The impending changes to a Steelers franchise that prides itself on consistency add an extra sense of urgency this season.
PITTSBURGH – Opportunities are running out.
Ben Roethlisberger he knows. Cameron Heyward and David DeCastro also.
A decade has passed since the last time Pittsburgh Steelers disputed it Super Bowl, and a decade since they won it. In most places this is hardly a drought. But not where players, coaches and employees pass in front of six Lombardi Trophies every day when they go to work.
The odds that Roethlisberger believed they would constantly repeat themselves after defeat to the Green Bay Packers in 2011, in its third Super Bowl in six seasons they did not materialize.
Now 38, a surgically repaired right shoulder, and four years after his last playoff win, Roethlisberger is aware of how small the window is for the champion of the North Division from American conference (12-4) for their first round, on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns (11-5).
“When I was young people tried to explain to me that I could take advantage of this,” he said. Roethlisberger on Wednesday. “You think, ‘I’m young, I’ll be back.’ It’s not guaranteed, I think all of us veterans at the end of our careers understand that we don’t know what’s next, we don’t know if there’s another chance for the boys.
He is not fatalistic. although Roethlisberger He has a contract until 2021, he says he won’t make a specific decision until the break between campaigns. Offensive equipment Alexander Villanueva he is in the last days of a contract that expires in March.
And financial problems come before the Steelers. Pittsburgh He is already $ 21 million above the 2021 salary cap and that’s with only 35 players with contracts.
The impending changes to come for the franchise that prides itself on its consistency adds an extra sense of urgency this season that makes it seem like Steelers as a contender Super Bowl and as the loser in the same match.
“You don’t want to think ‘what would have been’, there are endless opportunities that I’ve missed,” he said. Heyward. “I don’t want this to be a missed opportunity.”
The years pass quickly. Heyward came into the US months after the defeat Super Bowl in front of Packers. DeCastro came a year later. They have done everything possible except the only thing that matters to the Steelers and they know it.
“The only thing I miss is the Super Bowl and the experience of what it would mean for the team, the city and the fans, ”he said DeCastro.