PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger looked for the last time into the Heinz Field stands peppered with No. 7 jerseys bearing his name and tried to soak in a moment as inevitable as it was unimaginable for most of his career.
This is the end for the longtime Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback.
And rather than fight it, the player defined by his ability to fend off defenders with his left arm and make game-changing throws with his right embraced it.
Roethlisberger did a victory lap following a 26-14 win over Cleveland on Monday night that kept his team’s faint playoff hopes alive. He hugged team president Art Rooney II. He unsuccessfully fought back tears. Then he grabbed the hand of his wife Ashley and their three children and walked into the tunnel and out of sight.
His on-field performance — 24 of 46 for 123 yards, with a touchdown and a pick — was remarkable only for its inefficiency. He became the first QB since at least 1950 to win a game with more than 40 attempts for fewer than 150 yards, according to STATS.
But the numbers — as has often been the case during an 18-year career that includes two Super Bowl victories — were beside the point.
Roethlisberger played. The Steelers won. And so it goes.
Pittsburgh (8-7-1) will finish at .500 or better for the 18th straight season, or every year since the Steelers selected Big Ben with the 11th overall pick in the 2004 draft.
“That’s been the story of my career,” he said. “Not always pretty, but we find a way.”
The Steelers need a win over Baltimore next week and a loss by Indianapolis to lowly Jacksonville to make the postseason for the 12th time with Roethlisberger, a possibility he admits is slim.
Still, it exists, and that’s thanks in large part to rookie Najee Harris, who ran for a career-best 188 yards and a touchdown, and linebacker T.J. Watt, who sacked Baker Mayfield four times to give him 21 1/2 on the season, one short of the NFL record set by Hall of Famer Michael Strahan in 2001.
Yet the night belonged to Roethlisberger. The “Let’s Go Ben!” chants started immediately after he was introduced, replaced by “Thank You Ben!” after the 39-year-old took a knee in the final seconds to seal his 26th win over the team that bypassed the Ohio native in the draft nearly two decades ago.
“This is home, you know?” Roethlisberger said. “And I just, I know I was born in Ohio, but I live here and I’ll always be here.”
The only people more eager for Roethlisberger to retire than his family might be the Browns. Cleveland (7-9) — which was eliminated from postseason contention on Sunday — fell to 3-26-1 when facing Roethlisberger.
The Browns inexplicably put the game on Mayfield’s tattered shoulders rather than feeding running back Nick Chubb against the NFL’s worst rush defense. Chubb ran 12 times for 58 yards while Mayfield threw 37 passes, completing just 16, for 185 yards with two touchdowns and two picks.
“If anyone questions how much I want it, turn on this tape,” Mayfield said. “I kept swinging. That’s who I am. That’s who I’ve always been.”
Mayfield plans to have surgery on his ailing left shoulder soon, though his erratic season made his long-term outlook murky for a team where instability at the position has been the norm for decades.
Things are different in Pittsburgh.
Roethlisberger was 22 when he took over for an injured Tommy Maddox in Week 2 of his rookie season. He never let go, leading the franchise to an era of success that nearly rivaled the Super Steelers of the 1970s.
Roethlisberger finally admitted this week that “all signs” were pointing to his 18th season being his last. His tank might be running low, but it’s not empty, and he showed flashes — briefly, anyway — of his “Ben being Ben” prime.
A shoulder fake here. A step up in the pocket there. The feet don’t move as fast as they used to. His arm doesn’t deliver with the precision of the past. The field-stretching heaves have been largely replaced by dinks and dunks designed in part to protect him behind an offensive line that isn’t nearly as talented as the groups he led to the postseason with regularity.
Yet if there’s been one constant during Roethlisberger’s career, it’s been his mastery of the Browns.
Roethlisberger’s last win over Cleveland provided a small measure of revenge less than a year after he threw four interceptions in a first-round home playoff loss to the Browns last January.
That night was supposed to be the launching point for Cleveland heading into 2021. But injuries and inconsistent play from Mayfield among others will force the Browns to watch the playoffs from home for the 18th time in the last 19 years.
Not so for Pittsburgh, which heads into the finale of the NFL’s first 17-game season with something to play for.
“We’ve got another game,” Roethlisberger said. “We’ve got to keep fighting.”
Same as it ever was.
INJURIES
Browns: Lost CB Greedy Williams in the first half to a shoulder injury and LB Sione Takitaki to a shoulder injury in the second half. CB Denzel Ward exited in the third quarter with a groin issue, further depleting a secondary already missing starting safeties Ronnie Harrison and John Johnson.
UP NEXT
Cleveland: Wraps up the season at home on Sunday against AFC North champion Cincinnati.
Pittsburgh: Looks to sweep Baltimore for the second straight season on Sunday while watching the score in Jacksonville.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
