PITTSBURGH — It could have turned out poorly. In some ways, it did. Ben Roethlisberger was a shell of himself for significant portions of last season.
But he was still good enough to pull out a bunch of games late and help the Steelers reach the playoffs. Roethlisberger did not embarrass himself the way other aging quarterbacks have.
Maybe more importantly, he got to say a proper goodbye — and he can thank team president Art Rooney II for that. So can you, if you’re among those who will cherish Big Ben’s farewell game against the Cleveland Browns at the stadium formerly known as Heinz Field.
If Roethlisberger’s version of events is correct, Rooney facilitated his final season. Thus, it was Rooney who gave him — and you — the memorable finale. Rooney read the play. He might have gone against the better judgment of his general manager and coach in letting Roethlisberger return, and I have to believe a big part of his motivation was to make sure this franchise icon had the opportunity to go out in style.
If it wasn’t clear already that Rooney was the prime mover behind Roethlisberger’s return, it became so via Roethlisberger’s comments to Ron Cook in Sunday’s Post-Gazette.
To hear Roethlisberger tell it, general manager Kevin Colbert “was ready to move on” after the 2020 season, and coach Mike Tomlin was “a little ready to move on, but I think he was OK with me coming back.”
It doesn’t sound like Tomlin was willing to go to the mat to keep Ben around. But it sure sounds like Rooney was.
As Roethlisberger put it, “I think Mr. Rooney really wanted me to come back last year to play.”
Colbert’s position was defensible, if indeed he felt like it was time. You saw Roethlisberger last season. He couldn’t move. How can you blame Colbert if he didn’t want him? How could you blame Tomlin if he was fine with saying goodbye?
Rooney must have seen something more. He must have wanted to give this a chance of ending well, unlike other stories of other Steelers legends. (Franco Harris in a Seattle Seahawks uniform springs to mind.) Rooney obviously didn’t want the lasting memory of Roethlisberger to be that horrific, four-interception playoff loss to the Browns.
That doesn’t mean you bring him back if he’s spent. Roethlisberger wasn’t. Not quite. Rooney saw enough there, I suppose, to make it worth the risk of giving fans what they wanted.
And make no mistake, even if Roethlisberger was a polarizing figure for much of his career, fans always want that last moment with legend. Not that it usually turns out as perfectly as Ben’s last ride. Beating the Browns on Jan. 4 goes down as one of the most memorable events in Heinz Field history. Roethlisberger literally got to take a victory lap after beating what amounted to his hometown team — and a team that bypassed him in the draft.
Never underestimate what it means to a city to have a night like that. It makes me think of Evgeni Malkin’s new deal with the Penguins.
The Penguins might not get all they want out of Malkin over these next two or three years. It might have been more logical, from a hockey standpoint, to send him packing. But he still brings enough to make signing him worth the risk, and he now has at least a chance for one last memorable night with his people.
Can you imagine if Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang all play their last home game together? I’m guessing Crosby and Letang last longer, but I’m also guessing that if you asked fans to trade a playoff series win or two for a night like that, most would take the latter.
No matter what, they’ll likely get to say proper goodbye to Malkin. That means something. Those are nights that live forever.
Ask somebody 20 years from now what they’ll remember about the 2021 Steelers, and I’ll bet it’s Ben’s final game.
Rooney made that happen.
