There aren’t many rookie quarterbacks who had more success than “Big” Ben Roethlisberger did in 2004 after the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted him 11th overall out of Miami (Ohio). He went 13-0 as a rookie starter, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.
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However, Roethlisberger threw two interceptions in an overtime win over the New York Jets in the AFC Divisional playoffs—a game they should have won in a blowout—then threw three more in a beatdown at the hands of the eventual-champion New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
The Steelers’ front office had seemingly hit a home run, but those playoff performances gave everyone pause after such an encouraging regular season. So much so that, according to NBC Sports’ Mike Florio, Steelers pro personnel coordinator Doug Whaley claims they even considered drafting Cal QB Aaron Rodgers, who had slid all the way down to the No. 24 pick.
“[Whaley] made a comment recently that in 2005, as Aaron Rodgers, now the quarterback of the Steelers, was plummeting through Round 1, the Steelers were considering taking him, if he had made it all the way down to No. 30,” Florio said via Pro Football Talk.
“Obviously, six spots earlier, the Packers took him at 24. But, Rodgers was in that free-fall, and Rodgers was a potential No. 1 overall pick. He wanted to be the No. 1 overall pick. He wanted to go to the 49ers, but they went with Alex Smith instead.”
Instead, the Steelers settled for tight end Heath Miller at No. 30. Miller went on to a career that included two Pro Bowls (2009, 2012) and two Super Bowls (2005, 2008). He also owns every conceivable tight end franchise record for the Steelers. Not a bad consolation prize for Whaley, general manager Kevin Colbert, and the rest of the Steelers’ brass.
But what a move that would have been! One year after taking Big Ben, who wins OROY and goes undefeated in 13 starts, you take another QB in the first round. As Florio suggests, it would have been chaos.
“Man, that would have been awkward… There was a 20-year gap between Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger, where the Steelers didn’t win a Super Bowl. They were competitive, but they didn’t have a franchise quarterback… That would have been something, Roethlisberger one year, Rodgers the next year. Who would have emerged as the long-term option? Presumably one of them gets traded. That would have been a mess.”
In the end, the Steelers went on to win the Super Bowl that very year, though more so on the back of a clever OC, a good running game, and an elite defense, rather than because of Big Ben. Three years later, in 2008, when Rodgers finally debuted after three years waiting behind Brett Favre, Big Ben led the Steelers to another Super Bowl win, and this time he had everything to do with it.
Fast forward two years, and Big Ben’s Steelers meet Rodgers’ Packers in Super Bowl 45. Rodgers came out on top in that one, which gave him one ring to Roethlisberger’s two. Surprisingly, neither QB would ever return to a Super Bowl.
But those three rings certainly point to the fact that the Steelers and Packers both did everything right on that April day in 2005.
