PITTSBURGH (AP) – Ben Roethlisberger intended for the moment to be private. The camera following him to midfield and the microphone tucked inside Tom Brady’s shoulder pads ended up making that impossible.
Their brief exchange before Brady and the New England Patriots visited the Pittsburgh Steelers in October provided a snapshot into a rivalry that never was. They bro-hugged. They lamented the left knee injury that forced Roethlisberger out the lineup on that warm late fall afternoon.
And then Roethlisberger made an uncharacteristic request : a signed Brady jersey to hang on the wall in Roethlisberger’s home office next to Hall of Famers Dan Marino, John Elway and Jim Kelly.
“I consider him one, if not the best of all-time,” Roethlisberger said.
A group Roethlisberger does not include himself in.