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On Monday night we saw something special. We saw Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger play his final game in front of the home fans at Heinz Field. Roethlisberger’s stat line wasn’t impressive but that was never what he was known for. But he and his teammates found a way to win what was easily one of the most important games of Big Ben’s 18-year career.
After the game, an emotional Roethlisberger spoke to sideline reporter Lisa Salters and really put it all out there about what playing for this team in this city for these fans has meant to him.
“Everything,” Roethlisberger said. “Like I said, I’m so thankful and blessed to be able to call this place home for almost half my life in front of all these fans and see all these signs, all the jerseys. To come out here, I don’t know. I’ve been so blessed and I’ve been so thankful.”
You would be hard-pressed to find a better pairing between a player and a city than this one. Roethlisberger was exactly the quarterback the Steelers need and the Steelers were exactly the team Roethlisberger had to play for.
In that same interview, Roethlisberger, forever looking forward, made it clear the season still isn’t over and as important as tonight is, this team still has at least one more game. Which is the most Ben Roethlisberger thing he could do on a night like that.
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