Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is reacting to the retirement of Philip Rivers, who are both members of the 2004 NFL Draft class.
With Giants QB Eli Manning retiring last season and Matt Schuab (who started for the Houston Texans for seven years and was most recently a backup for the Falcons) announcing his retirement earlier this month, Roethlisberger is the last man standing of that ’04 class.
Roethlisberger took to his Twitter account (that he does not personally tweet from often) to reflect his career.
“Philip, what a career! An amazing competitor, winner & family man. It’s been fun to compete against u & watch u do your thing for so many years,” said Roethlisberger. “I know countless kids have been inspired by u & will benefit from your coaching & football knowledge in the future. God bless! – Ben.”
Rivers played all but last season in San Diego/Los Angeles with the Chargers and lead the Indianapolis Colts to the playoffs in 2020.
In 244 games, Rivers had 63,440 yards, 209 touchdowns with a career quarterback rating of 95.2 over 17 seasons.
Over 233 games, Roethlisberger has 60,348 yards with 396 touchdowns and a 94.0 passer rating.
Roethlisberger has one more year left on his current contract, but there are talking a possible retirement or even being cut by the Steelers, since his 2021 contract carries a $41.250 million cap hit.