Ben Roethlisberger says football is violent and ‘I hope my son plays golf’

The serious injuries to Ryan Shazier and Vontaze Burfict are a reminder of how dangerous this game can be.

Games between the Steelers and Bengals are always physical. Monday night’s matchup between the AFC North rivals was vicious and left some players with serious injuries.

That’s one reason Ben Roethlisberger would be OK with his son picking another sport.

“I hope my son plays golf,” Roethlisberger said.

“If he wants to play football, that's fine, too. But it's a tough sport. It's not for everyone. If he wants to do it, I'll encourage it. If he doesn't, I'm just fine with that as well.”

The scariest moment of the night came when Ryan Shazier went in for a tackle and was unable to get back up. Shazier immediately grabbed his lower back and he appeared to be unable to move his legs. He was immobilized on a backboard and taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he remained under observation on Tuesday.

Roethlisberger said he wasn’t just scared for Shazier. He was worried about Shazier’s loved ones watching from the stands or at home.

“I’ve been in that situation. I’ve been carted off before. It’s a scary thing,” Roethlisberger said. “You just start praying and you worry about family members back home or people watching on TV. That’s one of the scary things, too, that people don’t think about. ... I know how scary it is when people sit at home and your family members and your loved ones see that on TV.

“It’s not an easy thing, and it’s just a scary, violent game we play.”

Roethlisberger said that during timeouts and when the defense was on the field, he checked with team doctors and athletic performance staff for an update. But nobody knew much about what was going on with Shazier.

This is Roethlisberger’s 14th NFL season. It’s not surprising that he’s considered hanging it up. But he said that violent plays like the one that Shazier was injured on make everyone think long and hard about the risks associated with football.

“It’s crazy, this sport we play,” Roethlisberger said. “And people get all over me for saying you’ve got to contemplate every year on if you want to keep going. I think things like this, you’ve heard others of my teammates say it after this game, plays like this make you really evaluate things.”

Shazier’s wasn’t the only serious injury of the night. Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict was carted off the field with a concussion after a brutal block with helmet-to-helmet contact from JuJu Smith-Schuster. But Roethlisberger said Smith-Schuster’s wasn’t a dirty hit.

“JuJu’s was obviously in the realm of the game. I don’t think it was a cheap shot by any means,” Roethlisberger said. “Cheap shots are when you hit someone away from the play, you go low on someone that’s not looking. He’s trying to block a guy that’s probably going to make a tackle.”

Roethlisberger said that Smith-Schuster didn’t mean to hurt Burfict.

“Did he go a little high? Yes. Did he just happen to graze the helmet of Burfict? Yes, so therefore it’s an illegal hit, if you will,” Roethlisberger said.

Big Ben wasn’t thrilled about Smith-Schuster taunting a concussed Burfict after the play, though.

“And I told him afterward, I said, listen. Love the effort. Love how you’re trying to help your teammate get open,” Roethlisberger said. “Standing over a guy? Uncalled for.

“And he knew it. I think he knew it right away. He regretted it, and he genuinely felt bad about that. He was not trying to hurt anybody. He was trying to play football.”

Roethlisberger said he didn’t think Smith-Schuster’s actions warranted a suspension, but the NFL disagreed. Smith-Schuster was handed a one-game suspension by the league on Tuesday. So was Bengals safety George Iloka, who put what Roethlisberger called “maybe the worst hit of the night” on Steelers receiver Antonio Brown.

The games between the Steelers and Bengals have moved away from just physical football, according to Roethlisberger.

“And sometimes you feel like this game, this ‘rivalry,’ has turned sometimes dirty. And it’s unfortunate,” he said.

When Roethlisberger talks about considering retiring after this season, you can believe that Monday’s game will be a part of his thought process.