Ben Roethlisberger on Super Bowl XLIII game-winning touchdown: 'I don’t think the whole combination gets enough credit'

Ben Roethlisberger believes his part in one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history doesn’t get enough credit.

While the combination of Roethlisberger’s throw and Santonio Holmes’ catch in Super Bowl XLIII captured a ring for Pittsburgh, it was the wide receiver who won the MVP award for the game. Speaking with Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the legendary Steelers quarterback revealed he thinks he needs some more flowers for the difficulty of the throw he completed.

“That’s what I dreamed of as a kid, to win the game,” Roethlisberger told Cook. “It wasn’t like it was to a wide-open guy. I still don’t think that pass gets enough credit. The catch was spectacular, don’t get me wrong. I don’t think the whole combination gets enough credit.”

Whether you believe Ben Roethlisberger or Santonio Holmes deserves the lion-share of credit for the game-winning touchdown, one thing is for sure — it’ll continue to live on in both of their legacies as one of the greatest plays in football history.

Chase Claypool discusses perception about Ben Roethlisberger, retirement

Furthermore, the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Kenny Pickett as their quarterback of the future in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft to join the competition to replace former Pittsburgh legend Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers legend finally hung up his cleats following the 2021-2022 NFL season, but many fans thought Big Ben waited too long to finally retire, holding on a few years longer than he should have. Chase Claypool disagrees.

Roethlisberger’s old teammate, Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool, recently sat down with former NFL stars Brandon Marshall, Adam “Pacman” Jones, and LeSean McCoy on the I AM ATHLETE Podcast to talk about the perception surrounding the quarterback’s retirement. He stuck up for his old quarterback and said it’s easy for fans to say he should have retired after watching him play.

“You know, I think at the end of my first year, no one would have said that. I feel like everyone [was] saying that as the year went on, ‘Oh, he should have retired.’ It’s so easy to do that after the fact. Right? It’s tough to say. He was banged up, for sure. He was fighting though a lot of stuff and he’s a vet quarterback that brings a lot of intangibles to the game that no one will ever see. But, you know, if he did retire and we have some other dude come in and go what, 5-for-12? They’d be like, ‘Man, Ben should have came back.’ It’s hard to say that. It’s easy to say that after the fact,” Claypool said.