More Ben drama: Ben say Colbert wanted him to retire before 2021 (we all did Ben)

[EzraTank]

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/ben-roethlisberger-hints-ex-steelers-gm-kevin-colbert-wanted-him-to-retire-earlier-he-was-ready-to-move-on/


The Steelers are without Ben Roethlisberger as they enter 2022 training camp, marking the first time in almost two decades that No. 7 hasn't been under center. And if it were up to recently retired general manager Kevin Colbert, who stepped down after the draft this spring, the star quarterback would've been gone at least a year earlier. Reflecting on his own retirement, Roethlisberger suggested to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this week that Colbert wanted him to hang up the cleats prior to the 2021 season.


"It was mostly Kevin," Roethlisberger told Ron Cook, explaining management's preference to say farewell. "I think (coach) Mike (Tomlin) was a little ready to move on, but I think he was OK with me coming back. I think Mr. (Art) Rooney really wanted me to come back last year to play."


Colbert, of course, helped the Steelers identify their next long-term QB (or so they hope) by drafting Pittsburgh's Kenny Pickett No. 20 overall this year. He previously oversaw a pay cut from Roethlisberger in 2021, which facilitated the veteran's return for an 18th NFL season.

"I thought I went out on my terms," Roethlisberger added. "I never wanted to stay too long. I know some people might think I did. ... But I thought I played pretty well last year, to be honest. My arm feels like I still could go out and play. I'm pretty confident I could still play. But it's every day. It's mental. Not having to prepare for camp and the season has been the biggest blessing for me. I'm fine with where I'm at with everything."

Since retiring, Roethlisberger said he's stayed in touch with both Pickett and veteran addition Mitchell Trubisky, the current favorite to open 2022 as the starting QB. He told Cook he plans to watch the Steelers this season, likely from his home, and that his next big goal is reaching the Pro Football Hall of Fame, for which he'll first be eligible in 2027.

"I did it for a long time," Roethlisberger said of his time in the NFL. "I know doing it for a long time doesn't mean that you get in, but, again, you look at the wins and losses. I think I did it at a high enough level for a long enough time that I think it would be pretty cool to get in. It is a special thing. That is one special place and a special accomplishment."




Ben, please just ride off into the sunset, enjoy you two rings, and await your hall of fame call.

[Edman]

A Leopard never changes his spots.

[Mojouw]

If Colbert didn't want Ben to retire, he would be a horrible GM. Colbert's job is to assemble the best overall roster with the available cap space (duh!). And paying Ben whatever outsized % of the cap to basically be somewhere between Taylor Heincke and Sam Darnold is a bad value proposition.

I get that Ben found it offensive and ego bruising. I get that ownership and coaches may not have totally agreed. But as the GM, Colbert was 100% correct.

Not many athletes understand the brutal economics of their sports.

[steelreserve]

Anyone could tell his ability was in decline, but in hindsight, if he'd retired a year earlier, I don't really know what that would have accomplished.

At least Ben was able to play at the minimum level to get an entertaining season out of it. The other QBs on the roster would have delivered a miserable stink bomb of a season. We had no developmental QB. We were able to get our pick of any QB we wanted this year anyway. In the draft the year before, all the good QBs and even most of the reach QBs were long gone by the time we picked - the "would've let us start searching for the franchise QB of the future earlier" theory doesn't even work.

Overall, I'd say it worked out about as well as it could have under the circumstances, and he got a nice sendoff.

[SteelMember]

This was not the first time and it will not be the last.

Hines, Troy, Ben... all great players that father time caught up with.
I'm sure they all thought they had more to give as competitive atheltes, but all came to the conclusion that they just didn't want to play for anyone else.

As stated above, at least he got to have his farewell tour and seems to be content with his new family schedule.

[T&B fan]

Anyone could tell his ability was in decline, but in hindsight, if he'd retired a year earlier, I don't really know what that would have accomplished.

At least Ben was able to play at the minimum level to get an entertaining season out of it. The other QBs on the roster would have delivered a miserable stink bomb of a season. We had no developmental QB. We were able to get our pick of any QB we wanted this year anyway. In the draft the year before, all the good QBs and even most of the reach QBs were long gone by the time we picked - the "would've let us start searching for the franchise QB of the future earlier" theory doesn't even work.

Overall, I'd say it worked out about as well as it could have under the circumstances, and he got a nice sendoff.

:iagree:

[fansince'76]

A Leopard never changes his spots.

You know, you might want to actually read the article (https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/ron-cook/2022/07/22/pittsburgh-steelers-training-camp-ben-roethlisberger-kenny-pickett-kevin-colbert-mike-tomlin-mitch-trubisky/stories/202207220014) the above comment was originally sourced from. Nary a hint of "drama" in it. In fact, Roethlisberger is quite chill about everything.

One slightly "offhand" comment (if one can even really call it that) about Colbert and people flip their shit and start piling on. :rolleyes:

[ALLD]

He was lucky to not have sustained any more serious injuries during his last season. When your offensive skills erode it affects everything. Ask Mohammed Ali.

[86WARD]

You know, you might want to actually read the article (https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/ron-cook/2022/07/22/pittsburgh-steelers-training-camp-ben-roethlisberger-kenny-pickett-kevin-colbert-mike-tomlin-mitch-trubisky/stories/202207220014) the above comment was originally sourced from. Nary a hint of "drama" in it. In fact, Roethlisberger is quite chill about everything.

One slightly "offhand" comment (if one can even really call it that) about Colbert and people flip their shit and start piling on. :rolleyes:

https://media0.giphy.com/media/jx5MJyZqAFsLS/giphy.gif

[tube517]

Steelers Twitter and beat writers need to create drama besides the ketchup bottles. Only a few more days until camp starts so we can all start the Fire Canada/Tomlin/Khan/Austin or pickett/Pickens/Leal are bust threads.

[Born2Steel]

I'm pretty sure Ben and Co. beat the Ravens 5 in a row to close out his career. He went 13-5 vs the AFC North in those same 3 years. (He didn't play any division opponents in 2019 due to his injury). Yes, Ben was diminished. He still found a way to dominate the division. Would you really rather have had Mason Rudolph in there? 50% Ben was better than the rest, and I don't think it was that close.

I can see the argument for why Ben should have retired sooner. I just don't agree with it. I think he timed his retirement rather nicely.

[86WARD]

Steelers Twitter and beat writers need to create drama besides the ketchup bottles. Only a few more days until camp starts so we can all start the Fire Canada/Tomlin/Khan/Austin or pickett/Pickens/Leal are bust threads.

I prefer the Fire Canada thread myself…

[86WARD]

I'm pretty sure Ben and Co. beat the Ravens 5 in a row to close out his career. He went 13-5 vs the AFC North in those same 3 years. (He didn't play any division opponents in 2019 due to his injury). Yes, Ben was diminished. He still found a way to dominate the division. Would you really rather have had Mason Rudolph in there? 50% Ben was better than the rest, and I don't think it was that close.

I can see the argument for why Ben should have retired sooner. I just don't agree with it. I think he timed his retirement rather nicely.

There was no other option really. He took a $5M pay cut and saved the team $15+M in the end? Was a 15M cap hit for 2021. I believe if they cut him outright it was a $12.5M cap hit. So for $2.5M they kept him.

Remember, the team was the one who gave him the contract, the restructure, the money and the playing time. He had nothing to do with that but accept it and sign his name.

And yes…a 50% Ben was far and away better than anything else they could have thrown out there.

[Mojouw]

I think this all makes total sense.

The player wanted one last rodeo and believed that they would be able to make a serious go at it.
The coaching staff was (mildly) in favor of Ben playing again in order to not start over and eke out a few more wins than the known alternatives.
The ownership wanted to give the franchise icon a chance to go out on their own terms. Consistent with the entire family's POV.
The GM wanted to save a few bucks, and start the rebuilding program a year earlier.

It would be bad if all of those factions didn't feel that exact way.

[DesertSteel]

No drama here.

[86WARD]

More drama incoming…

[polamalubeast]

Here the entire article of Ben with Ron Cook...This is a great article

Ron Cook: Ben Roethlisberger at peace in retirement as training camp goes on without him

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/ron-cook/2022/07/22/pittsburgh-steelers-training-camp-ben-roethlisberger-kenny-pickett-kevin-colbert-mike-tomlin-mitch-trubisky/stories/202207220014

[polamalubeast]

I'll be honest saying that at times Ben was sad to watch last year but at least it wasn't a disaster, far from it

The reception he got from his fans in his last home game was very memorable and emotional, he was still able to be good in close games, as almost every game the Steelers won last year was very close. and we made the playoffs(thank to the new playoffs format and Carson Wentz but still) even if the team was bad in general (Ben was not the only problem)

Our playoff game went as expected, the Steelers were underdog by 13 points (the biggest in Roethlisberger's career) but at least it wasn't a disaster like Dan Marino's last game when his team lost 62-7!

I agree with what steelreserve and others have said about this situation

[tube517]

I prefer the Fire Canada thread myself…

No way. Fire Danny Smith thread! :lol:

[86WARD]

No way. Fire Danny Smith thread! :lol:

Well that’s a given. That’s like a pinned/permanent thread…lol.

[vasteeler]

I don't think the last two years were as bad as some remember. 55 touchdowns 20 ints. While having a terrible o line and an underachieving wide receiver corps with no true number one. He wasn't great but he wasn't dog shit either.

[polamalubeast]

I don't think the last two years were as bad as some remember. 55 touchdowns 20 ints. While having a terrible o line and an underachieving wide receiver corps with no true number one. He wasn't great but he wasn't dog shit either.

His bigger problem was his YPA was lower as ever.It was below 6.5 yards per pass attempts in the last 2 years.In his prime it was at 7.5-8.0 yards per pass attempts.It was a struggle for him to complete a pass past the yellow line for the first down.

But he did a good job to not be a turnovers machine too and win close game in the fourth quarter when he had the chance.He was a problem but not the only problem of the steelers.

[T&B fan]

Ben is only 1 of 2 QB to ever starting year and ending year in the play offs .Andrew Luck was the other

[DesertSteel]

Ben is only 1 of 2 QB to ever starting year and ending year in the play offs .Andrew Luck was the other
I have no idea what this means.

[polamalubeast]

I have no idea what this means.

Make the playoffs in his rookie year and his last year

[86WARD]

“Starting career and ending career” might have worked better?

[DesertSteel]

Cam calling Ben out for saying today's players are me-first. Ben is going to be a train wreck in his retirement.

[polamalubeast]

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[Steeler-in-west]

agree with colbert that Ben stayed a year (or two) too long. Rudolph and the receivers could've benefited from the experience. They probably would've picked up a QB in 21 (FA or Draft). You could argue we would be further along in our rebuild/reload by this time. But also, understand Ben wanting to play those last couple years, as an athlete its hard to let go.....Ben was a competitor

[mark0933]

I think what Ben was trying to say was that with the emergence of fantasy football, both fans (and players) focus on the fantasy value of individual accomplishments (especially on offense) more than in the past. In the past everyone cheered for the team as a whole, but now its more I want player X to put up 300 yards today and player Y to run for 200 yds (but not score any TD's since I have the opposing defense). The overall team win/loss record has become secondary it seems.

[polamalubeast]

I think what Ben was trying to say was that with the emergence of fantasy football, both fans (and players) focus on the fantasy value of individual accomplishments (especially on offense) more than in the past. In the past everyone cheered for the team as a whole, but now its more I want player X to put up 300 yards today and player Y to run for 200 yds (but not score any TD's since I have the opposing defense). The overall team win/loss record has become secondary it seems.

Or maybe he was talking about the killer B's era of the steelers

[86WARD]

Is there more context to his statement?

[polamalubeast]

Is there more context to his statement?

Look at the article of post 17 of this thread.It was the interview by Ben with Ron Cook

[teegre]

Ben liked it better when he was able to put the younger players in car seats…

[polamalubeast]

More on Ben today...Here his comments

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[Mojouw]

Ahhhh…..Ben got old and doesn’t realize it.

People were saying the same thing about players when he came in. In fact, many said it specifically about him.

[polamalubeast]

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[polamalubeast]

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[Mojouw]

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Want guys to be tougher? Guaranteed contracts will do that.

Why play hurt and risk ruining your chances for a bigger second contract when the team will cut you and stop paying you as soon as your body breaks down.

The NFL is a stars and scrubs league. Ben was paid and treated like a star. And he’s whining about the scrub life he doesn’t know about.

I’ve not read the full context(s) for his comments and I likely won’t because now that he’s retired, I just don’t care what he thinks. Ut he sound like he’s got his head pretty far up his butt on this stuff.

[polamalubeast]

Want guys to be tougher? Guaranteed contracts will do that.

.

It don't happen in the NBA with all the load management in the regular season despite to have over 200 millions guaranteed in their contract....This is even way worse and this is a true circus...

But what Ben was saying in general was the QBs were better protected because of the rules and the practices were less hard now than they were when he started his career and it was fine for him!

[Mojouw]

It don't happen in the NBA with all the load management in the regular season despite to have over 200 millions guaranteed in their contract....This is even way worse and this is a true circus...

But what Ben was saying in general was the QBs were better protected because of the rules and the practices were less hard now than they were when he started his career and it was fine for him!

I don’t see it as a decrease in NBA toughness. I see it as teams getting waaaaaay smarter. There’s no prize for winning a ton of regular season games and then not having the legs to actually win in the postseason.

If the NBA wants to ditch load management then shorten your season. They play too many meaningless games.

Back to the NFL, Ben doesn’t seem to realize that if he gets hurt in two a days or in a game, the team is going to continue to pay him and stick by him. But that isn’t the case for 75% + of the roster.

One could argue the Steelers stick by their players better than most. But players lack any incentive to scramble their brains and destroy their joints in the name of “toughness”. It’s just going to shorten their careers and derail their earnings.

[polamalubeast]

I don’t see it as a decrease in NBA toughness. I see it as teams getting waaaaaay smarter. There’s no prize for winning a ton of regular season games and then not having the legs to actually win in the postseason.

If the NBA wants to ditch load management then shorten your season. They play too many meaningless games.

Back to the NFL, Ben doesn’t seem to realize that if he gets hurt in two a days or in a game, the team is going to continue to pay him and stick by him. But that isn’t the case for 75% + of the roster.

One could argue the Steelers stick by their players better than most. But players lack any incentive to scramble their brains and destroy their joints in the name of “toughness”. It’s just going to shorten their careers and derail their earnings.

I think this is what Ben was saying in the nfl in bold too.Here one of his comments about the current NFL

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He also said that the NFL protects QBs more now that like 10-15 years ago, so it was far from being a criticism for Ben, just a change for him.

[DesertSteel]

Ben’s problem is that he either needs to keep his mouth shut or stick to his guns.

[polamalubeast]

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[ETL]

I have said many times that he should have retired a year earlier and that last year should have been used for us to see if Rudolph was legit or not. Now it seems that we will have to burn this year to find that out.

people are saying that Ben wasn’t “embarrassing” for us last year and that was good. Is that our standard now? “At least he didn’t suck?”

i knew at the end of 2020 season Ben could not help us win a SB. Prior years I’ve always believed that but last year was just a nice retirement tour for Ben.

also I don’t see any drama in Ben. He wanted to play. This is how all the great ones are. They are great because they have a fighting spirit not because they are aware when they should hang it up.

[polamalubeast]

I have said many times that he should have retired a year earlier and that last year should have been used for us to see if Rudolph was legit or not. Now it seems that we will have to burn this year to find that out.

people are saying that Ben wasn’t “embarrassing” for us last year and that was good. Is that our standard now? “At least he didn’t suck?”

i knew at the end of 2020 season Ben could not help us win a SB. Prior years I’ve always believed that but last year was just a nice retirement tour for Ben.

also I don’t see any drama in Ben. He wanted to play. This is how all the great ones are. They are great because they have a fighting spirit not because they are aware when they should hang it up.

No, our standards are not low but for a washed QB, it could easily have been much worse like being a turnovers machine in addition to his very low YPA and Tomlin being forced to bench Ben, a bit like the broncos with Peyton Manning back in 2015 in mid-season

It was just a relief for me when it was over.

[teegre]

UFC 412:
Ben vs. Cam

[tube517]

UFC 412:
Ben vs. CamMason Cole vs the DL

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

[hawaiiansteeler]

UFC 412:
Ben vs. Cam

I'll place my bet on Cam now.

[polamalubeast]

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[fansince'76]

I have said many times that he should have retired a year earlier and that last year should have been used for us to see if Rudolph was legit or not. Now it seems that we will have to burn this year to find that out.

Actually, we found that out in 2019. He isn't.

[tube517]

1562508150783496193

Where's the picture of Ben hugging Mason?? :chuckle:

[86WARD]

Where's the picture of Ben hugging Mason?? :chuckle:

Never! He went out of his way to hug other people in front of Mason or show him pictures of him hugging Troy or Harrison…

[ETL]

Who’s Mason?

[polamalubeast]

Drama!

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[fansince'76]

So much for him being pissed off at the Steelers for forcing him into an unwanted retirement... :rolleyes:

[tube517]

So much for him being pissed off at the Steelers for forcing him into an unwanted retirement... :rolleyes:

Beat me to it. But I still wanna see him and Mason hug it out lol

[DesertSteel]

Drama!

1562761431204134912
I think that’s a moronic tweet. It’s like comparing an apple with a truck. Ben is showing support for guys who’ve stood with him for up to 10 years.

[Hawkman]

I think that’s a moronic tweet. It’s like comparing an apple with a truck. Ben is showing support for guys who’ve stood with him for up to 10 years.

Damn right! And I’m sure he is welcome anytime.