QUARTERBACK BEN ROETHLISBERGER RETIRING

No word from Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, but father time does chime for 39-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethisberger.

At 6-foot-5 and a Steeles’ starter since being drafted 11th overall in 2004,  Roethisberger didn’t run from contact as much as he welcomed it. The harder the hits, the higher the stakes, the longer the odds, the more he dug in during a career in which he led Pittsburgh to a pair of National Football League championships.

He developed a reputation as a throwback in a city that fashions itself as one even though it has evolved into something far more modern. It was Pitt that moved on from steel mills long ago.

To the big guy, the game has become quicker. The quarterbacks, more versatile then the semi-dad-bodded 240-pounder known universally as “Big Ben.” And no player understood this more then Roethlisberger, and what he hinted at for months became reality Thursday when he announced his retirement.

“It was time to clean out my locker, hang up my cleats,” he said, “after 18 seasons, two Super Bowls, countless team records, and a spot in the Hall of fame all but secure.”

He added that he doesn’t know how to put into words what the game of football has meant to him, and what a blessing it has been.

“I do know with confidence,” he said, “that I have given my all to the game, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude  for what it has given me.”

The announcement came less than two weeks after Pittsburgh’s lopsided loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the postseason, the 12th time in his career that the Steelers did reach the playoffs.

Before his final game at Heinz Field in the Steel City, he hinted that it was time for him to move on and spend more time with his wife, Ashley, and there three children. He made it a point to embrace the moment following the Jan. 3 win over the Cleveland Browns in which he did a victory lap of sorts before disappearing down the tunnel surrounded by his family.

He described the journey that carried him from northwestern Ohio to Pittsburgh to almost certainly the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, in five years as “exhilarating.”

It also was wildly successful.

The Steelers never endured a losing season during Roethisberger’s tenure and captured Super Bowls 40 and 43 — the latter with a touchdown pass over the outstretched hands of Arizona Cardinals’ defenders to receiver Santonio Holmes in the end zone in the final seconds.

“Putting that jersey on every Sunday, he said, “with my brothers will always be one of the greatest days of my life.”

His personal life doesn’t belong here. It occurred early his career when he was young and peppy and happy to be a professional player. In later years, he was quick to extend handshakes after losing to the Green Bay Packers in the 2010 Super Bowl defeat.

The second half of his career played in stark contrast to the first half, both as a player and person in his 20s. In his 30s, he morphed into one of the league’s premier passers, twice leading the league in yards passing and now retires in the all-time top 10 in yards passing (64,088) and touchdowns passes (418).

He sported a 165-81-1 record as a starter, the most in franchise history and fifth-most ever. With No. 7 behind center, Big Ben appeared to thrive when the game and sometimes the season hung in the balance.

Next stop will no doubt be a day honoring him in Pittsburgh. He deserves all of this and more.

Brady? Rodgers? Who knows? Quarterbacks Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City, and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals  are in their early to mid 20s, so plenty of time remains on the gridiron for this trio, and current Los Angeles’ Rams starter Matthew Stafford has not made any indication he was calling it quits after his entire career was played with the Detroit Lions until he was dealt to LA.

Then there’s Jimmy Garappolo in his final contract year with the San Francisco 49ers, and the 6th-seeds play at the 4th-seeded Rams’ SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles for the National Conference championship Sunday, and that will the first time Garappolo or Stafford got to this level.

Burrow and Mahomes also play on Sunday, with the 2nd-seeded Chiefs

playing host to the 4th-seeded Bengals for the AFC championship.

The winners meet up at SoFi Stadium in the Feb. 13 Super Bowl.