A legendary NFL quarterback is calling it a career. On Thursday morning, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger officially announced his retirement from the NFL. This comes after he teased that he was playing his final season with the Steelers before the team clinched a spot in the playoffs. Roethlisberger posted a video on his Twitter account announcing the news with his wife and children.
“The journey has been exhilarating, fueled by a spirit of competition,” Roethlisberger said. “Yet the time has come to clean out my locker, hang up my cleats and continue to be all I can be to my wife and children. I retire from football a truly grateful man.”
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Roethlisberger finished his NFL career with two Super Bowl titles and 64,088 passing yards, the second-most in NFL history. The 39-year-old also was selected to the Pro Bowl six times and was the NFL passing yards leading in 2014 and 2018. He holds the record for the most career 500-yard passing games in NFL history (4) and the most completions in a regular or postseason game (47).
“This is home,” Roethlisberger said after the Steelers’ final home game of the season. “I was born in Ohio but I live here and I’ll always be here. These fans, and this place, mean so much to me and my family and always will. I’ve always said that they’re the best fans in all of sports, and I’ll stick by that until the day I die. To see all the signs and the jerseys and the towels and to hear them cheer for me coming out of the towel, I don’t know that I’ll ever put it into words.”
Roethlisberger was selected by the Steelers No. 11 overall in the 2004 draft. He was the third quarterback taken in the draft behind Eli Manning and Philip Rivers, two quarterbacks who also recently retired. Roethlisberger led the Steelers to the AFC Championship game appearance his rookie season and won the Super Bowl the following year. During his run with the Steelers, Roethlisberger led the team to 12 playoff appearances, eight AFC North titles, five conference championships and three Super Bowls. Along with the 64,088 passing yards, Roethlisberger recorded 418 passing touchdowns and a passer rating of 93.5.
