Ben Roethlisberger, who talked about retiring 2 1/2 years ago, was as surprised as anyone when he heard about Andrew Luck quitting the game at 29.
But the Steelers’ 37-year-old quarterback who has endured countless injuries in the NFL understands.
“The thing is, everyone has to make his own decision,” Roethlisberger said after practice Tuesday. “There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to that stuff. I respect him for that. That’s not easy to do, especially playing at such a high level of the game as he does. That can’t be easy to do. I tip my cap to him.”
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Back in January 2017, Roethlisberger surprised the Steelers and everyone else when he said he was not sure he would play again. It came days after the Steelers lost in the AFC championship game at New England. He later talked about his health, how he wanted to stay healthy enough to play with his kids as he grew older and had talked with his wife about the possibility of retiring from the game. There were also underlying reasons he never mentioned. Those cleared up when the Steelers did not renew the contract of offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Shortly after that happened, Roethlisberger told president Art Rooney II and coach Mike Tomlin that he’d commit to play another three to five years.
This will be that third year and as he enters his 16th season and becomes the longest tenured player in franchise history, Roethlisberger talked this summer about how he feels refreshed: “I feel like I love football again.”
He said Tuesday that his wavering on playing in 2017 and Luck’s choice to quit are not comparable.
“It might be a little different situation just because I think he’s recently married. I had kids,” Roethlisberger said. “But I think he’s kind of getting where you have to think about more than just yourself, you have to think about your family, his kid on the way. There’s more to think about now.” Plus, “I don’t know what he’s going through physically.”
Yet, Roethlisberger has gone through much more in his NFL career. Luck has been nursing a calf and ankle injury that has not been adequately explained by anyone. He missed the 2017 season after shoulder surgery. He also had a concussion and torn cartilage in his ribs, a lacerated kidney, partially torn abdominal muscle and a sprained shoulder — all since 2015.
“For the last four years or so,” Luck said at his press conference confirming his retirement, “I’ve been in this cycle of injury, pain, rehab, injury, pain, rehab, and it’s been unceasing, unrelenting, both in-season and offseason, and I felt stuck in it. The only way out is to no longer play football.”
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Roethlisberger’s list of injuries include several concussions, a sprained Achilles tendon, broken foot, broken nose, foot sprain, broken thumb, two sprained ankles, a shoulder separation, dislocated rib, dislocated right index finger, MCL knee sprain, another foot sprain, meniscus knee tear and cracked ribs. That does not include the 2006 motorcycle accident that broke his jaw and nose and chipped his teeth. He missed the 2006 opener not because of that accident, but because he had an appendectomy four days before the game.
Yet, despite all those injuries, Roethlisberger has played in all but three games over the past three seasons — two of those because he was held back in meaningless season finales — and missed just four others sine the start of 2013. Still, he seems to understand why Luck no longer wants to play.
“I don’t know how much was Andrew’s head compared to the rest of his body,’’ Roethlisberger said. “No one wants to be able to not walk when 10 years later they’re trying to play with his kid. I think there’s a combination. I don’t want to speak for him, but that’s my assumption.”
He says players fearing their future health is “real.”
“I think guys understand,” he said. “I do think the league has done a great job with the helmets. Since I switched helmets, I’ve had so much less (head trauma). They keep updating. Getting rid of AstroTurf and some of the playing surfaces are helping but guys are still taking a lot of shots.
“I think football still gets a bad rap. I think they’ve done some great things — if you’re taught properly, if you play it the right way, the equipment. It’s safer than it used to be in my opinion. I feel safer.”
Yet when the Steelers wrap up their four-game preseason schedule Thursday night at the Carolina Panthers, Roethlisberger and most of their starters will not play. The reason? To keep them safe. Roethlisberger, as has become custom the past few years, played only briefly in the third preseason game Sunday night, three series that ended with him throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster. Other than that pass, Roethlisberger threw only short passes in what looked like an attempt to get the ball off quickly and not put him at much risk of getting hit.
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“Not necessarily not to get hit,” he said, “but that’s the mentality we wanted to take. We wanted to come in and say, ‘Let’s get the ball out, protect me, protect the line, protect everybody.’ We were going no-huddle that was me calling the plays, that was just the mindset.”
As Andrew Luck has shown, it can be a different mindset for everyone.
(Photo: Zach Bolinger / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)