Which Steelers player inherits Big Ben’s role as team leader in 2022?

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7). Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7). Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
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Joe Greene #75 Steelers(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

The Steelers will be a much different team in 2022, and fans will need to adjust. We no longer have that familiar face of the franchise Big Ben.

The changes we will see lead to an interesting question about the franchise for the 2022 season. The Steelers have always had that one player on the team functioning as the team leader inside and outside the locker room.

In the 70s, Terry Bradshaw and Joe Greene split the role. For fans, the face of the team was undoubtedly “Mean Joe.” Bradshaw went on his rants in the Locker room, “you can lose with me, but you can’t win without me.” In either case, the face of the team was a matter of perception; if you were defensive-minded, it was Greene; if you liked an offensive show, it was Bradshaw.

In the 80s, although a rough decade, Rod Woodson inherited that mantle. In the 90s, Jerome Bettis filled that role as he punished linebackers and defensive linemen by smashing them over like they were a bowling pin. Then in 2004, the Steelers drafted Ben Roethlisberger.

As the quarterback, he was dang good and led them to come from behind wins; it did not take him long to be the face of the franchise and the team leader. That’s not to say there were not a few other players along the way who contributed.

Eighteen seasons later, the Steelers enter a new era, and with this era, the question of who inherits Roethlisberger’s role. Sure everyone will have their own view, of course. However, four or perhaps five players could take over this role.

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