Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey announced Friday morning that he’s decided to retire and on the heels of that, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has since commented on how much he’ll miss the player that has mostly snapped him the football since 2010.
Roethlisberger put out a statement on Twitter Friday saying; “I don’t have the words…I love you and thank you.”
According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Friday, Roethlisberger claims he texted with Pouncey Thursday night and said “I didn’t feel right trying to talk him out of it. I’m still processing him retiring. That’s hard for me.”
Roethlisberger also reportedly said more about Pouncey on Friday after his longtime center announced his retirement.
“I hate to say he’s the greatest teammate and competitor I’ve ever been around, but at the end of the day that’s what it is – he’s the greatest teammate and competitor I’ve been around,” Roethlisberger said per Dulac. “And that’s no slight to anybody else.”
The emotional moment that Pouncey and Roethlisberger shared on the bench after the Steelers Wild Card playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns will never be forgotten and the quarterback talked about that moment after that home loss.
“I love that guy,” Roethlisberger said after the season-ending loss. “He is one of the best competitors and teammates I’ve ever had. It’s been so much fun to share a football field with him. I hate that it ended the way it did. I just wanted to apologize to him that I wanted to win it for him.”
