“And I Feel Bad”: Accepting Horrible Emotional Reality, Former Super Bowl Champ Ben Roethlisberger Apologizes to Rookie Replacement

The Pittsburgh Steelers is one of the two most successful franchises in NFL history. And Ben Roethlisberger is a legend in the Steel City. But a time comes in the life of every star to give way for the new star to rise in the sky they once ruled. For Big Ben, it came just a few months after his retirement from the league in 2022. The legendary QB accepted the horrible emotional reality of the time and has apologized to his rookie replacement.

Roethlisberger spent his entire NFL career with the Steelers, leading them to two Super Bowl titles during his time there. But the show must go on and when he hung up his cleats, the Steelers replaced him with a rookie from the 2022 draft. Just like Roethlisberger had come into the team in 2004. And in a recent podcast, he apologized to his replacement while telling the world what he likes about the new QB after watching him for one season.

Ben Roethlisberger grew into liking Kenny Pickett

It is never easy to see your replacement do their job with ease, even if you are a two-time Super Bowl champion. Ben Roethlisberger opened up about his struggle to initially root for Kenny Pickett when he came into the Steelers setup. And for that, the legendary QB feels bad to this day.

“I wouldn’t say that I wanted Kenny to necessarily fail, but when someone comes to replace you, and I still feel like I had it, I hope he doesn’t come ball out because then it’s like, ‘Ben, who? But I think as you started playing, I started rooting more for you. We sat down here watching games, we’re hi-fiving and going nuts when you are leading the team and doing things you know and running and trying to fight people off. And I feel bad. I know I came on this show and said ummm, I forgot how I said it. But I apologized to you for not knowing how good he was,” Roethlisberger said on his ‘Footbahlin’ podcast.

Big Ben then went on to call Pickett the future of the team and the 24-year-old couldn’t get a bigger compliment from his predecessor. Roethlisberger could have played for another season if he had wanted to but that would have delayed the Steelers’ rebuild a bit.

The rebuild at Acrisure

Kenny Pickett came into the Steelers as a first-round draft pick last year. Ben Roethlisberger had retired after 18 seasons and the the franchise was hitting a reset. Pickett himself wasn’t a guaranteed starter and fought off Mitch Trubisky for the job. And that he surely did.

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The young QB led them to an overall winning season with a 9-8 record in the AFC North. But they missed out on the wildcard playoff spot to the Baltimore Ravens who won one more game than them. Will Pickett be able to take his team through this time around?

The Steelers have six Super Bowl titles to their name in history. They would want the seventh as early as possible. And all that will fall upon Pickett to deliver. So, every fan’s eyes, along with Roethlisberger’s, will be on the young QB this season. Will he be able to sustain the pressure?

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