PITTSBURGH — As he said himself, the writing was on the wall for Ben Roethlisberger entering this season. There was a will-he-or-won’t-he-return story line that loomed over the early portion of the offseason, and with this being the last year on his contract, the exit plan was clear.
But when did the 39-year-old first start down the path of calling it a career? Let’s see how much you remember from Roethlisberger’s first hints at hanging it up, now that his last day on the job is actually here (probably).
• January 2017 — Roethlisberger says on his weekly radio show that he’s “going to take this offseason to evaluate ... if there’s going to be a next season.” At the time, wounds were still fresh from a 2016 season that ended in heartbreak with an AFC championship loss to the Patriots. It wasn’t even as close as the 36-17 score would indicate, and the offense didn’t score a touchdown until the fourth quarter. Roethlisberger had just signed a contract extension the season prior, but he may have been angling for more freedom under offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Many on the outside viewed these comments as a threat to walk away from the Steelers due his friction with the play-caller.
• March 2017 — Walking back the radio remarks from a couple months earlier, Roethlisberger tells a crowd at a faith-based men’s conference hosted by Liberty University that he’s “leaning toward” returning in 2017.
Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert watches as the team warms up before taking on the Ravens on Sunday.
Gerry Dulac
Team sources: Steelers GM Kevin Colbert hasn't decided on retirement, despite report
• April 2017 — Roethlisberger, or the entity that is his BigBen7.com Twitter account, tweets that he has informed the Steelers he’s coming back for his 14th season in the NFL. But a few weeks later, the Steelers use a fourth-round draft pick on a quarterback, Josh Dobbs. They hadn’t drafted anyone at that position in four years.
• May 2017 — At OTAs, Roethlisberger doubles down on his desire to re-assess his future year by year, and has apparently given Steelers ownership the same message. “I never commit to anyone more than one year,” Roethlisberger tells the local media. “That’s how we always commit to this sport. If we look past this year we’re cheating ourselves and we’re cheating other people.”
• January 2018 — Another frustrating playoff defeat, this one at home to the Jaguars, but this time there’s no hemming or hawing from the quarterback. Roethlisberger tells reporters in the moments after the 45-42 loss to Jacksonville that he’s looking forward to coming back next season. Just a few days later, Haley’s contract is not renewed and Randy Fichtner — Roethlisberger’s position coach since 2010 — is promoted to offensive coordinator.
• April 2018 — One offseason after Roethlisberger’s revelation that he considered retirement in 2017, the Steelers trade up to draft Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph in the third round, their highest pick used on a quarterback during Roethlisberger’s tenure.
• May 2018 — With the Rudolph move a signal that the Steelers are starting to look to the future at quarterback, Roethlisberger tells the Post-Gazette he plans on playing three to five more years, assuming he stays healthy.
• January 2019 — Reports surface that Roethlisberger and the team are working on a contract extension, and he himself says he’ll be back as long as center Maurkice Pouncey is re-signed. This follows a season in which the Steelers miss the playoffs for the first time in five years, amid a messy end to star wide receiver Antonio Brown’s time with the organization.
• April 2019 — Roethlisberger and the Steelers agree to a new three-year, $80 million deal that keeps him signed through 2021. Speculation abounds that it will be Roethlisberger’s last contract, and he insists that he intends to play his entire career in Pittsburgh.
• August 2019 — In his first public comments since the Brown saga and an offseason of finger-pointing at both his leadership and Brow’s antics, Roethlisberger says at training camp, “I feel like I love football again.”
• September 2019 — Roethlisberger is sidelined by the most significant injury of his career, torn tendons in his throwing arm that knocks him out for the season in just the second week, leading some to wonder if he’ll come back from it at age 38.
• October 2019 — A week or so after having surgery, Roethlisberger tells the Post-Gazette he plans to return in 2020, which is why he opted to waste little time and have his right elbow repaired. “I want to go out on my own terms,” Roethlisberger says in an interview with Ron Cook. “No one wants to leave on an injury they can’t control.”
• March 2020 — The Steelers and Roethlisberger agree to a restructured contract that creates salary cap room for that season but makes his 2021 contract even more unwieldy.
• January 2021 — In his postgame news conference after the Browns knocked the Steelers out of the playoffs in stunning fashion, Roethlisberger is asked if he plans on returning for another season, and says that decision “will start between me and God; a lot of praying. I still have a year left on my contract. I hope the Steelers want me back if that’s the way we decide to go.” Coach Mike Tomlin calls it “reasonable to assume there’s a chance” Roethlisberger will be back, while team president Art Rooney II states that he’d like another year from his quarterback “if that can work” contractually. Roethlisberger responds to that by saying he doesn’t care about his pay and will do whatever it takes to make it all work financially. In the meantime, the Steelers change offensive coordinators from Randy Fichtner to Matt Canada.
• February 2021 — Pouncey, the team’s longtime center, announces his retirement but Roethlisberger makes it clear that doesn’t complicate his own decision on 2021. Meanwhile, general manager Kevin Colbert confirms there’s “a lot of work to be done” with Roethlisberger’s contract to bring him back to Pittsburgh. But by the end of the month, Roethlisberger meets with Steelers brass and Rooney releases a statement that the team wants him back for another season and the next step will be reworking his bloated salary cap hit.
• March 2021 — A restructured contract leads to Roethlisberger taking a $5 million pay cut and the Steelers having an extra $15 million to spend thanks to some salary cap gymnastics. Maybe the front office was hoping he’d retire and make their decision for them, but instead, both sides reached a compromise to avoid cutting a franchise legend.
• July 2021 — As Roethlisberger reports for his 18th training camp, Colbert categorizes it as “a very unselfish move” by the longest-tenured Steeler to accept less money. But the general manager adds that “2021 is all we’re worried about with Ben ... and beyond that, none of us know.”
• August 2021 — Rooney acknowledges this could be Roethlisberger’s final year, but that it’s “not written in stone” that the Steelers will have a new starting quarterback in 2022.
• September 2021 — Ahead of the season opener at Buffalo, Roethlisberger tells the Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac that he’s not looking at this season as his farewell tour, “because I don’t know if this is it.” But he also notes that if he does want to play again, at age 40, “it’s more than just Mr. Rooney. Kevin Colbert has to want you back, and sometimes it doesn’t always feel that way.”
• October 2021 — Following a 15-10 win over the Browns, Roethlisberger deflects questions as to whether that will be his final game in Cleveland, playing against the hometown team that passed on him in the 2004 draft. But he does linger for a while as he leaves the field at FirstEnergy Stadium, where he was the winningest quarterback in the venue’s history until Baker Mayfield surpassed him in 2020.
• December 2021 — Ahead of the season finale at Heinz Field, Roethlisberger finally admits that all signs are pointing to it being his last game in Pittsburgh. “I’ll address the definitive answer at some point down the road,” he cautions, but make no mistake, he’s letting the fans know they should be there Monday night against the Browns to see him play in-person one more time.
• January 2021 — Roethlisberger and the Steelers beat Cleveland, 26-14, and the crowd showers him with chants of “Thank you, Ben!” early and often. His curtain call is a lengthy one, as he makes his rounds throughout the field, waving to fans, savoring it with his family and saying postgame, “To see all the signs and hear the cheers coming out of the tunnel, that’s why I wanted to soak it in. ... I’m so thankful and blessed to be able to call this place home for almost half my life.”
