Ben Roethlisberger Could Retire After 2017

The Steelers and their fans should savor the 2017 season because it could prove to be the end of the line for Ben Roethlisberger. The future Hall of Fame quarterback told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette that he may retire after the season. Roethlisberger also revealed that his wife wants him to call it a career sooner than later.

“I feel if I commit to anything past right now, I’m cheating now,” he said. “I’m looking forward to this season, and I’m going to give it everything I have and afterwards we’ll sit down and do some [thinking] again.”

The 35-year-old Roethlisberger mulled retirement after last season, so it’s not surprising that it’s on the table for 2018. Interestingly, though, it seems a recent study heavily linking football players to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is influencing the 14th-year man’s thinking.

Roethlisberger noted that “being healthy” and “being able to play catch with my kids,” are important, adding, “I feel good mentally, I know this new study that came out that 90 percent [of NFL] players’ brains who were studied had CTE.”

The study actually found CTE in 99 percent of deceased NFL players’ brains that were donated to scientific research, which played a part in former Ravens center John Urschel‘s decision to hang up his cleats Thursday at the age of 26.

If Roethlisberger joins Urschel in retirement next year, it would mark the end of a fruitful era of Steelers football. Since using a first-round pick on Roethlisberger in 2004, the Steelers have made nine trips to the playoffs and racked up three Super Bowl appearances, two of which ended with them raising the Lombardi Trophy. Roethlisberger has been the driving force behind that success, and he’s now coming off a season in which he earned his fifth Pro Bowl nod. Overall, he appeared in 14 games for the 11-win club last year and threw 29 touchdowns against 13 interceptions. The Steelers made it to their fifth AFC title game of Roethlisberger’s tenure, but the Patriots vanquished them, 36-17.