The Pittsburgh Steelers were lucky enough for future Hall of Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to fall to the franchise in the 2004 NFL Draft. The then-prospect from Miami of Ohio was selected with the 11th overall pick and never wore anything other than the black and gold. The draft cursed the Cleveland Browns for years as Roethlisberger dominated the organization from his home state. The other NFL franchise out of Ohio, the Cincinnati Bengals, weren't in a position to select the future two-time Super Bowl champion, but the retired signal-caller recently talked about how satisfying it was beating teams from his home state.
The legendary quarterback joined the Randy Baumann & the DVE Morning Show on Wednesday, as it marked the 20-year anniversary of Roethlisberger being selected by the Steelers. When asked about the Browns and the decision to pass on him with the sixth overall pick, he confirmed that playing and beating Cleveland, as well as Cincinnati, was a little bit sweeter. Not necessarily because of the draft, but his roots.
"It did have a little special meaning. I don't know if it was as much because they passed on me as much as it was beating the Ohio teams. The teams that growing up, everybody loved the Browns, they loved the Bengals and I'm like, I didn't love them. So I'm just like, 'I wanna beat those guys so bad,' because everyone in my hometown loved them."
As a retired player with a total of just 12 losses against the two franchises throughout his 18-year career, Roethlisberger wasn't afraid to throw some shade at his former rivals. He knows that people began to recognize his dominance.
"Then it became like a thing when I just kept beating them over and over and over and over."
It did become a regular occurrence for the Steelers and Roethlisberger to dismantle the Browns and Bengals. He was 24-10 against Cincinnati and 26-2-1 versus the Browns throughout his incredible career. A combined 50-12-1 can absolutely be considered utter dominance. It's one of the more amazing fun facts about his tenure in the NFL.
Baumann and his crew also wanted to mention that Roethlisberger, for the longest time, was the winningest quarterback at the Browns' home stadium until Baker Mayfield finally beat him out. In hilarious fashion, the six-time Pro Bowler joked that he was considering playing another season to reclaim his utter superiority over Cleveland.
"Which is why I was thinking about coming out of retirement to get that back."
Roethlisberger may not have had any playoff success in the final five years of his career, and some say the Browns finally got revenge in the 2020 postseason, but overall, he was completely in control when playing the teams he was around the most growing up. There won't be many quarterbacks going forward that can accomplish nearly a 90% winning percentage (versus the Browns) against a divisional rival in 25 or more games played.
Steelers Remain Desperate For Roethlisberger's Long-Term Replacement In 2024
No one is quite sure what the plan is for Pittsburgh's quarterback position moving forward. A quick-twitch decision to draft Kenny Pickett in 2022 resulted in failure with the disgruntled signal-caller being dealt to the Philadelphia Eagles. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields could only be on the roster for a single season, which presents significant questions for the future. The organization certainly misses having a guy like Roethlisberger who was a model of consistency.
More must-reads: