Roethlisberger and Retirement

Everyone gets old. Everyone gets hurt. Everyone retires. Although it might not seem like it at times, professional athletes are also human and suffer from age and injury issues throughout their careers. This week, Big Ben Roethlisberger has mentioned that he might be retiring at some point during the offseason. At first glance, it seems like it would be a good career move, seeing as it feels like he’s been in the NFL for a very long time. Roethlisberger has won 2 Super Bowls with his team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and has been selected to go to the Pro Bowl 5 times. Everyone can agree that Roethlisberger has had quite the career, so why not retire? But then you look at how old Big Ben is, and he’s only 34 years old. Compare that with the average age of retirement for starting NFL quarterbacks (roughly 37 years old), and Ben still potentially has around 3 more seasons left in him.

If Roethlisberger decided to retire at the average age a quarterback does, then he will undoubtedly be one of the best quarterbacks in the AFC with various offensive weapons at his disposal. Here’s a look at his competition, at least for the foreseeable future: in the AFC North (his division), you have Joe Flacco and the Ravens, who are good, but seem to be falling in quality over the past few years, Andy Dalton and the Bengals who can’t win a playoff game, and a Cleveland team made up of people that would barely get second place in a recreational flag football league. In the AFC South, you’ve got the Colts who don’t know how to play defense, an on-and-off Tennessee Titans team, and a Texans team whose search for a quarterback has been ongoing since their inception into the league in 2002.

In the East, you have the Dolphins who are good on paper but seriously mediocre on the field, a Jets squad that needs to go soul-searching, a confused Bills team, and the Patriots, who are lead by a quarterback that will be 40 years old next season (he is, and always will be the best, but some analysts claim he will “fall off a cliff”). The AFC West isn’t much better either. The Chargers just moved and their squad is a piece of trash, the Chiefs can’t find a way to outscore a team that can’t find the endzone, and the Broncos don’t have a quarterback. The Raiders, barring another devastating injury to Derek Carr should realistically be the only competitive team that the Steelers would face next year in the AFC. Sadly for them, they’re also almost certainly moving to Las Vegas at this point and also haven’t won a playoff game since they beat the late Steve McNair and the Titans in the 2002 season’s playoffs.

In the end, it seems like Ben Roethlisberger will have little to no competition in the upcoming years to make another run, or even multiple runs at the Super Bowl. So why not continue? Being one of the most experienced and one of the best quarterbacks in the league, why retire? Well, looking through Big Ben’s injury history I found that throughout his career, he has had 13 injuries varying in severity. A good chunk of these injury reports specifically mention Ben’s left knee and ankle, which seem to have taken a few beatings over the past few years. Even taking this year into consideration, Ben had to sit for a little bit due to a torn meniscus. Perhaps injury is why Roethlisberger is considering retirement. You only get more fragile as you get older. If he feels that it’s time to retire, then it’s time, injuries can cause real problems down the line. I feel like Roethlisberger should at least play for another 2-3 years, barring any major injury concern. He has the potential to win more championships, and as a general sports fan, it would be a shame to see the Steelers quarterback leave when he can still play at an elite level.

Written by Rick Wronski