One year at a time. That’s the motto Ben Roethlisberger has embraced as his NFL career winds down.
After threatening to retire following the 2016 season, Roethlisberger isn’t committing to the Pittsburgh Steelers past the 2017 season.
“I’m never going to look past any year because I want to give everything I have to that year,” Roethlisberger said, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I’m not worried about next year. I have to win now. I think we can. I believe we have just about everybody back. I want to see what we look like as a team that’s a year better.”
While he’s not interested in making any long-term commitment, Big Ben also made it clear he isn’t saying he’ll retire after this season, either. He used James Harrison as an example, noting he had briefly thrown in the towel in 2014 before deciding to come back. Three years later, he’s still a big part of Pittsburgh’s defense.
Roethlisberger also made it clear he’s all in for the upcoming season — that he absolutely doesn’t have one foot out the door.
“I hope the people of Pittsburgh know me well enough to know I love football, I love Pittsburgh and I love the Steelers,” Roethlisberger said. “My teammates and Steelers fans are going to get 110 percent from me. They don’t need to worry about getting anything less.”
With 13 seasons under his belt, it’s natural that Roethlisberger is taking the one-year-at-a-time approach. He’s currently signed through the 2019 season and is set to earn over $18 million in 2017.
The Steelers invested a fourth-round pick in Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs during the draft. It’s been a while since they had a promising young passer in the fold. Hopefully he’s a quick study, because at this point nobody should be surprised if Big Ben does decide to retire in the next year or two, based on how he was talking after last year.