PITTSBURGH — There has never been a quarterback like this.
That was one of my first thoughts when Ben Roethlisberger became the Steelers' starter. It'll be among the last, as well, when he runs through the Heinz Field tunnel Monday for what likely will be his final home game.
First, nobody had ever seen a great quarterback this large. They didn't call him Big Ben for nothin'. The 6-foot-5 Roethlisberger was listed at 241 pounds. That was nine pounds heavier than Jim Brown or Earl Campbell, 21 pounds more than Jack Lambert and four more than Larry Csonka.
This was like a 1970s lineman playing quarterback. The instant Roethlisberger enters the Hall of Fame — and it better be on the first ballot — he will be the largest member at his position (Peyton Manning, believe it or not, would be second at 6-5, 230).
But that's only half the story.
The other half was realizing that this 241-pound quarterback had feet like Baryshnikov (who's only 5-6). You'd never know it watching Roethlisberger these days, but he could evade pass rushers like few others. If it cost actual money to buy time back there, he would have been broke by Year 5.
He was by no means a Lamar Jackson-like sprinter, or a Josh Allen-like fullback in the open field. Hardly. Roethlisberger worked his magic behind the line. Nobody, ever, was better throwing on the move. He'd make some people miss altogether, but most would bounce off him or only get a piece. Like a low-post scorer in basketball (remember them?) he seemed to relish the contact — to work off it, actually.
Mostly, he was a master improviser and proud of it. Roethlisberger once said he'd like Frank Sinatra's "My Way" to play at his Hall of Fame induction. That would be appropriate.
This was Baltimore's Trevor Pryce after losing to the Steelers in the 2008 AFC championship game, where Roethlisberger connected with Santonio Holmes on a broken-play, 65-yard touchdown:
"If I had one piece of advice for the Cardinals, it would be don't pass rush. That's what he likes. He's a playground football player. He's a darn good one."
A great one, actually, and for my money, his greatest accomplishment was winning Super Bowl XLIII — on a legendary drive — behind a line of questionable pedigree, to put it mildly.
Roethlisberger drove people nuts with his propensity for hanging on to the ball, but that is what made him what he was in his first incarnation, which will always be my favorite incarnation.
And that brings us to the other unique aspect of Roethlisberger's story: He reinvented himself. He got a strong push from his bosses, who could see that absorbing so many hits would not lend itself to a long career, but in the end he completely changed his game and thrived.
How many quarterbacks can say that?
The impetus was a new coordinator, Todd Haley, who was hired in 2012 on the hope he could do the impossible — get Ben to get rid of the ball faster.
It worked. By 2014, a quarterback who once was the only one in the league to hold the ball for more than three seconds per attempt (and again, it was glorious) was now getting rid of it faster than all but a handful.
The transition wasn't always smooth. Roethlisberger should absolutely be a first-ballot inductee in the Passive Aggressive Hall of Fame, and he bucked at some of Haley's methods.
I'll never forget a Friday before a big game at Cincinnati in October of 2012, when I wondered how the quarterback was adjusting to a rather conservative Haley offense. I spoke with Roethlisberger after practice, not thinking his quotes would make national headlines.
But they did, led by this one: "Haley's offense is not a big-play offense. It's kind of a dink-and-dunk offense."
Me: "Is there room for more quick strikes?"
Ben: "We did that last week (82-yard pass to Mike Wallace)."
Me: "Right, but you never went back to it."
Ben: "There's a guy calling the plays. That's on him."
Even three years later, by which time Roethlisberger was thriving as more of a pocket passer, he was reluctant to toss Haley any credit.
I asked him in 2015 about the quicker release.
"It's a direct reflection on Randy Fichtner, our quarterbacks coach, and how awesome he is," Roethlisberger said.
It's strange to think that Roethlisberger once was viewed as a guy who didn't have the crazy stats of other great quarterbacks but instead was measured on big wins. After the Super Bowl loss to Green Bay, that changed. Despite some gigantic numbers over the past decade, he is only 3-6 in the playoffs with 12 interceptions nearly matching his 15 touchdowns.
His final act, the post elbow-surgery one, has been spotty, but 53 touchdown passes against 18 interceptions is nothing to be ashamed of.
Does Roethlisberger have one more big game left in him? It would be fitting if it came against the Browns, who famously passed on the native of Findlay, Ohio, with the sixth pick of the 2004 draft.
Think of what they missed.
