Ben Roethlisberger is now a former NFL quarterback after announcing his retirement on Thursday. When the former Steelers quarterback posted the video of his announcement, Tom Brady went to Twitter to send Roethlisberger a message. Brady called Roethlisberger an “all-time great” for his way of getting things done.
“Ben defied the TB12 Method in favor of the ‘Throw Some Ice On It’ method his whole career, and ended up an all-time-great with 6 Pro-Bowls and 2 Super Bowls,” Brady wrote on Twitter. “There’s more than one way to bake a cake!” Roethlisberger is one of the toughest QBs to ever play the game, playing with dozens of injuries across his career and never led the Steelers to a losing season.
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“Ben was an integral part of our success since we drafted him in 2004 in the first round,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a statement. “He helped us win two Super Bowls during his career, and we are forever grateful for all the success he has helped bring to the organization the past 18 years. Ben will always be viewed as one of the all-time greats in our team history, and his determination, toughness and competitiveness will be remembered by everyone in the organization as well as Steeler Nation throughout the world.”
Roethlisberger led the Steelers to their Super Bowls wins in the 2005 and 2008 seasons, He helped the team get back to the big game during the 2010 season, but the Steelers lost to the Green Bay Packers. In his career, Roethlisberger finished with 64,088 passing yards and 418 passing touchdowns, just two shy from tying Pro Football of Famer Dan Marino. He is ranked seventh all-time in career passing yards and eighth in all-time passing touchdowns.
“I don’t know how to put into words what the game of football has meant to me and what a blessing it has been,” Roethlisberger said in the video, per NFL.com. “While I know with confidence I have given my all to the game, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all it has given me. A boy from Finley, Ohio with NFL dreams, developed at Oxford at Miami University, blessed with the honor of 18 seasons as a Pittsburgh Steeler and a place to call home. The journey has been exhilarating, defined by relationships and fueled by a spirit of competition. 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.”
