The group Bradshaw left behind lacked an identity. It took the Steelers 21 years to land Roethlisberger, though the franchise is in a different place now than it was when Bradshaw's right elbow finally gave out. Pittsburgh is hoping to avoid the long search for a successor it endured after Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw's career ended in 1983. Maybe they'll turn to backup Mason Rudolph, currently the only quarterback on the roster under contract for 2022. Maybe they'll use their first-round pick on someone such as Pitt's Kenny Pickett. Maybe they'll splurge in free agency on a high-priced veteran. It's a murkiness the Steelers will fling themselves into over the coming months for the first time in a generation. Baker Mayfield's prospects appear to be dimming by the week with his left shoulder in shreds and his future in Cleveland is murky at best. Nearly 20 years later, the Browns are still searching for a long-term solution at the most important position in the sport. The Browns famously passed on the Ohio native in the 2004 draft, opting to take tight end Kellen Winslow with the sixth overall pick, letting the Steelers grab Roethlisberger at 11. Maybe that's what made facing Cleveland such a fitting sendoff. The hugs and the chants and the tributes from the players he's shared a locker room with through the years - some of them still early in their NFL journey, some of them long-since retired - too.įor nearly two decades Roethlisberger helped provide the Steelers (8-7-1) the kind of stability and success the vast majority of the league's other 31 franchises have long craved but rarely - very rarely - enjoyed. Yet the outpouring of emotion in what became a three-plus-hour retirement party during a 26-14 victory over Cleveland on Monday night left very little doubt that this is the end for Roethlisberger.
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