Ben Roethlisberger took the NFL by storm during his rookie season. In 2004, he helped lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 15-1 record, almost reaching the Super Bowl. He wouldn’t win a championship that year, but he would win two Super Bowls over the first five years of his career. Unfortunately, he only got back to the big game one more time, losing at the conclusion of the 2010 season. It sounds like that’s one aspect of his career that still stings Roethlisberger.
“My only regret is I wish, I would’ve loved to have had an opportunity late in the year, with my kids being able to potentially go to it,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his podcast, Footbahlin’ with Ben Roethlisberger. “Just appreciating, being able to look back on your career to have something to frame, beginning and end on, would’ve been amazing.”
That final championship always eluded Roethlisberger. The Steelers had multiple seasons where they looked like Super Bowl contenders. Unfortunately, they failed to get over the hump. Although Roethlisberger developed into a better quarterback, the Steelers couldn’t quite achieve the heights they did when he was younger.
Looking at the talent they had, it feels ridiculous that they didn’t even record a championship appearance during the second half of Roethlisberger’s career. At one point, the Steelers had Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, Heath Miller, Maurkice Pouncey, and David DeCastro. That’s a phenomenal cast of characters on offense. They just couldn’t solidify their defense.
The closest the Steelers got to a Super Bowl was 2016. They went 11-5, winning the AFC North. In the postseason, they defeated the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs. Then, in the AFC Championship Game, they got crushed by the New England Patriots.
As of this moment, that season marked the Steelers’ last playoff victory. Since then, they’ve done nothing but disappoint in the postseason. They looked primed to make a deep run in 2017, even beating the Patriots in the regular season, but they lost a disgusting game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Now, faltering in the playoffs has become a trend for the Steelers.
Roethlisberger might feel a little bit down that his children never got to see him compete for a championship, but he’s still got a career to be proud of. Not many quarterbacks have won multiple Super Bowls. While he suffered a lot of heartbreak late in his career, he’s still a champion.
