The Pittsburgh Steelers were the class of the AFC throughout Ben Roethlisberger's 18-year career. The only franchise that could say it had a better run over that span of time is the New England Patriots, but the Steelers were right behind them. The Steelers often dominated the struggling teams, especially during the late 2000s and early-2010s. It happened during the 2010 season when Pittsburgh hosted the then-Oakland Raiders for a regular-season matchup.
Roethlisberger was one of the better quarterbacks in the league throughout his career, and he had a ton of success early on. He won two Super Bowls within his first five seasons in the NFL, which put a target on his back for the rest of the league.
The Steelers were turning into a dynasty early on, so they got other teams' best efforts when playing against them. That wasn't the case in 2010 against the Raiders. Pittsburgh won the game 35-3, and the game featured a dirty hit from Hall of Fame defensive end Richard Seymour. The Raiders legend recently joined former Steelers safety Ryan Clark on "The Pivot," and he shared that he still hears about that hit to this day.
"Actually, we had some run-ins with y'all." Seymour said as he pointed at Clark. "I get a lot of fan mail about Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh when I was with Oakland. Yeah, I get a lot of fan mail with the hit."
The incident Seymour is referring to came in the first half, and it wound up getting him ejected. Roethlisberger threw a touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders to extend the lead to 20-3. Roethlisberger was celebrating with his offensive line, and Seymour was getting in Trai Essex's face.
Roethlisberger went to defend Essex, and Seymour punched him in the face and knocked him to the ground. It was significant enough that fans in Pittsburgh are still sending the former defender fan mail defending their quarterback.
Since this incident happened after the whistle, Seymour was ejected from the game. He wound up being penalized, and he also received a $25,000 fine from the NFL. Roethlisberger did not let the incident shake him. The quarterback finished the game with 275 passing yards and three touchdowns through the air; he also ran for 55 yards and a score. The success for the Steelers continued during the 2010 season as the team would eventually lose to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV.
Seymour was on the tail-end of his career when this incident occurred. He was in his second season with the Raiders after a trade from New England. He wound up retiring following the 2012 season, and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022.
Steelers great Ben Roethlisberger was always close with his offensive line
Quarterbacks know how important it is to have a strong relationship with the offensive line, and Roethlisberger exemplified that. He was always close with the players up front, hence why he stepped between Essex and Seymour, which led to the incident. This trend would continue throughout Roethlisberger's career. He was extremely close with Maurkice Pouncey, and there were multiple instances where Pouncey got in a defender's face for being rough on Roethlisberger.
This incident with Seymour kind of perfectly explains the type of player Roethlisberger was. He was going to protect his own. When he gets hit, he'll get back up and make you pay. That is exactly what he did to Oakland on that day.
