Ben Roethlisberger tries to shut down comeback talks, fans flames instead

Longtime Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is continuing to tease fans about an NFL comeback.

Legendary Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger tried to get everyone to cool it on talk of his unretirement that definitely isn’t happening, but in the process, he just brought the idea back to the forefront.

On a recent podcast of his, here’s what Roethlisberger said:

"“It was [the 49ers] calling my agent just to gauge interest… I’ll reiterate, it was gauging interest,” Roethlisberger said."

Big Ben explained this very slowly and staccato as if to say, hey, I’m serious, this was a whole lot of nothing.

But, of course, this age of the internet is not going to let him get away with that. Mike Florio published an article on Pro Football Talk aggregating Roethlisberger’s comments. And, if you just read the quote rather than listening to the episode, it’s easy to think that maybe there was a little more to the 49ers-Roethlisberger rumors than was first revealed or than Roethlisberger was trying to let on.

Plus, it’s a quieter period of the offseason, so everyone is grasping at straws looking for storylines. Just bringing this back up re-enters it into the conversation, whether that was Roethlisberger’s intention or not.

Ben Roethlisberger comments on if 49ers could make a play for Aaron Rodgers

Roethlisberger’s comments on the Niners calling him to gauge his interest in an unretirement were spurred by a discussion on whether or not he thought San Francisco would try to make a play for Aaron Rodgers in the midst of a potential Packers-Jets trade breakdown.

Here’s what Roethlisberger had to say:

"“They seem like the type of team that [would go after Rodgers]. And I know he’s been mentioned with them before, you know, like could he, would he, go back there? I could see it happening. I could… He likes the boots under center, getting out, moving, he’d be great in that offense.”"

The Niners’ involvement in the discussion is mostly being pushed out there by media personalities on the periphery right now, so it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of substance to the idea of the trade imploding to a point where San Fran would swoop in.

Yet, the Niners could use a QB, and maybe a delayed Jets trade creates space for the Niners to do something crazy. Jimmy Garoppolo has moved on to the Las Vegas Raiders, and Brock Purdy stole the starting job from Trey Lance. Purdy, though, is recovering from surgery, leaving space open for a starting quarterback.

The connection for Rodgers is that he grew up in Northern California, so it brings him closer to home.

For now, it looks unlikely.