Ben Roethlisberger Leaning Toward Playing in 2017 Season
Pittsburgh Steelers fans can breathe a sigh of relief now because one of their longest-tenured players may not be ready to step away from the game this offseason.
Ben Roethlisberger was at a conference at Liberty University last Friday and according to Dale Lolley of the Observer-Reporter, the veteran quarterback told the crowd that he was leaning toward playing next season.
That's not really a surprise. Yes, Roethlisberger is already 35, but he's still playing at a high level. Besides, he still has three years remaining on his contract. Lolley said the team's front office executives didn't really believe he was going to retire either.
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Roethlisberger actually surprised a lot of people last January when he told 93.7 The Fan he was considering hanging up his cleats after the 2016 season.
"I'm going to take this offseason to evaluate, to consider all options. To consider health, and family and things like that and just kind of take some time away to evaluate next season, if there's going to be a next season. I'm going to take some time and evaluate with my family and just do a lot of praying about it and make sure it's the right thing for me and my family," Roethlisberger said during the interview.
Of course, it should be noted that he said this just days after the New England Patriots defeated the Steelers in the American Football Conference (AFC) championship game, so he was clearly frustrated at the time.
The Steelers selected Roethlisberger with the 11th pick in the 2004 National Football League (NFL) draft and he has been with the team since then. He has led the team to two Super Bowl victories (XL and XLIII) already.
Roethlisberger still has a lot left in the tank and the Steelers should be a title contenders once again next season if he returns.
