Ben Roethlisberger Officially Announced His Retirement From The NFL

After weeks of hinting that this could be the end of the road, Ben Roethlisberger announced on Thursday morning that his NFL career has officially come to an end. Roethlisberger, whose entire professional football playing career was spent as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, had a video posted to the Twitter account for his official website in which he revealed his decision.

“The journey has been exhilarating, defined by relationships and fueled by a spirit of competition,” Roethlisberger said in a speech he read from his home. “But the time has come to clean out my locker, hang up my cleats, and continue to be all I can be to my wife and children. I retire from football a truly grateful man.”

Roethlisberger, who turns 40 in March, was selected with the 11th pick in the 2004 NFL Draft by the Steelers. One of four quarterbacks — Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, and J.P. Losman — selected in the first round that year, Roethlisberger is the final player in that group to retire. He spent all 18 years as an NFL player with the Steelers, winning Super Bowls with the franchise in 2006 and 2009, and was a six-time Pro Bowl selection.

For his career, Roethlisberger completed 64.4 percent of his passes for 64,088 yards with 418 touchdowns and 211 interceptions. He retires with the fifth-most passing yards and eighth-most passing touchdowns in NFL history.