Steelers Rumors: Broderick Jones starting, JPJ buzz, Big Ben-Ray Lewis

NFL Rumors: Big Ben and Ravens’ Ray Lewis, frenemies at heart?

All this talk about Steelers rookies can make certain dedicated fans feel old. Let’s throw it back for a minute.

Famous Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who now has a podcast like so many retired people do, recently shared an anecdote about his playing days in the AFC North. Big Ben and the Steelers won the division eight times over his 18-year career and sparked some of the fiercest rivalries alive including the Steelers-Ravens.

While those emotionally fraught Steelers-Ravens matchups often featured hostility and bad blood, there were also more tender moments of mutual respect and admiration.

Big Ben revealed one of those moments on his podcast:

"“I remember one time I was holding onto the ball and there was a pile up and I kind of got my leg bent under me. It was one of those ones where if a few guys keep going something bad was going to happen. I remember yelling and he [Lewis] started pulling guys off of me and helping make it so it wasn’t so bad, and I respected that.”"

During one game, Ravens legend Ray Lewis apparently helped prevent Roethlisberger from sustaining a serious leg injury, which is a pretty classy move for a sworn enemy.

In Roethlisberger’s eyes, Lewis obviously wanted to beat the Steelers, but he helped the veteran quarterback up because he wanted to beat them at their best. Roethlisberger held a career 19-11 record against the Ravens.

"“If you want to beat the Chiefs, you want to beat them with Patrick Mahomes, not without him.”"

Last season, the two teams split the series with a win apiece. Who’s coming out on top in 2023?