At Findlay High School in
Findlay, Ohio , Roethlisberger was captain of the football,
Basketball , and
Baseball teams.
Roethlisberger did not play quarterback until his senior year, giving way to Ryan Hite, the coach's son. Instead, Roethlisberger played wide receiver because coach Cliff Hite explained to ''
The (Toledo) Blade '', "My lazy son throwing to Ben was a better combination, however I am an idiot for making Ben sit!"
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Roethlisberger threw for 4,041 yards, 54 touchdowns and seventeen interceptions in his one season as quarterback at Findlay.
The elder Hite is most renowned nationally as the punch line to the joke: "Who is the only person who could stop Ben Roethlisberger from throwing a touchdown? Cliff Hite." He also was a really good receiver.
In a twist of irony, both players had record-setting college careers after swapping positions. Roethlisberger played quarterback at Division I
Miami University in
Oxford, Ohio , where in his three year career, he set every major passing record in addition to a number of
Mid-American Conference passing records. Ryan Hite, meanwhile, set numerous receiving records playing football at Division III
Denison University .
Roethlisberger was taken 11th overall in the
2004 NFL Draft . On
August 4 2004 Roethlisberger signed his first contract with the Steelers, a six-year, $14 million contract with an $8 million 2009 roster bonus, and was touted by Steelers coach
Bill Cowher in a
Press Conference as a franchise quarterback.
He took over from Steelers starting quarterback
Tommy Maddox after Maddox was injured during a game against the
Baltimore Ravens in Week 2. This injury changed the Steelers original plan for Roethlisberger, which was for him to sit on the bench or play very sparingly during the first season or two in order to learn the team's system, instead he was thrown into the fire immediately. As a rookie, he went 13-0 in the regular season as a starting quarterback, surpassing former Steeler
Mike Kruczek for the record for the best start by a rookie (6-0), and exceeding the mark for total wins as a rookie set by
Chris Chandler and
Joe Ferguson . Roethlisberger received much praise from coaches in the NFL including
Dallas Cowboys coach
Bill Parcells who compared him to NFL legend
Dan Marino . On January 5, 2005 Roethlisberger was unanimously selected as The
NFL Offensive Rookie Of The Year by the
Associated Press , the first
Quarterback to be so honored.
In 2004, perhaps Roethlisberger's greatest feat was leading the Steelers to a 34-20 victory over the defending
Super Bowl champion and previously undefeated
New England Patriots , ending their NFL-record 21-game winning streak. He completed 18 of his 24 pass attempts, including a 47-yard touchdown pass to
Plaxico Burress . He racked up 196 yards, two touchdowns, and threw no interceptions. The week after that game the Steelers defeated the also previously undefeated
Philadelphia Eagles 27-3. Roethlisberger was 11 for 18, with two touchdowns and one interception.
In the divisional playoffs against the
New York Jets , Roethlisberger threw one touchdown and two interceptions. One interception was returned for a touchdown, and the other was thrown with 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, which set up a potential game-winning field goal by Jets kicker Doug Brien. Brien missed the kick as time expired (his second missed kick in the last 2 minutes of the game), and forced the game into overtime. In overtime, Roethlisberger led the Steelers down the field and put them in position for the game-winning field goal, a 33-yard attempt that was made by
Jeff Reed , sending the Steelers into the
AFC Championship Game for the 4th time in 10 years.
On in Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger completed 14 of 24 pass attempts for 226 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw three costly interceptions. The Steelers lost the game to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the
New England Patriots by a score of 41-27.
In Roethlisberger's rookie season, he set many rookie passing records, including best passer rating (98.1), and highest completion percentage (66.4%).
In the 2005 regular season, the Steelers finished 11-5 and secured an AFC wild card spot, en route a stunning victory in
Super Bowl XL , where the Steelers pulled off amazing upsets at Indianapolis and Denver in the AFC playoffs in addition to wins over higher-seeds Cincinnati and Seattle. During the course of the regular season, Roethlisberger generally played well when healthy, but missed four games due to various knee injuries. During the regular season, the Steelers were 9-3 with Roethlisberger at quarterback, and 2-2 without him. Many Steelers fans believe that the continued success of the team depends largely upon whether Roethlisberger is healthy.
After the loss in the 2004-2005
AFC Championship Game , Roethlisberger asked veteran
Running Back ,
Jerome Bettis , to delay retirement, saying he would get Bettis to his first
Super Bowl . He lived up to his promise. In 2005, Roethlisberger led the Steelers on an improbable run, winning three straight games on the road to put Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl XL. What made the run remarkable was that the Steelers began the post season as the sixth seed in the AFC. Since the NFL's current playoff format began, no sixth seed had previously even made it to a conference championship game, let alone the Super Bowl.
What was even more improbable about the run was that it was done with Roethlisberger having a sprained thumb. This was an injury from a game earlier in the seasons, one of several that he suffered during the regular season.
The Super Bowl run began on Sunday, January 8, 2006 as Roethlisberger helped lead the Steelers to a playoff win over the
Cincinnati Bengals -- an AFC North rival that had beaten the Steelers a few weeks earlier by 7 points to win the division championship. The rematch featured two teams with identical records, who also had split their regular season series with each team winning in the home of the other team. Early in the game on
Carson Palmer 's first throw, an accidental low hit on Palmer's already weakened knee (he had been wearing a knee brace for many weeks prior) by former Bengal
Kimo Von Oelhoffen resulted in Palmer's ACL being completely blown out. The Bengals backup quarterback,
Jon Kitna (who is the only quarterback to ever beat
Bill Cowher 's Steelers when behind by 11 or more at any point in the game) came in and led the Bengals to leads of 10-0 and 17-7. However, the 17-7 lead midway through the second quarter would be the last time in the 2005 postseason that the Steelers would trail an opponent by more than 3 points. After falling behind 17-7 Roethlisberger would lead the Steelers to 24 straight points to win the game 31-17.
The second road win came on Sunday, January 15, 2006 and may be the most remembered. Roethlisberger led the 6th-seeded Steelers against the top seed interception that would have iced the game for the Steelers. Roethlisberger's tackle on Harper was compared by many to "The Immaculate Reception" back in 1972 when
Franco Harris made a miraculous reception and scored the game-winning touchdown against the
Oakland Raiders . The victory marked the first time a sixth-seeded NFL playoff team defeated the first-seeded team in the NFL playoffs.
On January 22, 2006, in Denver, the Steelers beat the
Denver Broncos 34-17 to advance to Super Bowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks in Detroit. Roethlisberger completed 21 of 29 passes for 275 yards. He threw for two touchdowns and scored one himself on a four yard
Play-action Bootleg ; his run was the last touchdown of the game, and sealed the win for the Steelers.
On February 5, 2006, in Detroit, the , a record previously held by
Tom Brady of the New England Patriots.
In the week leading up to the big game, thousands of fans from all over the world signed an online pledge to stop shaving their facial hair in support of Big Ben and his beard. The site, www.bensbeard.com
{Link without Title} , was created by five University of Pittsburgh students and attracted over 14,135 names in just one week. Roethlisberger reportedly struck a deal with Gillette and shaved off the beard on "
The Late Show With David Letterman " using a new Gillette Fusion razor as a promotion and earned $1 million for the stunt.
Roethlisberger is a traditional pocket passer, but he can scramble when necessary. His nickname of "Big Ben" is well earned, as he is tied with
Jacksonville Jaguars starter,
Byron Leftwich ,
Indianapolis Colts starter,
Peyton Manning , and
Cincinnati Bengals starter,
Carson Palmer , for tallest starting quarterback in the NFL (all four are 6'5"). He is also among the heaviest quarterbacks in the NFL at approximately 241 pounds. His size allows him to read defenses and look over the line to see blitzes and stunt plays. He has a big arm that can seemingly get the ball anywhere on the field. His favorite targets in the 2005 season were four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver
Hines Ward and rookie tight end
Heath Miller , the Steelers' first pick in the 2005
NFL Draft . In the playoffs, he started to find
Cedrick Wilson who caught two touchdown passes from Big Ben in four playoff games after catching none in the regular season.
- Most career touchdowns by a Miami University quarterback - 84
- Most wins by an NFL rookie quarterback (2004) - 13 games (Roethlisberger did not play in the Steelers' wins over Oakland or Buffalo during their 15-1 season)
- Highest quarterback rating by an NFL rookie quarterback (2004) - 98.1
- Highest completion percentage by an NFL rookie quarterback (2004) - 66.4%
- Most consecutive regular season wins by an NFL quarterback before recording his first career regular season loss (2004-5) - 15 games
- First quarterback to start two Conference Championship games in their first two seasons in the NFL (2004 & 2005)
- Second youngest quarterback to play in the Super Bowl (2005), only behind Dan Marino
- 27-4 won/loss record as a starting quarterback in the NFL (as of 2/5/06)
- Youngest quarterback ever to win the Super Bowl (2005) above
- Has a Burger named after him, called the " Roethlis-burger ," which costs $7.00 at Peppi's, a restaurant in Pittsburgh. The burger is topped with sausage, scrambled eggs, grilled onions, and American cheese on a Portuguese roll. Also has a very large burger named after him at Tony's in his hometown, as well as one in Oxford, Ohio at the bar and restaurant Brick Street.
- Wears #7 to pay tribute to John Elway of the Denver Broncos .
- Owns a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle , which he can only ride during the off-season due to contract restrictions. Does not wear a Helmet .
- Visited ECW in June 1994 , and admitted he was fascinated by the wrestlers' moves and how the fans could interact with the matches.
- Is a big fan of World Wrestling Entertainment and attended a house show in Pittsburgh with teammates as part of a bonding trip before their playoff run. He had pictures with himself and Triple H and Trish Stratus .
- Attends St. Paul's Methodist Church. {Link without Title}
- Grew a beard in his 2005/2006 season after the Steelers lost to the Cincinnati Bengals. He credits the beard as the good luck charm that led him on an 8-game winning streak, straight to Super Bowl XL .
- His surname "Roethlisberger" (Swiss-German spelling: Röthlisberger) is of Swiss origins {Link without Title}
- Majored in Physical Education .
