Pittsburgh Steelers fans can celebrate because Ben Roethlisberger has decided to forgo retirement and return for his 14th season with the football team that he has led to three different Super Bowls. Roethlisberger made the announcement to the fans via Twitter and said that he informed the team of his decision today. This comes as a welcome relief to fans who watched their Steelers come one game away from a Super Bowl appearance before injuries ended their season in the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots.
Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers had little reason to believe that Ben Roethlisberger was stepping down as their quarterback this offseason. There was the fact that Big Ben said, after the Steelers lost to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game that he was going to take some time off to consider his future. After 13 seasons in the NFL, and the beating that comes along with that, the 25-year-old Roethlisberger said that it was only normal for him to consider all options before coming back for another season with the Steelers. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that he was hopeful that Ben would return in 2017 to help the Steelers make another run for a Super Bowl title.
Out of everyone on the Steelers' roster, it was Big Ben that was the most valuable and the player that had to return if the Steelers had any hopes of returning to the NFL playoffs, much less getting past the New England Patriots and back into the Super Bowl once again.
2017 Pittsburgh Steelers
On top of Ben Roethlisberger returning to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers into the 2017 NFL season, the team has done everything that they can to ensure that he has the weapons he needs to continue his success.
The first thing that the Steelers did this offseason was to sign Antonio Brown to a monster contract that makes him one of the highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL. After that, Pittsburgh then gave LeVeon Bell the franchise tag, which will ensure him a huge financial deal for at least one season as the Steelers try to make it back to the Super Bowl one more time with Big Ben at quarterback.
Of course, the Steelers still have to hope that the secondary receivers can continue to play well and avoid injuries and that the offensive line can keep Roethlisberger from taking another beating this year. Injuries killed the Steelers in 2016 and that is the one thing standing in the way for Ben Roethlisberger again this year.
