PITTSBURGH — One of the more amazing chapters of the Ben Roethlisberger story with the Steelers happened in 2013. He was the team's nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, the NFL's most prestigious honor because it recognizes a great player on the field and a good, caring man off it. What made Roethlisberger's candidacy so surreal was that he had been suspended by the league a little more than three years earlier after facing sexual assault allegations in Georgia.
I had never seen anything like it.
Until Monday night, that is, when Pittsburgh wrapped its collective arms around Roethlisberger and poured its love down on him before, during and after his final game at Heinz Field.
Roethlisberger's journey from rock bottom to where he is today has been nothing short of phenomenal. It is proof that people can change, that a man can go from making any number of poor decisions as a young adult to learning from them and becoming a better human being. His story has been inspiring.
"It's amazing the good things that happen to you when you grow up a little," Roethlisberger said.
That was during a two-hour interview I did with Roethlisberger at his North Hills home in December 2013, not long after his Payton award nomination was revealed. His wife, Ashley, was enjoying a ladies' night out at the Penguins-Wild game, so he was home alone, tending to their infant son, Ben Jr.
I will never forget him feeding the baby and changing his diaper with the same care and precision that he delivered passes to Antonio Brown.
That image came back to me when I saw Roethlisberger walking up the Heinz Field tunnel to the Steelers' locker room Monday night after their 26-14 win against the Cleveland Browns. It might have been his final trip up that tunnel at the end of his incredible 18-year run with the team, but he did not make it alone. Ashley and Ben Jr., now 9 (hard as that is to believe), were with him. So were his other children, Baylee, 7, and Bodie, 5. He was the picture of a contented family man, a devoted husband and father. He loved sharing that precious moment with those he loved most.
"I like the path I'm on and I like who I'm on it with," Roethlisberger said on that night in 2013.
Roethlisberger wasn't charged with any crime after the incident in Milledgeville, Ga., in March 2010, but his reputation took a beating almost beyond recognition. He was suspended for the first four games of the 2010 season by Roger Goodell. He made the cover of Sports Illustrated, the accompanying story anything but flattering with the headline, "The Hangover: Bad Behavior, Bad Judgment." It left little doubt he was a big jerk who felt entitled, routinely walked out on restaurant/bar tabs and generally treated people rudely.
You know what they say about a person needing to change or even save their life, right?
They can't really do it until they admit they have a problem.
Roethlisberger did.
"I knew who I was and how I was raised," he said in that 2013 interview. "I also knew who I wasn't, if that makes any sense. I knew I could get to where I am today because I knew the type of person I wanted to be."
Not everyone has bought the Roethlisberger transformation. He still has his critics, people who will never forget, who will never forgive him for being the man he once was. Anyone in the public spotlight is going to have critics, no matter what he does.
But the scene at Heinz Field on Monday night showed just how far Roethlisberger has come. Most fans stayed at the stadium long after the game despite frigid temperatures. It was as if they didn't want to leave, preferring — no, needing — to share one final moment with a gifted athlete who had entertained them for so long with Hall of Fame-caliber performances. The memories Roethlisberger provided will last a lifetime, the worth he gave to the fans with his and the team's success priceless. The adulation shown to him might not have reached Bettis- or Polamalu-like levels, but it still was wonderful.
Roethlisberger gave the love right back and has been doing it for years, actually, with the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation and his work with Make-A-Wish Foundation.
"This is home," he said during his postgame media briefing after the game. "I was born in Ohio, but I live here and I'll always be here. These fans and this place mean so much to me and my family and always will. I've always said they're the best fans in all of sports, and I'll stick by that until the day I die. To see all the signs and jerseys and towels and to hear them cheer for me coming out of the tunnel, all that stuff, I don't know that I'll ever put it into words. I wish I could bottle it and have it forever."
This seems like the right time to close with one more Roethlisberger thought from our chat in 2013:
"I know I'm not going to please everybody or change everybody's opinion of me and make them start liking me. That's OK. You can't get caught up in worrying about that. I worry about the people who do like me or love me and care about me. I'm putting all my energy into being the best person, best husband and best father I can be."
Mission accomplished.
It really has been an extraordinary journey.
