Enjoying a 12-year career in the NFL, Emmanuel Sanders played his first four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team that drafted him in the Third Round in 2010.  Sanders did well, but he was not a starter, and he peaked with 740 Yards in 2013, though proved that he should be in the starting lineup. 

Denver won the bidding war for Sanders, who responded with his best season in football, a 1,404 Yard/9 Touchdown performance that elevated Sanders to his first Pro Bowl.  Sanders had at least 1,000 Receiving Yards the next two seasons, and he was a significant factor in Denver marching toward a win in Super Bowl 50.  After his second Pro Bowl with the Broncos in 2016, his play fell off, and he would finish his career with stops in San Francisco, New Orleans and Buffalo.

Sanders retired with 9,245 Receiving Yards and 51 Touchdowns.

Brandon Brooks was a Third Round Pick from Miami of Ohio for the Texans in 2012, but it was not until the following year that he earned a starting role on the Offensive Line.

Playing at Right Guard, Brooks did well for Houston, but went to Philadelphia as a Free Agent in 2016, where he not only made better money but was on a better squad.  It all rubbed off on Brooks, who went to three straight Pro Bowls as an Eagle (2017-19) and was part of Philadelphia’s Super Bowl LII win.

A torn Achilles took Brooks out of 2020, and he after two Games in 2021, he was injured again, which would end in his career. 

The 2004 NFL Draft yielded Eli Manning and Philip Rivers, but it was Ben Roethlisberger, the third QB taken, who won the Super Bowl first.

A former MAC Player of the Year at Miami of Ohio, Roethlisberger won the starting Quarterback role in the third game of his rookie season.  Roethlisberger went 13-0 that year, won the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, and took the Steelers to the AFC Conference Final.  The season after, Roethlisberger went further, leading Pittsburgh to their fifth Super Bowl win.

From this point on, Roethlisberger was considered to be one of the better Quarterbacks in football.  “Big Ben” and the Steelers won another Super Bowl (XLIII), and he was chosen for six Pro Bowls, including four consecutive, from 2014 to 2017.  Roethlisberger led the NFL in Passing Yards twice and had six 4,000 Passing Yard seasons. He also has seven 25-TD years.

Roethlisberger retired after the 2021, and at the time of his career-end, he had 64,088 Passing Yards (fifth all-time), 418 Touchdown Passes (eighth all-time) with an Approximate Value of 208 (14^th all-time).  The negative that will dog Roethlisberger is his past sexual assault allegations, which had they happened in the #MeToo era would be discussed far more than it is, but as it stands now, it likely won’t impede him at all.

Andrew Whitworth played his college ball at LSU, and was taken by the Cincinnati Bengals in the Second Round of the 2006 Draft.  Although he became a starter as a rookie, Whitworth didn’t break out until his 30s, earning his first Pro Bowl at 31 in 2012.  Earning a First Team All-Pro in 2015, and a second Pro Bowl, Whitworth secured a third in 2016, his last with the Bengals.

Whitworth signed with the Rams in 2017, and in his first year in L.A., he was again a First Team All-Pro, and captured his fourth and final trip to the Pro Bowl.  Staying with the Rams until his retirement, Whitworth ended his career perfectly, winning the Walter Payton Man of the Year the day before he anchored the line that helped bring the Rams the Super Bowl.

Whitworth left the game with 239 Games Played, and his 142 in Approximate Value was then 88^th all-time.

With his play in the last half of his career, Whitworth carved out a case for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.