Two time Super Bowl champion and Pittsburgh Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger, aka “Big Ben”, has officially announced his retirement. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise as he’s been debating retirement for years while battling multiple injuries and even announced during the season that it will be his final season. The 18 year veteran and gunslinger finishes his career 5th all time in passing yards with 64,088, 8th all time in passing touchdowns with 418, and tied for 7th all time in postseason wins with 13. 

The 2021 season for the Steelers had its ups and downs but Big Ben still managed to get them to the playoffs once again. In Big Ben's tenure with the Steelers, he never had a losing season with the team showing how elite he truly was as a quarterback. The NFL is slowly turning the page with quarterbacks as other stars like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers have stated that the future is unclear for both of them as well. These great quarterbacks have paved the way for years and will be passing the baton to up and coming stars like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. 

With the retirement of Roethlisberger, the Steelers future looks unclear as replacing a player of Big Ben’s caliber and reliability will not be an easy fix. However, the future for Big Ben is quite certain as he will surely join the greats in Canton, Ohio and be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame when his time comes. This will be the cherry on top to an illustrious career in Pittsburgh. 

Earlier today he posted a farewell video stating how thankful he was for the players, coaches, and fans who made his career so excellent. He leaves his admirers and ardent football fanatics with this simple quote. “Yet, the time has come to clean out my locker, hang up my cleats, and continue to be all I can be to my wife and children. I retire from football a truly grateful man."

Farewell Big Ben - the Steelers and the game of football will dearly miss you. The only group of people that are happy to see you hang up your cleats are the long suffering Bengal fans whose hearts you broke so many times!