Ben Roethlisberger: ‘If They Decided to Trade Me I Would Probably Just Call it Quits’

Don’t expect a Tom Brady/Phillip Rivers/Peyton Manning situation ever developing between the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger.

Speaking with Bill Cowher on the NFL on CBS pregame show before the Steelers’ 26-21 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Roethlisberger made it clear that he isn’t interested in finishing out his career with a different franchise.

The interview, which ranged from Roethlisberger’s return in front of an empty NFL stadium, to his long road to recovery, ended with Cowher asking (if not downright pleading) for his former star quarterback to remain in Pittsburgh.

"This is home. I don't know anything but bleeding black and gold."
@Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger sits down with his former coach @CowherCBS to discuss his fight to get back in the game and his devotion to the Steelers organization. pic.twitter.com/A0Q7Yj2yBA

— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) September 20, 2020

“You’re in your seventeenth year,” Cowher said. “Tom going to Tampa, we saw Phillip go to Indianapolis. Please tell me you’ll follow the footsteps of Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu and you will always be a Steeler. Can you go on record and say that?”

“I can most likely go on record and say that,” Roethlisberger said. “I have no plans on going anywhere. And I feel like even if they decided to trade me I would probably just call it quits. This is home. I don’t know anything but bleeding black and gold.

While anything can happen in the NFL, as clearly illustrated by Brady playing in Tampa Bay red and pewter this season, it doesn’t sound like Steelers fans should have any worries about where Roethlisberger’s loyalties lie.