CTE a factor in Ben Roethlisberger possibly retiring in 2018

Ben Roethlisberger is having serious thoughts about retiring at the end of the 2017 NFL season.

The NFL is a young man’s game, and at 35 years of age, Ben Roethlisberger is seriously considering retirement in the not-so-distant future. As reported by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Ben can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel after 13 years in the NFL and two Super Bowl rings.

Like anyone else, as many people get older and their priorities shift to family, their goals and objectives start to shift. Roethlisberger mentions his family life as a key reason to consider retirement:

"“I’ve been blessed to do this a long time, I think it’s just seeing my kids growing up, and in the offseason I love getting to spend time with them, and then I come here and football season just has to take up so much of your time. Even when you get home, I try my best to turn it off when I walk in the front door. I think I do a pretty good job of that, but it still consumes you in a way"

Quarterback is generally one of the longest-tenured positions in the NFL, but it’s not surprising that he’s thinking about retiring at this point in his career.

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Roethlisberger also goes on to cite CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) as a major factor in his decision-making. He goes on to explain his reasoning:

"“Just all those things combined — being healthy, being able to play catch with my kids. I feel good mentally, I know this new study that came out that 90 percent [of NFL] players’ brains who were studied had CTE."

Roethlisberger has always been the ultimate “play-extender” and he’s certainly taken some hard hits over the years. As new evidence and studies of CTE continue to surface, it will be interesting to if other players begin to consider retirement earlier than they may like.