Ben Roethlisberger helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win two Super Bowls in the 2000s. During his tenure with the team, it felt like the Steelers always had a shot at a championship. That doesn’t mean they didn’t face some huge roadblocks, though. The Baltimore Ravens are the Steelers’ greatest rival arguably due to their battles during that period of time. Both teams had some all-time great players, including Ray Lewis. Many Steelers fans might dislike the former Ravens LB, but Roethlisberger holds him the highest regard.
“I’ll never forget, my first time coming in was against Baltimore,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his Footbahlin’ with Ben Roethlisberger podcast. “Tommy [Maddox] got hurt. I remember [Lewis] standing right across from me, I’m doing my cadence, and he is barking at me, and it’s Ray Lewis. Everyone knows Ray loves to chirp. Ray loves to get in your head.
“We had a lot of great rivalries. I respect the heck out of him. I think he respects me. It went from me early on being like, ‘Who is this guy screaming at me?’ to a lot of mutual respect between the two.”
Lewis felt like a constant thorn in the Steelers’ side. Arguably the greatest Raven and linebacker of all time, Lewis made plays for Baltimore for 17 years. He helped them win two Super Bowls, having some classic battles with the Steelers over the years as well.
Looking back at their playing days, it feels crazy to hear Roethlisberger have so many nice things to say about Lewis. However, as Mike Tomlin likes to say, iron sharpens iron. Lewis and the Ravens always fought the Steelers tooth and nail. At that time, it was probably frustrating, but in the long run, it probably made the Steelers better. They knew they always had to bring their best to beat the Ravens.
While Roethlisberger respects Lewis now, it sounds like he initially had some apprehension staring down the linebacker. In Roethlisberger’s first NFL game, he replaced an injured Maddox against the Ravens in Week 2 of his rookie year. He’s talked before about how vocal Lewis was. The Ravens linebacker was likely licking his chops seeing a rookie come in.
The Ravens came away with victory that day, but Roethlisberger would get his fair share of wins over Baltimore during his career. The two sides might not ever break bread together, but there does seem to be a respect between them. Many Ravens and Steelers have talked about how much they appreciate players on the opposing team. That’s part of why it’s one of the NFL’s greatest rivalries.
