Former Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger had quite the career against the Cleveland Browns. He faced them 29 times and had a career record of 26-2-1 against them. He completed 62.1 percent of his passes for 6,896 yards and 43 touchdowns against the Browns.
But even after retiring, Roethlisberger still enjoys needling the Browns almost as much as he enjoyed threading passes through the Cleveland defense for touchdowns. The conversation doesn’t even have to involve the Browns. He’ll still find a way to work in a jab.
Case in point, Roethlisberger was discussing the Steelers’ 18-16 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday’s episode of Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger. The subject of whether the Steelers have gotten into the Ravens’ head because of the eight wins in the last nine meetings came up. Roethlisberger talked about things like Ravens K Justin Tucker missing two field goals and said, “It just feels different.”
But when Roethlisberger asked if the Steelers prepare any differently because of their success against the Ravens, he was adamant that they need to respect them. The Browns? Not so much.
“You still have to,” said Roethlisberger about the Steelers’ need to take the Ravens seriously. “You’re still going into it. It’s not like you’re playing Cleveland, right? … I say that out loud?”
With the amount of strays the Browns catch when Roethlisberger talks, you’d think he was a born-and-bred Pittsburgh native. But no. He’s from Lima, Ohio, less than three hours southwest of Cleveland. He even went to school in Ohio.
And Roethlisberger even expected the Browns to call his name in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. When they didn’t, he vowed to beat them repeatedly. While he may not have achieved the goal of 30+ wins, he certainly beat them quite badly during his career. So much so that he used to be the winningest quarterback in their stadium before QB Baker Mayfield took that throne.
And Roethlisberger’s beatings of the Browns have continued post-career. When the Steelers took down the Browns on a Monday night battle last season, Roethlisberger reminded Cleveland of their futility.
As for this latest roasting, I don’t think Roethlisberger ever dismissed a game against the Browns out of hand. At least early in his career, Roethlisberger probably prepared even harder when it was Cleveland week.
But I don’t think he would ever say that. He’d rather play up the Steelers’ (and his own) dominance over the Browns.
