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30 greatest Pittsburgh Steelers of the 2000s

By Tommy Jaggi

PITTSBURGH - JANUARY 18: Safety Troy Polamalu #43 of the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrates his touchdown with defensive end Brett Keisel against the Baltimore Ravens during the fourth quarter of the AFC championship game on January 18, 2009 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH - JANUARY 18: Safety Troy Polamalu #43 of the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrates his touchdown with defensive end Brett Keisel against the Baltimore Ravens during the fourth quarter of the AFC championship game on January 18, 2009 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – DECEMBER 23: Ben Roethlisberger #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs with the ball during the second half against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on December 23, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – DECEMBER 23: Ben Roethlisberger #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs with the ball during the second half against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on December 23, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /

2. Ben Roethlisberger, QB (2004)

Ben Roethlisberger is undeniably one of the best and most important players to put on a Steelers uniform. Some of you may be wondering why Ben isn’t the number one player on this list, but I will be explaining my reasoning shortly.

Ben Roethlisberger plays the most important position on the field. But no quarterback had as much help as Roethlisberger in his first few seasons.

When Ben took over as a starter in his rookie season, the Steelers already poised one of the league’s best defenses. In his first two NFL seasons, Ben never eclipsed 2,400 passing yards or 17 touchdowns. He also only threw the ball an average of 282 times during this span (which is significantly less than the 675 attempts he saw in 2018).

By his third year, and with one Super Bowl under his belt, Roethlisberger led the team to a 7-8 record in 15 games while throwing 18 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. However, as good quarterbacks typically do, Ben bounced back with a Pro Bowl season in 2007. He later went on to lead his team to two more Super Bowls and secured one more Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XLIII.

Ben now has 17 NFL seasons in the bag, and recently took a pay cut to finish his productive career in Pittsburgh. Though he never once received first-team All-Pro honors to date, Ben Roethlisberger will still hear his name called to Canton one day, and he will certainly go down as one of the best players in Steelers history.

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