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Well, wouldn’t this be a shocker? In an interview with local Pittsburgh radio station 93.7 The Fan, Pittsburgh Steelers star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger indicated that he was uncertain about his future in the NFL and even admitted that he would consider other options during the offseason.
If Roethlisberger were to hang ’em up, it would be a HUGE blow to the Steelers. As good as running back Le’Veon Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown are, “Big Ben” is the most important player on the Steelers. If he’s playing well, the team is likely playing well. The team actually has an 11-9 record without Roethlisberger in games that he’s missed, but anyone that says the Steelers would be totally fine without Roethlisberger is just lying to you.
On the flip side, I could understand why Roethlisberger might retire. The man has been sacked 456 times throughout his career and that doesn’t even include the other millions (may have made that number up) of times he’s been hit. With all of the recent incidents involving retired players dealing with concussions and other types of serious injuries, it’s sometimes better to get out of the game too early rather than too late. A lot of these guys have trouble walking years after they’re done playing and you’d have to think that Roethlisberger doesn’t want to end up like that. I would also imagine that he wants to be able to spend time with his three young children when they get older and he wants to make sure that they have a dad as they grow up.
Personally, I think he’ll be back in Pittsburgh next year, but you never know. He’s had enough success in the NFL and achieved just about everything you can as a player, so maybe he thinks it’s his time. Guess we’ll have to wait and see how this all plays out.
