Steelers: Jerome Bettis’ personal Mount Rushmore doesn’t include Ben Roethlisberger

The legendary Pittsburgh Steelers running back listed his Mount Rushmore of teammates he’s played with, and Ben Roethlisberger isn’t among them.

The Pittsburgh Steelers‘ have always been known for their illustrious history and for the players that happened to wear the black and yellow uniforms over the years. There were many future Hall of Famers who played in the Steel City, one of whom is legendary running back Jerome Bettis.

Speaking of “The Bus,” the former Steelers running back appeared on CBS Sports’ “All Things Covered” podcast hosted by Bryant McFadden prior to Super Bowl 55. During the interview, McFadden asked Bettis to name his Mount Rushmore of Steelers who played in a Super Bowl, who then added a Mount Rushmore of the best teammates he’s played with in Pittsburgh.

That list included safety Troy Polamalu, wide receiver Hines Ward, linebacker Greg Lloyd and center Dermontti Dawson. (Mount Rushmore questions begin at 40:09 of podcast). That’s right, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did not make the list.

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A legendary list of teammates

Bettis did have a tough choice for the final spot in his Mount Rushmore, as he had to choose between Ward and offensive lineman Alan Faneca, the latter of whom was elected to the 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

As for the Mount Rushmore of Steelers to play in the Super Bowl, the list consisted of defensive tackle Joe Greene, running back Franco Harris, quarterback Terry Bradshaw and cornerback Mel Blount.

You can’t take this as a knock on Roethlisberger. Bettis played with so many legendary players during his time in Pittsburgh that even he admitted it is difficult to narrow the list down to four players. He even said in the podcast that he would have put defensive back Rod Woodson on the list, but he could not do it because they only played one season together in 1996!

Roethlisberger and Bettis were teammates for just two campaigns, with the last being their run to a Super Bowl 40 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. That was also the final game of Bettis’ career, as he retired as a Super Bowl champion.

Don’t look to much into the Roethlisberger omission. To be fair, those names are hard for “Big Ben” to top, especially during Bettis’ ten seasons with the Steelers.