Roethlisberger considered retirement after 8 sacks vs. Eagles in '08
As the Pittsburgh Steelers get set for this week's game against the Eagles, Ben Roethlisberger has some not so fond memories of his last trip to Philadelphia.
The starting quarterback told 93.7 The Fan on Thursday that taking a ridiculous eight sacks en route to a 15-6 loss back in 2008 was enough for him to question whether he wants to continue playing football.
"I'm not a big 'remembering games' type guy, especially losses, but that's one that I do remember vividly," Roethslisberger said of the 2008 game. "I remember getting sacked eight or nine times. I remember driving home from the airport after that game and thinking to myself like, 'Do I want to keep doing this? Do I really want to keep playing football?'"
Roethlisberger's tendency to hold onto the ball and extend plays often leaves him susceptible to sacks, but the Steelers' offense was simply terrorized by a strong Philadelphia front throughout that game.
His surprising comments don't seem to be an exaggeration, either.
" ... No joke, I called Brett Keisel and we were talking, and he was like, 'Why don't you just stop over?'" Roethlisberger said. "It was kind of on my way home. I stopped over at his house and sat down in his basement for a couple of hours and we just talked and had a couple of beers and I was literally like, 'This is not fun, this is not really worth it.' We talked and got over it."
Sticking it out has, of course, paid off in a big way for all parties. The Steelers went on to win the Super Bowl at the end of the 2008 season, and the former first-round pick remains one of the league's premier quarterbacks nine years later. He enters Sunday's battle of undefeated teams leading yet another explosive Pittsburgh offense.
- With h/t to CBS Sports