Kovacevic: Emotional, extraordinary evening exemplifies the best of Ben taken at Heinz Field (DK's 10 Takes)

JOE SARGENT / GETTY

Ben Roethlisberger looks toward the crowd late Monday night in walking off Heinz Field.

DK's 10 Takes

Kovacevic: Emotional, extraordinary evening exemplifies the best of Ben

Jan 4, 2022 • 10:00 am

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In a lifetime of audibles, this was Ben Roethlisberger's best.

A year ago almost to the date, he'd sat on the Steelers' sideline bench at Heinz Field, his chin dropped down to his chest, next to Maurkice Pouncey. They'd done everything together for a decade, those two, on the field and off, and there they were again with identical expressions for identical reasons: They knew Maurkice was done. "My best friend," as Ben called him, was about to finally concede to an ankle ailment that'd taken too long and terrible a toll.

Ben wasn't done, of course.

Not in that moment, as I've been told by his closest teammates. Not when he went home to Ashley and his family to ponder and pray over the formal decision he'd have to share with the team. And not at all upon committing completely. As he'd vow to Art Rooney, Mike Tomlin and the brass, he'd be "all the way in."

So, on this extraordinary Monday evening, same place, same opponent, once Ben's Steelers had gotten the best of a bumbling bunch of Browns for maybe the millionth time, this by a 26-14 count, the scene had long since been set for the rest of the story. We knew about Ben the same way he knew about Maurkice. We'd seen the signs, heard the hints, and all of that became amplified with Ben's own words late last week that "this could be it."

What'd follow, though, no one could've foreseen.

____________________

I'd like to think I know my city. I'm born and bred, and I'll be buried in Pittsburgh. And one thing I've forever believed is that we're an event town. Show us an event, even something as silly as whatever 'Picklesburgh' happens to be each summer on the Ninth Street Bridge, and we'll make it sing.

The buzz for this event began in earnest shortly after Ben's pronouncement, with people -- not just sports fans -- reminiscing on what he's meant to them, to the team, to football. Discussions and debates were everywhere. And soon, so were the fans. The sizable portion of the season-ticket base that lives nowhere near Western Pennsylvania began migrating our way with a scope that hadn't been matched since pre-pandemic. The weekend saw Downtown hotels and, in the Strip, the line outside Pamela's for breakfast stretched a block and a half, with most customers clad in black and gold.

It felt like a playoff. Only different.

The same applied to the tailgates, which also raised their temps in spite of a 21-degree chill. The lots were filled by lunchtime in spite of an 8:15 p.m. kickoff, and the participants were ... um, merry shortly thereafter. They came with handmade signs that read, among countless others, "Thank you, Ben!" "Ben forever!" and "Always our quarterback!"

Andy Ruffalo, a longtime season-ticket holder from Canonsburg told me, "I just want to soak in every moment."

Ben's teammates evidently had no idea what was about to hit them.

"Everything was pretty calm and collected throughout this whole week and throughout pregame," T.J. Watt recalled. "Pretty normal until you walked outside and felt the energy and saw all the 7 jerseys and all the 7 signs, and it was ... truly an atmosphere that I’ve never felt here before. It was really special. The fans made it so amazing for him, and I’m very appreciative that they were able to do that for him."

"The atmosphere out there was crazy," Najee Harris recalled. "I think that was the most amplified and energized Heinz Field has been since I’ve been here."

Then came the warmups, when Ben received his first standing O and heard the first of the 'LET'S GO, BEN!' and 'THANK YOU, BEN!' chants that'd be repeated into the night.

Then came the intros, when PA announcer Larry Richert for the final time boomed out 'AND YOUR QUARTERBACK ... FROM MIAMI OF OHIO!'

I shot this from the rotunda:

" "

Unlike any intro reaction I've experienced at the place. And I've been here since it opened in 2001.

Ben then took his place on the sideline for the anthem and coin toss. Only when it came time for the latter, fellow captains Cam Heyward and Derek Watt, who invariably flank him up the 50-yard line, had a trick in store. They just let Ben walk ahead of them, so he'd have that stage to himself.

"Oh, I was mad at them," Ben would say with a smile. "I wanted them to come out with me. Soon as I took a couple steps and I looked back, I knew what they were doing, so I gave them a little, like, 'You guys.' "

"Well, we knew if we'd let Ben know ahead of time, he'd say, 'No, don't do that.' So we just took it out of his hands," Heyward explained with a grin. "He was a little bit annoyed but, man, we just wanted to give him every opportunity to celebrate this."

"It was just a tip of the cap, showing respect to a guy that has done it and done it at an extreme level for a long time," Mike Tomlin would say. "Their idea. Awesome thing."

Ben was asked to describe his reaction to the crowd's reaction, to the city's reaction.

"I don't know that I can," he'd reply. "It's just this is home. I was born in Ohio, but I live here, and I'll always be here. These fans and this place means so much to me and my family and always will. I've always said they're the best fans in all of sports, and I'll stick by that to the day I die. To see all the signs and jerseys and towels, and to hear them cheer for me coming out of the tunnel, all that stuff, I don't know that I'll ever put it into words. I wish I could bottle it and have it forever. But I will in here and in my mind."

Thumped his heart with that.

____________________

The game might've come across as anticlimactic to an outsider. To make the playoffs, the 8-7-1 Steelers still need to win this Sunday in Baltimore, which is highly probable amid the Ravens' rash of injuries, and for the Jaguars to beat the Colts, which Ben generously assessed as a "slim chance" scenario.

Ain't happening.

But the game was always going to be about Ben. And as such, given his reputation having been forged on winning, winning and more winning -- he'll close his 18-year career having played exactly two games in which his team had already been eliminated from the playoffs -- this also would feel sour with any other outcome.

"If we're losing," as Heyward observed, "that 'Let's go, Ben!' doesn't have quite the same hit to it, right?"

The offense sputtered through the same, tired script, for the most part: Matt Canada was clueless in every situation but especially third downs, the wide receivers couldn't gain any separation or make hardly any plays, and the offensive line ... well, hang on, that went well for once, contributing greatly to Harris' breakout performance of 188 yards on 28 rushes, including a 37-yard touchdown.

All of which left Ben to do what's unfortunately become his signature for 2021 and just fight through it. He kept throwing to receivers who couldn't get open or catch, most of those on target despite completing only 24 of 46 passes for 123 yards and his longest play going 13 yards to Harris.

There was, if I'm being candid, but a single highlight to his credit ...

" "

... on the quick slant to Diontae Johnson from 5 yards that brought the game's first score.

It also brought this telling reaction:

JOE SARGENT / GETTY

Ben Roethlisberger celebrates his touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson in the second quarter.

"Ben was very energized," Harris recalled. "Even in the walkthroughs, he was telling us, 'Go out there and play your best because I’m always going to give you my best.' He was very emotional. But this was his last game, so I didn't expect anything less than that."

No fourth-quarter comeback was necessary this time, but a lot of grit and grinding were. Notably by the offense.

Which is ... whatever.

I could do a deep dive into all his individual achievements, but there'll be time aplenty for that after Baltimore when all the books are closed. Instead, I'll repeat with gusto that this guy's about winning, winning and more winning.

And with this win:

• Ben's now played 18 consecutive seasons on a team with a .500 record or better, two more than any player in NFL history.

• Ben's now 65-21-1 against the AFC North for a .753 winning percentage, including 35-9 at home.

• Ben's now 25-2-1 against the Browns, including this season's sweep, and 13-0 here.

• Ben's now 164-81-1 as a starting quarterback, with that win total ranking fifth in NFL history.

• Ben's now 92-31 at Heinz Field, with that win total in one stadium ranking third in NFL history behind Tom Brady's 116 in Foxborough and John Elway's 95 in Denver.

"It feels like that's been my style: Not pretty but finding a way to win," Ben replied when I asked about the seeming symbolism of this one. "I think that's 92 wins here at Heinz Field, and that's what it's always been about for a me, is winning football games. This is one more, and it's very special."

I asked Tomlin, too, how fitting it was that Ben won precisely the way he did, and he'd say just this: "No question. AFC North football."

____________________

In the waning seconds, Ben had removed his helmet on the sideline and replaced it with a tousle cap. Harris' touchdown run had put the Steelers ahead by a dozen, and only a minute remained.

Football fate wasn't done with him.

Baker Mayfield, apparently hellbent on proving he's the worst mainstay quarterback in NFL history, capped his two-interception, nine-sack day by getting picked off by Tre Norwood with 10 ticks on the clock. Mason Rudolph, fairly presuming he'd replace Ben for the meaningless final play, donned his helmet and bolted off the sideline.

A few feet to the right, so did Ben. On Tomlin's order.

One final victory formation:

Just beautiful. Watt violates every football practice by trying to get the home crowd louder for the snap, J.C. Hassenauer snaps, Harris swoops in to wrap his arms around Ben, and the latter stays on the knee in apparent prayer.

Better believe I asked about that, too:

"Yeah, I didn't think I was going back out," Ben replied. "Anybody in football will tell you, when you're on offense, that's the best play in football. Best formation, best play. So to go out there and take a knee probably made in even more emotional and more real."

Oh, it's real, all right. Just in case anyone was still doubting. This is it.

Ben would then accept hugs and handshakes all over the field, from Rooney to Tomlin to his teammates to a few of the Browns ... and ultimately, the fans. He'd walk slowly toward where he'd usually trot down the steps toward the Steelers' locker room, but he instead hung a left, then jogged a semi-circle around the stadium to high-five fans leaning over the front-row railings. While the fans who couldn't get that close cheered and chanted, almost all of the crowd of 63,624 still on hand through temps now down into the teens.

It was there at the side of the stadium opposite the locker room that Ben called the audible I referenced atop this column.

He paused, stood still, put both hands into his pockets, then proceeded -- with tears welling in his eyes -- back across the field toward the Steelers' sideline. And it was there that, once again, he sat on that bench. Same spot.

JOE SARGENT / GETTY

Ben Roethlisberger sits on the bench at the Steelers' sideline after the game.

The only differences: No Maurkice. And this time, he was done.

"I don't know if it's the same one," he'd say of that bench, even though it was. "Just wanted to sit down and take it in. Just try and absorb every minute of this place because it's so special, the fans are so special. I wanted to win this game more than anything for them. Obviously, we still have a bigger ... we've got another game. There's a slim chance. Gotta keep fighting. But this game was very special to me."

And what message would he share with everyone who partook?

"Just thank you."

This was why he came back. No empty stadium. No strange silence. No sadness.

No loss.

He'd meet Ashley and their three children -- Ben Jr., Baylee and Bodie -- in the south end zone for an embrace that only a family can feel ...

JUSTIN BERL / GETTY

Ben Roethlisberger hugs his children in the south end zone after the game.

... after which all four would exit into that tunnel hand in hand in hand in hand, with Dad's warrior-like limp comprising the centerpiece for the Rockwellian frame through which this curtain came down.