Retiring Raven Haloti Ngata: Breaking Ben Roethlisberger’s nose was favorite play of career
Another of the principle protagonists of the heyday of the Pittsburgh Steelers-Baltimore Ravens rivalry is retiring. And this one cites one of the height of the rivalry’s most infamous plays as one that stood out most.
Speaking at a news conference in Baltimore on Wednesday that both announced his retirement and announced his induction into the Ravens’ Ring of Honor, former nose tackle Haloti Ngata was asked whether he had a favorite play from his 13-year career NFL.
According to PennLive.com, Ngata “chuckled and brought up the one that many Ravens fans still reference on a routine basis.”
“Breaking Ben’s nose,” Ngata said, per PennLive, as a room filled mostly with his family members, fans and former teammates erupted with laughter. “I didn’t do it on purpose. It just kind of happened.”
That sack was one of 32 ½ in Ngata’s career, one of 25 ½ over his nine seasons with the Ravens and one of six in 18 games against the Steelers (most against any team).
Ngata also had more total tackles (66), solo tackles (39), QB hits (11), interceptions (two) and tackles for loss (12) versus the Steelers than against any other team.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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