The last great generator of smiles for Pittsburgh Steelers fans was former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who after 17 seasons defending the team announced his retirement after the 2021 NFL season.
Undoubtedly, Big Ben's legacy with the Steelers is second only to that of the legendary Terry Bradshaw, after he led the franchise to win its two most recent Super Bowls, in 2005 and 2008. Since then, the light has gone out for the team.
It has been 14 years since the NFL's all-time winningest team has been able to reach and win the deciding game again. This allowed, for example, to lose its exclusivity on the throne, which it already shares with the New England Patriots, with 6 titles won.
Ben Roethlisberger finds fault with Pittsburgh's poor streak
Although Roethlisberger won two Super Bowls for the Steelers, in 2005 and 2008, he lost one more two years later and has since gone his last 10 seasons without being able to play in the NFL's deciding game. Faced with this, and from the trenches of retirement, the former quarterback was not tempted to hand out part of the cup to the new generations of players.
"I might be standing on a soapbox a little bit, but that's my biggest takeaway from when I started to the end. It turned from a team-first to a me-type attitude. It was hard. It's hard for these young guys, too. Social media. They're treated so well in college. Now, this new NIL stuff, which is unbelievable. They're treated so special. They're coddled at a young age because college coaches need them to win, too. I know coach Hoeppner never coddled me. Neither did (Bill) Cowher." stated Ben according to CBS.
Ben Roethlisberger's theory about youth and its lack of guarantee of success in the NFL has a reinforcement when looking at the ages of the quarterbacks who have most recently won a Super Bowl, as the only representative of the new generations to be crowned is Patrick Mahomes in 2019 with Kansas City Chiefs.
