“When the crazy QB carousel stopped in 2004, the Steelers had an all-time great in Big Ben”


From Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:


Ben Roethlisberger was the only player left in the green room, the only one of the college prospects invited to attend the 2004 NFL Draft still waiting for his name to be called.

His college coach, Terry Heppner, was frustrated that his former star quarterback was still waiting. He had already thrown a water bottle across the room when the New York Giants passed on Roethlisberger with the fourth overall pick.

“That was because he thought he had the inside scoop, that he talked to [the Giants] and thought I was going fourth to New York,” Roethlisberger said. “When it didn’t happen, he was kind of mad.”
At that point, Roethlisberger thought he might have to wait until the 13th overall pick, where the Buffalo Bills were looking for a quarterback. He did not think he would be drafted by the Steelers at No. 11, even though the Steelers were the only team he visited before the draft.





“We didn’t think Pittsburgh was an option,” Roethlisberger recalled recently. “When I walked into the facility, I remember seeing [Antwaan] Randle El, and it was like, ‘Why does Pittsburgh want to see me?’ They had Tommy [Maddox]. And I heard that [Bill] Cowher and/or Kevin [Colbert] wanted a tackle from Alabama.”

That tackle was Shawn Andrews, who was high on the Steelers’ draft board.

But, depending on which story you want to believe, something happened that changed their mind. With a little nudge from team chairman Dan Rooney, who remembered the time the Steelers passed on Dan Marino, Cowher and Colbert decided to take Roethlisberger.

“When the phone rang, we were like, ‘What is this?’ ” Roethlisberger said. “It was [agent] Leigh Steinberg who answered the phone, and I remember when he handed me the phone he looked at me and said, ‘It’s going to happen.’ And I remember Cowher saying, ‘Would you like to be a Steeler?’”

But it almost didn’t work out that way…




You can read Mr. Dulac’s full & excellent article here.