From Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

Steelers fans aren’t the only ones frustrated and baffled by what is happening with the franchise.

So, too, is Ben Roethlisberger, who won two Super Bowls and led the Steelers to a third in a span of six years.

After another season ended abruptly without a playoff victory, the former quarterback is concerned the team for which he played 18 seasons might not be close to getting back to the Super Bowl anytime soon.

“It feels like there’s no ‘Steelers Way’ anymore,” Roethlisberger said. “There’s still guys who have it, but it doesn’t feel like it. It frustrates me to watch it happen.”

The Steelers haven’t been to the Super Bowl since the 2010 season when they lost to the Green Bay Packers. It was the only time in three trips Roethlisberger failed to win the title.

Since then, the Steelers are 3-9 in the postseason and have lost a franchise-record six consecutive playoff games. The most recent came two weeks ago when they lost to the Baltimore Ravens 28-14 in an AFC wild card game.

It was the eighth time in 12 playoff appearances Mike Tomlin’s team went one-and-done in the postseason, one shy of the dubious mark held by former Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns coach Marty Schottenheimer (nine).

“It might be time to figure out what you’ve got to do for the next couple years to make a run,” Roethlisberger said on the phone the other day. “I don’t know that they’re that close, to be honest.”

More immediately, the Steelers need to figure out what to do at quarterback. Roethlisberger said it doesn’t make a lot of sense to go sign another one in free agency because “you go get a guy if you think you’re only a quarterback away from winning.”

Then he added, “They’re not just a quarterback away, in my opinion.”


You can read more from Ben’s interview with Mr. Dulac here.

Okay, so it’s not “way back”, but it was 3 years ago today that we shared the story of fans Taylor & Bailey, who left North Carolina by car on January 3rd, 2022, headed for Pittsburgh to attend Ben’s final game at Heinz Field.

Instead they spent a harrowing 18 hours sitting on I-95 in Northern VA during an ice storm! Traffic along a 50-mile stretch of the Interstate came to a standstill.

Their biggest concern: they didn’t get to Pittsburgh to see Ben win that game!

But they never expected what happened next…

From our January 22, 2022 story: “If Ben ever sees this, we did try our best to be there”


Taylor and Bailey, Ben DID see it! But let’s give everyone a little background first –

Taylor and Bailey left Oak Island, NC at 7:30am for Heinz Field to see Big Ben & the Steelers play the Browns that evening…but Mother Nature had other plans. They got as far as I-95 in Northern Virginia when ice and snow on the interstate stopped them in their tracks – literally.


From Nicole Ford, WPXI-TV:

From snowflakes to stranded — for 16 hours on Monday, Taylor Mooney and Bailey Ferguson sat just 26 miles north of Richmond on I-95.

“Terrible just terrible. There was three inches of just solid ice covering the entire road. So anytime we attempted to get out of the vehicle you were just sliding everywhere,” Ferguson said.

The destination for the two was Pittsburgh just in time for the Steelers’ kickoff. This duo left Oak Island, North Carolina, by car after two canceled flights determined to be in their seats for Big Ben’s last home game. It was around 1 p.m. when the trip came to a halt.

“We tried everything. We said okay maybe we will make it after the first quarter, maybe we will make it for halftime, maybe we will make it for the last two minutes of the game that’s what kept us going for so many hours. Just maybe we will get to pull into the parking lot of people celebrating in the parking lot as they are leaving,” Ferguson said.

It wasn’t until about 5 a.m. Tuesday that things got moving and that they finally got off the interstate.

From Taylor’s Facebook page on January 4th:

Well I’m […]

We did it! It was official, we got Big ‘mone on the show! — Ben, on IG earlier today.

That’s right! Ben and Spence welcome special guest, Ramon Foster, to the bar in the latest episode. You won’t want to miss this one:



“Ben and Spence welcome former Steelers offensive lineman, Ramon Foster to the bar. Ben and Ramon share stories from their careers, and talk about the importance of knowing when to not take yourself too seriously in meetings. Ramon also shares his insight on the famous play that broke Ben’s nose against the Baltimore Ravens.

The guys pick their favorite NFL rivalries, and weigh-in on what they think the Pittsburgh Steelers should do next season to get them competing for championships.”

You can subscribe to Channel Seven here!

January 15, 2006 – The “trip” to the Super Bowl!

#ClutchTackle

Ben and Spence talk all things post-season in this episode – from the Steelers loss to the Ravens, to picking favorites to win it all. They’ll also break down what it takes to pick the right head coach.




Don’t miss out on all the great content from Ben & Spence! Subscribe to Channel Seven!

Big Ben is every Steelers fan after a playoff loss @_BigBen7 pic.twitter.com/MAVWiKOpgx

— Matthew Luciow (@matthewluciow92) January 12, 2025

But Big Ben is every Steelers fan today.😞