The NFL's longest-tenured starting quarterback not named Tom Brady is retiring, and Tom Brady has a few thoughts.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger announced his retirement Thursday afternoon after 18 seasons. The Steelers didn't have a single losing season during Roethlisberger's tenure from 2004 to 2021, winning two Super Bowls and eight AFC North titles.
That's an impressive combination of longevity and success -- something Brady knows a thing or two about. Here's how the former New England Patriots quarterback "congratulated" Roethlisberger via Twitter on Wednesday:
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"Ben defied the TB12 Method in favor of the 'Throw Some Ice On It' method his whole career, and ended up an all-time-great with 6 Pro-Bowls and 2 Super Bowls," Brady wrote. "There’s more than one way to bake a cake!"
Roethlisberger was no model of peak physical fitness, but the 39-year-old QB made at least 12 starts in all but one season despite battling a steady stream of injuries. Prior to his retirement, Roethlisberger, Brady (drafted in 2000) and Aaron Rodgers (drafted in 2005) were the league's longest-tenured starting QBs by three full seasons.
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New England Patriots
Brady is in a class by himself, of course: He won a seventh Super Bowl title at age 43 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and just finished one of his best statistical seasons ever at age 44.
There's a slight possibility Brady follows Roethlisberger into retirement this offseason, but he has to take pride in outlasting even his most durable contemporaries.