The Pittsburgh Steelers landed QB Ben Roethlisberger within the 2004 NFL Draft — and the inspiration that introduced two Lombardi Trophies again to town. However issues might have performed out very in a different way had the Cleveland Browns drafted their hometown prospect. It might have put the Steelers on a collision course with Aaron Rodgers within the 2005 NFL Draft the next yr.
“We actually thought [Eli] Manning would go to the Giants. We thought the Browns would take Ben,” former Steelers personnel exec Doug Whaley mentioned Wednesday by way of 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Present. “We didn’t suppose San Diego was gonna take a quarterback as a result of they’d Drew Brees. So we had been Philip Rivers. So we had been like, ‘Philip Rivers, that’s it, we bought him.’ And we had been actually proud of that.
“Then when the Browns took [Kellen] Winslow, all of us had been like, wait a minute. Critically, I bear in mind trying across the room saying, ‘The place are the cameras? Is that this a kind of jokes?’ We couldn’t consider Ben fell to us.”
Pittsburgh had Roethlisberger rated larger than Rivers however thought for certain the Browns would find yourself taking the Ohio native. The board instantly broke in an surprising approach with the Chargers drafting Manning. At that time, many thought the Giants would take both Roethlisberger or Rivers. And the Browns had been an apparent touchdown spot for Roethlisberger at No. 6 total.
Not solely did the course of NFL historical past almost change with Roethlisberger touchdown elsewhere, however the Steelers might have missed out on the whole QB class of future Corridor of Famers.
All three of Manning, Rivers and Roethlisberger ended up with Corridor of Fame credentials to their identify, however the Steelers bought the very best of the bunch with the third quarterback off the board. He would go on to make them a pair of Tremendous Bowl championships and a 3rd look within the huge sport.
They weren’t going to draft the following quarterback out there if all three had been gone. Their focus would have shifted elsewhere in line with Whaley.
“There would’ve been a debate between, I feel it was Tommie Harris and Shawn Andrews,” he mentioned.
Harris, a defensive sort out, had an okay profession with three Professional Bowl choices, however nowhere close to the impression of any person like Roethlisberger. OG Shawn Andrews had two Professional Bowls and one All-Professional choice, however private struggles and continual again accidents pressured him out of the league prematurely.
The 2004 draft class would’ve been one of many worst of Kevin Colbert’s GM tenure as an alternative of being among the best.
Had they missed out on Roethlisberger or Rivers in 2004, Whaley thinks Rodgers very properly could have ended up in Pittsburgh by way of the 2005 NFL Draft.
“We wouldn’t have needed to [trade up]. We might’ve simply sat there,” he mentioned. “We had him larger than that. We had been stunned he was slipping.”
Rodgers fell to No. 24 total, and the Steelers in all probability would have been proper in that vary with a season beneath Tommy Maddox.
That in all probability would have value them the 2005 Tremendous Bowl with Maddox main the workforce as an alternative of Roethlisberger. And who is aware of if Rodgers would have had the identical profession with a distinct set of circumstances in Pittsburgh. However it’s attention-grabbing to suppose that one colossal mistake by the Browns might have been the distinction between Roethlisberger or Rodgers in Pittsburgh for the final 20 years.
As a substitute, Rodgers is now with the Steelers for seemingly the ultimate season of his Corridor of Fame profession with hopes of constructing one final push towards a championship. Maybe their paths had been at all times meant to cross.
