There comes a time in every football organization’s life—several times, if they’re lucky—during which they find that they have to move on from a franchise quarterback. The Pittsburgh Steelers understand that they are on the precipice of embarking upon that journey for a second time, whenever current quarterback Ben Roethlisberger chooses to call it a career.
It is not altogether clear, to the team, to the fans, or to Roethlisberger himself, when that might be. He may have three years remaining on his contract, but at 36 years old and three children at home, he is taking his future in the game on a yearly basis, not wanting to commit beyond the current season.
But given the team’s history in the somewhat dark years between the retirement of Terry Bradshaw—their first franchise quarterback—and the drafting of Roethlisberger—their second—it raises some questions about what the team as a whole has learned not only about the importance of the quarterback position, but also of the process of finding one.
Of course, there is virtually no continuity between then and now. Not even Dan Rooney remains to bridge the gap. Even Roethlisberger was not drafted by the Steelers’ current head coach, Mike Tomlin, although general manager Kevin Colbert was there, and remains in place today.
It was a different era of the game then, naturally, speaking of the early- to mid-eighties when they first had to move on from Bradshaw, compared to 2004, when the dramatic shift to a greater emphasis on the passing game—both in terms of how the game was played and how it was officiated—when Roethlisberger was drafted.
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http://www.steelersdepot.com/2017/07...se-qb-ssearch/
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Originally Posted by salamander
