Mike Tomlin once discussed how Steelers coaches blatantly ignored Ben Roethlisberger after injury against Ravens -“His nose was an absolute mess”
Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Tomlin spent over two decades together as the quarterback and coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. So there are no doubt plenty of stories that the two could tell about their time together.
A few months ago, Tomlin was a guest on Roethlisberger's podcast, "Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger." When asked what his best story about his former Steelers quarterback was, Tomlin provided one that he will never forget.
The Steelers head coach told the story of when Roethlisberger broke his nose on the road against the Baltimore Ravens. He said that the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback's nose was so broken that nobody could even look at him. The longtime Pittsburgh Steelers head coach said that his nose wasn't even center.
“He got his nose broken in Baltimore, his nose was an absolute mess. He goes to the sideline during the timeout, and he's got gauze hanging out of it.
"It's like, it's not anywhere close to the center of his face and he's like, and he looks around a couple of us standing around in the group, no one wants to look at, like, nobody looked at directly, like, he looks at me, I go, I look away.
"He looks around the group and he's like, What? Like, what is it a mess? Oh, you said something like, How do I look? Nobody answered.”
Ben Roethlisberger talks about the hardest hit he ever took in the NFL
Ben Roethlisberger wasn't active on social media during his playing days. But, now as a retired NFL quarterback, he has discussed his NFL memories on his podcast. Just last week, he had Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt as a guest.
He and Watt spoke about the hardest hits they have ever taken. The former Steelers quarterback said that the hardest hit he ever took was against the Baltimore Ravens.
He recalled the Week 12 matchup against the Ravens in 2006, when Ravens linebacker Bart Scott was able to get by Willie Parker:
"So, I just thought he was picked up. So, I was looking left, and he hit me in my chest. Everything went slow motion from there. You know, like, I saw, like, I felt my body get lifted off the ground, and I saw my feet just kinda go past level one, level two, there’s the sky, hit the ground, lay there like I can’t breathe.”
With the 2023 season slowly trundling closer, Ben Roethlisberger and Pittsburgh fans will be hoping Kenny Pickett can lead the Steelers to glory.