“He should get in no doubt about it. The Super Bowl play. Iconic. Just put a picture of him running the ball back behind his bust and he’s in.” — Ben, on James Harrison going into the Hall of Fame.





By Stuart Miller-Davis, SteelerNation.com:

Former 2x Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger firmly believes that Harrison does deserve to have his name called in February when the 2024 class is chosen.

Roethlisberger jumped on the 102.5 WDVE Morning Show with Billy Gardell and laid out his case for why he believes Harrison should be a lock. He said that the interception Harrison made on Kurt Warner of the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII is a big reason why.

There are many factors the selection committee has to weigh when trying to decide who gets into the Hall. Longevity is one, and career numbers are another one, but having one of the most iconic plays in league history has got to count for something.

Roethlisberger said that as an offensive player on the sidelines, he hasn’t seen very many players that can change the game like Harrison did, though he did say that current Steeler TJ Watt is showing him that. He’s also grateful that outside of two games in 2013 when Harrison was a member of the Cincinnati Bengals, he got to watch Harrison ply his trade rushing the passer in a Steelers uniform.

“Any third down, anytime that guy dropped back to pass, you’re thinking we might get the ball,” Roethlisberger explained about Harrison. “Because he’s either making the guy throw it fast, or he’s hitting him so hard, he loses his head or the ball.”

Harrison was an incredibly menacing force on the football field. His bone-crushing hits earned him a reputation for being one of the toughest players to face in the league. The Steelers knew that and would send him after the opposing team’s best players to try to intimidate them, or just simply knock them out.

Roethlisberger said that Harrison’s name has often come up when he’s talking to fellow signal-callers who had to face the menace they called “Deebo,” and there’s a theme that pops up.

“I have talked to many quarterbacks that were scared to death of him. I was scared to death of him and he was on my team.”

Roethlisberger said that he’s really like a teddy bear in how he acts off the field with his teammates, but that intimidation factor was also very real. He said that he was with Harrison recently, and out in public, people were giving the pair their space in fear of facing Harrison’s wrath.


You can read more here.

You can watch James Harrison’s appearance on “Footbahlin’ with Ben Roethlisberger” here.