“He’s Not Cashing Steelers Checks Anymore”: NFL Fans React as Ben Roethlisberger Picks Baltimore Ravens Over Pittsburgh in Wild Card

Ben Roethlisberger is a Steelers legend, but he doesn’t believe Russell Wilson could lead his former team to victory against the Ravens next Saturday. The former quarterback revealed his playoff bracket on his podcast, surprisingly omitting the black and gold from the AFC Divisional round.

“Ravens,” Roethlisberger said, shrugging, during his rapid-fire pick ’em for his playoff bracket on Footbahlin. Aware of the potential controversy, he quickly added, “I’m sorry.”

Yikes: Former #Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger is picking the #Ravens to beat the Steelers this weekend.

Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/ibnyet0zWM

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 7, 2025

Steelers fans were naturally surprised to see one of the greatest players in franchise history not backing his former team. Yet, it’s arguably the right pick, as the Ravens are favored for the game and have the stronger squad on paper.

Surprisingly, the majority of netizens agreed with Roethlisberger‘s pick, even showing the QB love for his honesty. The loss against the Bengals must have hit hard.

Is Ben drinking that haterade? The Ravens do have the MVP, but the man was a Steeler for life lol. Will Ray Lewis pick against the Ravens?

— Austin T (@AustinTani) January 7, 2025

The Pittsburgh Steelers changed this mans life forever he should be bias. Steelers ftw no matter what

— CouchCriticGM (@CriticGm) January 7, 2025

Dude is being honest. He’s not cashing Steelers checks anymore.

— Degreewhisperer (@degreewhisperer) January 7, 2025

Is anyone picking the Steelers?

— Jessie (@tram2022) January 7, 2025

The good news for Steelers fans: games aren’t played on paper. Only on Saturday, we can know for sure how the Russell Wilson-led team performs. Who knows? Maybe they will surprise us.

That said, Roethlisberger made a few other predictions for the first round of the playoffs. For example, he picked the Chargers over the Texans.

Moreover, Big Ben is taking the Bills, Vikings, Buccaneers, and Packers to advance along with the Chargers and Ravens. Although, he admits that he’s only picking the Packers so he doesn’t have all favorites advancing.

“I’m going to go Packers… I just can’t take the fairs all the way.”

Next week, Ben will make more predictions for the Divisional round. It’s a bit disappointing that he didn’t go through his entire bracket and predict a champion, but it was still a fun exercise.

Roethlisberger played in Pittsburgh for 18 seasons, all with the Steelers. He’s one of the only players to ever be drafted to the same team and never leave before retiring. Big Ben also piloted the team twice to Super Bowl victories in 2005 and ’08. He was one of the best QBs in the game for quite some time.

But today, he ruffled some feathers in a fanbase that heralded him for so long. He was just speaking his mind, though, showing that he’s been watching the games. Even still, fans prefer someone who is so biased towards a team that they would never pick against them in any scenario.