Steelers Legend Ben Roethlisberger Gets Massive Disrespect From ESPN

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a storied history that rivals some of the very best franchises in all of professional sports. The dynasty from the 1970s will always be considered one of the best decades of football ever and another impressive run began near the beginning of the 21st century. After a significant period of time without a Super Bowl win, the team selected Ben Roethlisberger in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He would end up bringing two more championships to the city, while also losing in heartbreaking fashion to the Green Bay Packers at the end of the 2010 season.

Unfortunately for Roethlisberger, he was overlooked during his career due to big names such as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Brett Favre, and even Patrick Mahomes towards the end of his playing days. It's completely fair to say he ranks behind them in a list of best quarterbacks of the 21st century, but it'd be ludicrous to not include him when ranking the Top 25 best players since 2000, right?

Wrong. ESPN recently put together a list of the very best 25 competitors since the 2000 season kicked off. All the aforementioned quarterbacks were on the list, but somehow, Roethlisberger was kept off. The retired signal-caller is a first ballot Hall of Famer who has as many or more championships than four of the players listed above. He also is right there with the four other retired quarterbacks, who all are in the Top 5 all-time in passing yards.

It's not to take anything away from the incredible careers of guys like Warren Sapp, Joe Thomas, Tony Gonzalez and Derrick Brooks, but the quarterback position has been the most important for some time now, and those four players making the cut over Roethlisberger is a bit disrespectful. Leaving the six-time Pro Bowler off seems almost crazy. On top of it all, there was a "first five out" category and Roethlisberger didn't even make the cut for that.

One Steeler did get props and that was Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu, but fans in the Steel City will have a bone to pick with his ranking as well. He landed 16th on the list, which is respectable, but his rival and Baltimore Ravens legend, Ed Reed was listed five spots above him at 11th. As good as a guy like Travis Kelce has been throughout his career, it's easy to make an argument that Polamalu should at least be ranked in his spot at 14th, or even higher and above Rod Woodson at 12.

Polamalu quite literally changed the game and was a menace nearly at all times. Reed certainly deserves his flowers and the debate will go on forever regarding which safety was better overall, but they are not five spots apart on a list like this. At the very least, the two should be right on top of one another due to their similar playing styles and overall accomplishments. Additionally, Polamalu has one more Super Bowl ring than Reed does.

Rankings like these come from other people's opinions and Steelers fans surely have theirs when it comes to this. Roethlisberger has never received enough credit for his miraculous career and while Polamalu sits in the Hall of Fame, it's lists like the one ESPN put out on Thursday morning that will light a fire under a fan base that will protect both players until the end of time.

Steelers Have Other Individuals That Easily Could Have Made ESPN's Top 25 Rankings

Let's not forget about Antonio Brown. He sure was a headache, but one of the most dominant receivers during his time in the NFL. One could argue that individuals like Alan Faneca and Cameron Heyward deserved consideration as well. For the most storied franchise in NFL history and a two-time Super Bowl winning organization in the 21st century to only have one player land on the list is a bit perplexing.

Do you think Roethlisberger is one of the best 25 players since 2000? Let us know in the comments below!

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