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.

Ron Harper was a great basketball player who knew what it took to win.  The greatest player ever to come from the Miami of Ohio, Harper was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers and was the perfect complimentary player on some sensational professional teams.  Unlike most complimentary players, Harper was once a superstar.  He averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds in his collegiate career and was second in Rookie of the Year voting.  Injuries cut back on his skill but Harper did not give in and became a huge part of the Bulls teams in the late 90’s.  He then followed Coach Phil Jackson to Los Angeles to the Lakers and won two more titles.  13,000 career NBA points tells you he could play and five rings tell you he was a winner.  What more do you need?