After 18 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger is officially hanging up his cleats.
On a video posted Thursday on Twitter, the longtime Steelers quarterback announced that he was retiring from the NFL.
“I don’t know how to put into words what the game of the football has meant to me and what a blessing it has been,” said Roethlisberger, reading a letter while sitting next to his family.
“The journey has been exhilarating, fueled by a spirit of competition. 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.”
Roethlisberger, 39, won two Super Bowls as the starting QB for the Steelers and was the youngest QB to start in a Super Bowl (23). He was also the first QB to start two conference championship games in his first two seasons in the NFL (2004 and 2005).
“Big Ben” finishes his career with a regular-season record of 165-81-1 and a postseason mark of 13-10. He has the fifth-most wins for a QB all-time –– trailing only Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre –– and his 64,088 career passing yards are also fifth-most all-time, trailing the same four names.
Roethlisberger was taken with the 11th pick in the 2004 NFL Draft and went 13-0 in his first 13 professional starts, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year at the conclusion of the season, setting the stage for his potential Hall of Fame-worthy career.
He would go on to be named to six Pro Bowls and would twice lead the league in passing yards (2014, 2018). He owns the most career 500-yard passing games in NFL history (4, regular season and postseason), and Roethlisberger’s eight career 450-yard games (regular season and postseason) are the most in NFL history.
He also holds 50 career passing records for the Steelers franchise.
Roethlisberger became the fifth player in NFL history to record 150 wins as a starting quarterback in the regular season (Brady, Favre, Manning, Brees) and the fourth QB in NFL history to win 100 games in the first 150 starts of his career (Brady, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw).
He’s also one of six quarterbacks in NFL history with at least 13 consecutive 3,000-passing yard seasons (Favre, Manning, Brees, Philip Rivers, Eli Manning)
“To the Rooney family, coach [Mike] Tomlin, coach [Bill] Cowher and all the coaches that have poured into me –– the incredible people on every level that make the Pittsburgh Steelers a special organization –– thank you for believing in me and allowing me to battle with you in pursuit of excellence,” Roethlisberger said in his retirement letter.
“To Steeler Nation –– the best fans in all of sport –– thank you for accepting and supporting me as your quarterback over the years.”
This is a developing story.
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