Ben Roethlisberger and the 49ers’ near miss

Over the years, it’s common for NFL franchises to go ahead and reach out to a few retired players to gauge their interest in returning to the gridiron. The San Francisco 49ers did just that this past season, reaching out to none other than Ben Roethlisberger.
As we all know, the 49ers lost Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo throughout the regular season. When Garoppolo went down, the team hit up Big Ben to avoid having their season collapse from under them. Of course, this was before we knew what Brock Purdy could do as a starter in this offense. Roethlisberger was asked whether any teams had hit him up throughout the season on a podcast, to which he replied to San Francisco. Ben said, “I would say this, last year, there were some truths to the Niners thing, just in the sense that they were, I think, reaching out for something. Just to maybe gauge my interest. And so, I had discussions. That’s all. I don’t want to sit here and say that I was going or anything like that. They called to gauge interest.”
Ben later admitted that he had talked with his family and agent and put much thought into the decision. He stated that he would be lying if he wasn’t interested in this beautiful opportunity to go ahead and try to win a Super Bowl while proving that he could still play at a high level. The real reason that he never showed up was that he couldn’t suit up for any other team besides Pittsburgh. His full quote was, “Even though they had a great chance, I think, to win a Super Bowl, it would’ve been hard for me to go try and win a Super Bowl anywhere else but there.” Meaning with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Roethlisberger also pointed out how much happier he is now living the retired life. He said, “I love waking up in the morning and not having issues with my knees, shoulders and elbows.” It’s hard to blame him after the beatings he took in the pocket throughout his long and illustrious career with the Steelers. But now that the season is over and he didn’t come back to the field, it’s probably for the best that he didn’t end up doing so. It could have left a sour taste in the mouths of Steelers fans across the globe while also never allowing Purdy to make a name for himself in this league and possibly get a starting job soon. It’s one of those ‘what if?’ scenarios, and who knows, Roethlisberger could have taken the 49ers to the Super Bowl, given that Purdy got hurt in the NFC Championship game and couldn’t finish it. If Roethlisberger could have stayed healthy there, the 49ers might have had a shot.