The Denver Broncos were left in a precarious position after their QB1, Bo Nix, suffered a season-ending injury after the 33-30 win over the Buffalo Bills. With Nix ruled out for the upcoming AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots, countless rumors emerged about the Broncos bringing in a new quarterback. While addressing these reports, former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger revealed why he didn’t decide to unretire for the Denver job.

“This is not a foreshadowing. I’m not going to Denver; I know there’s been a lot of rumors out there. I would go if I could wear number 7, but John Elway retired it,” Roethlisberger jokingly shared on his Footbahlin podcast, via Matthew Luciow, who shared the clip on X.

Any other year, speculation about a 40-year-old retired quarterback making a comeback would have been absurd. But this season, Philip Rivers, who turned 44 last December, made a historic comeback to join the Indianapolis Colts as a replacement for Daniel Jones, who was ruled out after an ACL injury.

Like Rivers, Roethlisberger would have been five years away from his last snap in the NFL. The Steelers legend called it a career after the 2021 season, where he threw for 3,740 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions before losing in the Wild Card round of the playoffs to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

However, this wasn’t the only time Ben Roethlisberger considered making a comeback, as an opportunity came calling from the New York Jets during the 2023 campaign. The Jets were without a quarterback after Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon in Week 1 that year, and hence attempted to bring in Big Ben before he turned down the proposal.

“When guys go down, your agent will call you,” Roethlisberger said during an appearance on The Nateland Podcast last February. “When Aaron got hurt in New York with his Achilles, my agent would be like, ‘Hey, any interest?’ I’m like, zero.”

Despite this decision by Ben Roethlisberger, the Broncos’ search for their next quarterback wasn’t affected, as head coach Sean Payton announced Jason Stidham as a replacement for Bo Nix. The career backup has the support of Payton and showcased unwavering confidence when he was asked about taking on such an important role at this stage of the season.

Stidham makes bold claim ahead of the AFC Championship game

Jason Stidham, before taking on the New England Patriots, last started in Week 18 of the 2023 campaign, when he was named Denver’s starter upon the benching of Russell Wilson. Further, this was only his fourth start in the NFL since being drafted in 2019 by the Patriots, wherein he has completed 59.4 percent of his throws for 1,422 yards and eight touchdowns compared to eight interceptions.

Despite his lack of experience and playing time, Jason Stidham remains confident about performing in the AFC Championship game at Empower Field at Mile High.

“What I always go back to — in any game — regular season, preseason, AFC championship — it’s still the same game,” Stidham told reporters. “Obviously, there’s implications — winner advances, and all that kind of stuff. But at the end of the day, it’s still football. And that’s how I view it. I’m not treating it any differently. I’m not treating my preparation any differently. I’m just gonna go out there and play and be myself.”

With this statement, Stidham appears to be ready for the Patriots’ challenge and would hope to pull off a commanding performance that takes the Broncos to their first Super Bowl since 2015.