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Three previous QB injuries that could project Steelers Roethlisberger’s future

By Jobe Morrison

Ben Roethlisberger #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Ben Roethlisberger #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
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Carolina Panthers’ Jake Delhomme faces the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium, Sunday, October 15, 2006 in Baltimore, Maryland. Panther won 23-21. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
Carolina Panthers’ Jake Delhomme faces the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium, Sunday, October 15, 2006 in Baltimore, Maryland. Panther won 23-21. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) /

Jake Delhomme: 2007 Elbow injury

I consider this to be the forgotten elbow injury among quarterbacks. Why? Simply put, if Delhomme had been healthy, the Patriots might’ve completed their perfect season with a Super Bowl victory.

Three weeks into the season, I attended the Falcons home opener against the Panthers–a game the Panthers would pull away with a win in.

However, in the second half of the game, the Panthers saw their 4-year starter leave the game with a serious elbow injury. He would not start a game the rest of the year; leading to the Bucs to squeeze a division title at 9-7 (losing to the Giants in the NFC wild-card round.)

Unlike Palmer, Delhomme opted for Tommy-John surgery. The results were a mixed bag.

Jake Delhomme benefited tremendously from the two-headed monster running game with Jonathan Stewart and Deangelo Williams.

Despite making the NFC playoffs as the #2 seed, Delhomme wasn’t exactly sharp; tossing only 15 touchdowns to 12 interceptions. This proved to be the beginning of the end when he tossed 5 interceptions against the Cardinals in the divisional playoff round.

In 2009, despite a fresh offseason contract, he proved he simply wasn’t the same since his elbow injury. He went on to play only 11 games tossing 8 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.

He last year two more years as a back in Cleveland and Houston, but never returned to pre-injury form as a reliable starter.

The scary part about this is the fact he was only 32 years old at the time of his surgery. The silver lining of this was the surgery got one more decent season out of Delhomme–which might be all the Steelers could be expecting from Ben.

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