So did I (had a 3 hour trip to deliver supplies to family). But, the folks at Steelers Depot didn’t miss it and have transcribed it perfectly in three different posts:

Segment 1: Roethlisberger: ‘I’ll Know It In My Heart When I’m Ready And I Think I’m Pretty Close’

“[Ashley] liked [the beard] at first, hates it now. I keep saying that she’s going to cut it off in my sleep like Samson. You know, like come in there with clippers and the hair. So, my whole thing was I said it was kind of the whole Samson effect when it happened. We were flying up to the surgery and I’m not sure why, I felt something that said, ‘Don’t cut your hair or your beard until you come back.’

“I said to her, ‘I wanna throw a pass. When I can throw an NFL pass, I’ll shave it.’ And she’s like, ‘Well, is like an NFL pass in the living room to your kid, or what qualifies an NFL pass?’ So, every day I’m out throwing on our throwing days – Monday, Wednesday, Friday, she’s like, ‘That definitely was an NFL pass.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, almost.’ And I’ll know it in my heart when I’m ready and I think I’m pretty close.”


Segment 2: Roethlisberger Excited To Return And Compliment Steelers Improved Defense

“It was tough being on the sidelines last year. It was, because all of us are competitive, right? We all want to be out there. It’s what we love to do. And as a quarterback, you feel like that’s my team out there and I want to be out there leading my guys. And I want to help them and I want to do everything I can and be out there to go through the battle with them. But when you can’t do that, it’s so hard and it just tugs at you.”


Segment 3: Roethlisberger On Steelers Possibly Drafting Another QB: ‘That’s Their Prerogative’

“You know, we’ve got some quarterbacks on the roster, but if they feel like there’s a better one out there, then they got to go get him. And that’s their prerogative. That’s why they are the owners, the GMs and the coaches and we just play. So, it’s not going to change my mindset, my mentality, my motivation.”



Now Steelers Depot didn’t cover this part of the interview, but luckily for us, Terry Fletcher from SteelCityUnderground.com did! According to Big Ben, his eldest son, Benjamin, Jr., not only wants to be called “Junior”, but wants to be a defensive player as well:

“He says ‘I’m T.J. Watt, I’m T.J. Watt’ all the time!”


Somebody is going to need to (gently) break this news to James Conner!