Stephen A. Smith Celebrates Ben Roethlisberger's Retirement

January 27, 2022

Stephen A. Smith had a sigh of relief on "First Take" today.

Today was a huge day in the history of the Steelers organization as Ben Roethlisberger announced his retirement from the game of football. Many were expecting this to happen, although it still felt surreal to have the words come out of Roethlisberger's mouth. Now, the team will look to rebuild what they have with some unproven quarterback talent, like Mason Rudolph.

While today is a day of mourning for Steelers fans, it is a day of celebration for none other than Stephen A. Smith. The First Take host is a huge Steelers fan, and while he loves himself some Big Ben, he believes this decision is well overdue. In fact, Smith reacted to the news by saying "thank god," which seemed to have offended the sensibilities of Dan Orlovsky.



"I'm a Steelers fan so I can say this, thank god. Ben Roethlisberger deserves to be in the Hall of Fame," Smith said. "I can't say enough about how I feel about the man. I love Ben Roethlisberger. He should have retired two years ago. He couldn't move and then he hurt his elbow and I get all of that. The combination of all of those things, unfortunately, made you a liability."