Kurt Warner played in Super Bowl at 37, believes Ben Roethlisberger can do it, too

The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl, Ben Roethlisberger outdueled 37-year-old quarterback Kurt Warner to bring the franchise its sixth Lombardi Trophy.

This year, the tables have turned on Roethlisberger. He is the same age Warner was on that February night in 2009 at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium. And, like Warner, he has experienced a lengthy drought after reaching the NFL’s pinnacle game multiple times earlier in his career.

Warner went seven years between his second and third Super Bowl appearances. Roethlisberger is entering his ninth season since the Steelers played in Super Bowl XLV.

“You always look for that motivation as you get older,” Warner said. “I know Ben would love to have one more shot to get there and play in a fourth Super Bowl, which obviously is rare air.”

Only seven quarterback have started in four Super Bowls, including the Steelers’ Terry Bradshaw. Roethlisberger affirmed his stated goal Friday of returning the Steelers to the Super Bowl this season as his career enters the twilight stages.

“I told the guys, I’ll be selfish when it comes to that,” Roethlisberger said. “I want to win Super Bowls. So, truthfully, that should be all of our motivation. That’s what is driving me right now.”

Warner, who attended the opening practice at Saint Vincent as part of his work with NFL Network, believes Roethlisberger still maintains the skills at age 37 to become the eighth member of the four-time Super Bowl club.

“I don’t think there is any question,” he said. “Especially when you’re talking about a guy who is as big and strong as Ben. The ability to throw the football and ability to throw it hard enough and far enough, I don’t think he’s anywhere close to losing what you need to play this game.

“As long as he can stay sharp mentally and make good decisions, I don’t see it being an issue physically.”

Warner retired in 2009 at 38, one year after his Arizona Cardinals lost, 27-23, to the Steelers in the Super Bowl. The Hall of Famer attempted 598 and 512 passes over his final two seasons, the second- and third-most attempts of his career.

Roethlisberger is coming off a season in which he led the NFL by attempting an alarming 675 passes — 36 more than the next closest quarterback. Warner, however, doesn’t think such wear and tear will catch up to Roethlisberger anytime soon.

“I’m just a firm believer that if you play the game the same way when you’ve played it for a long time — being in the pocket and it’s not necessarily a physical game, but a mental game — you have a chance to play longer and longer,” Warner said.

“Although Ben earlier in his career played more physically, knocking people around and buying time, he’s become more of a complete player as a quarterback. He has the ability to beat you inside the pocket. He still has the ability to make those special plays, but he doesn’t live on those special plays. That’s not a huge part of his game anymore because he has evolved into a complete quarterback.”

Warner said he did almost no offseason throwing in his career, and Roethlisberger doesn’t pick up a football from season to training camp aside from organized team activity and minicamp practices. This year, at training camp, he will follow his customary late-career regimen of participating in a full practice followed by a half practice followed by a day off.

Roethlisberger spent much of the offseason working with a trainer on strengthening his shoulder and back.

“I’d like to think my arm hasn’t dropped off,” he said. “As you get older, you have to work on mobility. Stuff we’ve been working on is short-area, in-the-pocket movement. Physically, I feel as good as I have.”

With the Steelers’ emphasis on a short passing game combined with his quick release and a dependable, veteran offensive line, Roethlisberger has been sacked an average of just 20.6 times over his past three full seasons. That has helped him stay relatively free of injury.

“So many throws are so quick and at the line of scrimmage,” Warner said. “Even if these guys are getting 100-150 more throws than we got, you’re not taking a pounding and it’s not straining your arm because so many of these throws are so quick, dink-and-dunk balls that you’re not taking a beating while you’re doing it.”

Roethlisberger stated Friday he intends to play until the end of his contract, which expires after the 2021 season when he will turn 40.

“I’ll decide after that,” Roethlisberger said.

Warner sees no reason for Roethlisberger to ride off into the sunset just yet.

“It’s more when does he want to retire,” he said. “What is the determining factor on why he retires. I don’t think it will ever be because physically I can’t play anymore, outside of sustaining some kind of serious injury.”