The Pittsburgh Steelers, despite what fans seem to think, are a blessed franchise for having had the opportunity to field two very talented Hall of Fame quarterbacks who were among the top players at their position during their era. The duo brought the organization six Super Bowl titles, which remains tied for the most in history, so that’s nothing to sneeze at.
With the latter, Ben Roethlisberger, announcing his retirement, his predecessor, Terry Bradshaw, paid his respects, acknowledging him as the greatest quarterback in Steeler history, and not for the first time.
“He owns every record there is in the book”, Bradshaw said, speaking to Rich Eisen. “The only thing he doesn’t have is two more Super Bowls to tie my four Super Bowls, but outside of that, he’s got it all. He’s got everything. I think he’s a top-five quarterback in the league for yards and touchdowns. Just an amazing, amazing career”.
More specifically, Roethlisberger ranks fifth all-time in completions and passing yards, and eighth in passing touchdowns. He also ranks fourth in completions, third in passing yards, and seventh in passing touchdowns in the postseason, with the seventh-most postseason wins. Those numbers spell out Canton.
“Absolutely goes in first ballot”, Bradshaw said when asked if he’s a Hall of Famer. “Listen, before they just beat the snot out of him, there was none better. I would have taken him over any quarterback in the league, and that includes the guy down in Tampa Bay. The young man in Tampa Bay has been very blessed and fortunate to have been surrounded with talent and talent and talent”.
“Ben came in and they all went out and the offensive line got old and got bad, and he got the heck beat out of him for the last three years”, he added. “We all know he stands in there and takes a beating, and it takes a toll on you. But 18 years is great”.
There certainly was a time, at least a year or two, in which you could make the argument that he was the best quarterback in football, when you take in his complete body of work, relative to what he had to work with.
That hasn’t been the case down the stretch run of his career, unfortunately, even during the Steelers’ 12-4 season in 2020. That was an offense that was running on steam, to be sure, and this past year’s offense was really no better.
Still, that doesn’t take anything away from his career accomplishments. I don’t know that anybody can be taken seriously while arguing that Roethlisberger wasn’t a generational talent who belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
