberger after making him a first-round pick all the way back in 2004.
Ben Roethlisberger also finishes his career as the Steelers’ all-time leader in games started, wins, completions, attempts, passing yards and touchdowns.
Talk about a hell of a career.