Former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger Ponders Intriguing Scenario About Entering College Transfer Portal If It Existed in 2000’s

Roethlisberger, who played wide receiver until his senior year in high school, attended and played for Miami University (OH). He played his first game in 2001 and was drafted by the Steelers in 2004. During the time that he played, the college transfer portal did not exist and players did not typically sit out of bowl games. 

Steelers’ Roethlisberger On Playing or Sitting 

Back in 2016, when Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette chose to sit out of their bowl games, it was nearly unheard of. It just wasn’t done and they both took a lot of heat for their decisions. Now, every season, more and more players opt out of bowl games to avoid potential injuries as they head into the start of their professional careers.

During this episode, T’eo asked Roethlisberger about opting out of bowl games and how he feels about it:

“I’m torn on it, I don’t know that I would do it. I feel like when you’re with your brothers, you put all the work in through the off-season, you played every game together and then you get out there and it’s like, ‘Alright, I’m just gonna kind of go.’ I know to me, that hurts my heart a little bit. On the flip side, I understand what they’re doing. They got a lot of money potentially coming to them really soon, don’t take a chance because there have been guys recently, almost every year, there’s a player that gets hurt that had a bright NFL future.” 

Roethlisberger added that the new rules allowing college players to earn money are also changing the way business is done:

“I think these new NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals might make it different though. Guys are already making a lot of money. The kid in North Carolina who I think is maybe the best college quarterback out there right now, and one of the better ones I’ve seen in a long time; I think it’s Drake [Maye], he supposedly turned down multiple $5 million deals from other schools to transfer. Which is tough to fathom, not just the money, but to fathom that can happen in college sports right now right is mind-blowing to me.”

Most interestingly, Te’o asked Roethlisberger if the college transfer portal existed back when he was in college in Ohio, would he have switched to a bigger school? While Roethlisberger did not get a lot of attention coming out of high school, he did while he was in college. During his stint at Miami, they began to air MAC games and folks got to see a lot of “Big Ben.” It piqued the interest of many and his draft stock rose. Roethlisberger answered:

“No, I don’t think so. I think what the transfer portal is doing is it’s creating a lack of competitive spirit. If all of a sudden they recruit a guy in your sophomore year and it’s your turn, your chance to play, and they recruit a freshman to come and he’s highly recruited, ‘Well, I’m just going to transfer, because he’s going to get the job.’ Well, what about trying to beat the dude out? What about like busting your butt to say, ‘No, that’s my job?’ Give it a chance to try and fight for your job, don’t just all of a sudden, ‘Well, I got nothing else to do, I’m just gonna transfer.’”

Roethlisberger followed up by saying that he feels like the system is a bit upside down:

“You’re getting college players who are making more money than some guys in the NFL.”

He feels that the ability to move about so easily within the league (pro or NCAA), does damage the camaraderie the team could have:

“I’d like to talk about Franco [Harris] and the Steelers team because it makes me think about those [players] in the 70’s, those Steeler teams stayed together, they didn’t go anywhere because there was no free agency, so those teams got to know each other so well.”