Big Ben Rookie Year Highlights (no music)

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Updated version, no music. 2004 was a truly SPECIAL season for the Steelers, despite not hoisting a Lombardi at the end. It remains one of my favorite seasons of all time, and other than 1976, the 2004 squad was perhaps the best Steeler team to not win a Super Bowl. It was an incredibly fun year. Central to that fun was the birth of the Ben Roethlisberger era.

Ben elevated the team from the moment he stepped on the field. By his 3rd start, he was taking over games. He very quickly distinguished himself as the best player on offense, and his insertion into the starting lineup almost instantly transformed that team from talented underachiever to heavyweight contender. The young QB wasn't perfect... but he had "Hall of Fame" written all over him right from the start and the Steelers immediately began winning games with Ben that they would've lost without him.

Throughout his career, it's never been about what Ben has done "statistically." He's never been a particularly coveted fantasy football player, even in the midst of 5000-yard seasons. That's because fantasy football is 100% stats-based, and stats aren't what make Ben great. It's about what he does in BIG moments, clutch plays that "only" Ben Roethlisberger makes; that winning edge that he brought to the team from the moment he stepped on the field. Ben is largely defined by intangibles, but first and foremost, it's about WINNING. And he's been winning since the start.

This video features highlights from every regular season start of Ben Roethlisberger's amazing "Rookie of the Year" season in 2004. It's a long video (16-1/2 minutes), but I've watched it multiple times and it makes me smile every time.

Enjoy the video, and then go take a look at the remarkable 2004 season for a deeper look at one of the great teams in Pittsburgh Steelers history.