Ben Roethlisberger was easy to admire as a quarterback, but not as a man

Ben Roethlisberger is lucky that football legacies are not decided by finales. If Sunday night was indeed Big Ben’s last ever NFL game, as he has strongly hinted, it wasn’t exactly a mic drop. In the 42-21 beatdown by the Chiefs, Roethlisberger struggled with rollouts, and lacked the creativity and finesse of his opposing number, Patrick Mahomes.

Just as no one places too much weight on Dan Marino’s 62-7 playoff loss to the Jaguars in his career finale, Roethlisberger’s clunker of an ending won’t be a significant part of his story. But in comparison to Marino – and most other quarterbacks – Roethlisberger’s legacy is complicated.

His on-field success over an 18-season NFL career speaks for itself. Roethlisberger is a two-time Super Bowl winner and will one day be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Steelers haven’t suffered a single losing season with him under center. In turn, they’ve been a playoff staple – during Sunday’s loss Roethlisberger passed Joe Montana and Brett Favre for the third-most career passing yards in the playoffs.

Injuries and age have taken their toll, and in recent years the team often won in spite of their quarterback rather than because of him. Roethlisberger in his prime, though, was an absolute marvel. With his signature pump fakes and ability to escape pressure, he had a habit of extending plays and converting first downs that didn’t seem possible … until they were. He wasn’t flashy like younger quarterbacks such as Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. Nor was he a quarterback like Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, who often seem five steps ahead of opposing defensive coordinators. He was just Ben. Gritty. Strong. Tough.

While Roethlisberger’s farewell tour has come with incessant