The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number.
No. 7: Ben Roethlisberger
From Terry Bradshaw’s final healthy season in 1982 and spanning the next two decades, the Pittsburgh Steelers used a baker’s dozen quarterbacks while trying to catch that elusive “One for the Thumb” Super Bowl victory.
None could bring the City of Champions its fifth title. Not Mark Malone, Cliff Stoudt or David Woodley. Not Todd Blackledge, Scott Campbell, Steve Bono or Bubby Brister.
Neil O’Donnell at least led the Steelers to a Super Bowl appearance, which was more than could be said for Kordell Stewart, Kent Graham, Mike Tomczak, Jim Miller and Tommy Maddox.
The franchise’s fortunes changed, of course, not long after Ben Roethlisberger was selected in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. After setting a league record for wins by a rookie, Roethlisberger was at the helm when the Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10, in Super Bowl XL after the 2005 season.
Three years later, Roethlisberger’s last-minute touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes provided a 27-23 victory against the Arizona Cardinals that brought a sixth Lombardi Trophy to the Rooney family.
Throw in another Super Bowl appearance and Roethlisberger has led the franchise to heights not seen since the Super ‘70s. It makes him the easy choice as the best athlete in Pittsburgh history to wear No. 7 as voted on by the Tribune-Review sports staff.
One of just 12 quarterbacks to win multiple Super Bowl titles, Roethlisberger owns virtually every franchise passing record, and he’s eighth on the league’s all-time passing yardage list, ninth in touchdown passes, tied for sixth in fourth quarter comebacks and seventh in career wins.
Roethlisberger’s peers have voted him to the Pro Bowl on six occasions, and he’s a two-time passing yardage leader, including 2018, his last full season.
After missing all but six quarters of the 2019 season with a right elbow injury that required surgery, Roethlisberger is trying to guide the Steelers back to the playoffs this season after a two-year absence. He’ll try to do it in his 17th NFL season and at the ripe age of 38.
Roethlisberger’s motivation is simple. He wants to add a seventh and eighth trophy to the case.
“I still want to win Lombardis,” Roethlisberger said earlier this month. “And I say that with a plural on the end.”
Another quarterback to wear No. 7 for the Steelers found fame long after he left the organization. Jack Kemp, who spent the 1957 season with the team, became one of the top passers in the fledgling AFL, then embarked on a lengthy political career. He was a member of Congress for nearly three decades and was the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 1996.
Jim Finks also wore No. 7 for the Steelers in the early 1950s. He was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995 for his contributions as an executive with the Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints.
For the Pirates, Dick Stuart hit 117 home runs in five seasons for the Pirates, and he slugged 35 homers and 117 RBIs in 1961, one year after playing first base for the World Series champions. Another first baseman, Bob Robertson, hit 27 homers in 1970 and 26 in 1971 before adding four in the NLCS against the San Francisco Giants. Three of his homers came in a Game 2 victory.
Jeff King, the No. 1 overall pick in 1986, hit 30 home runs in 1996, the last of his eight seasons with the team.
The Penguins might not have won their first two championships in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons without the contributions of right wing Joe Mullen, who had eight goals in the first Stanley Cup run and three the next year before being sidelined with a knee injury in the second round. He had the most productive of his six seasons with the Penguins that year, accumulating 42 goals and 87 points.
Matt Cullen, at age 39 and 40, helped the Penguins hoist the Stanley Cup two more times. He totaled six goals and 15 points in those Cup runs in 2016 and ‘17.
Bill Daniels wore No. 7 during his three years at Pitt (1972-74), and he started the first two seasons of the Johnny Majors era, passing for 2,508 career yards. Tom Savage passed for 2,958 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2013, his lone year with the Panthers before heading to the NFL.
Check out the entire ’Burgh’s Best to Wear It series here.
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at jrutter@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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August 24, 2020 at 06:00PM
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