Throughout his Pittsburgh Steelers career, one that will land him in the Hall of Fame in a few years, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger played with quite a few very good — and some great — receivers.
Names like Hines Ward, Antonio Brown, Mike Wallace, Martavis Bryant, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Emmanuel Sanders and more come to mind.
But there’s one Roethlisberger wishes he had played longer with.
That would be Plaxico Burress.
On the latest episode of the Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger podcast, Roethlisberger answered a viewer question about which receiver he played with who left for another team he wishes he could have had more time with.
“I loved all of them. Loved playing with all of them. It’s hard to pick one ’cause I feel like that’s disrespectful to the other ones. But I got to play with Emmanuel for awhile. Martavis was such a, I call him a freak on the field, just because of what he was able to do. It’s too bad that his time was cut short here,” Roethlisberger said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “Got to play with JuJu for a bunch of years, and really enjoyed JuJu. Loved the way he played the game. I only played with Plaxico for a couple years, and I loved Plax.
“I wish Plaxico could have stayed here longer with me.”
Burress, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft out of Michigan State, spent just one season with Roethlisberger early in his career, hauling in 35 passes for 698 yards and five touchdowns, though he played just 11 games during the 2004 season.
He was a big-play threat for the Steelers with Roethlisberger under center, and the one play that comes to mind from that 2004 season is Burress making a big play down the field against the New England Patriots as the Steelers snapped New England’s winning streak at then-Heinz Field.
That year, the Steelers went on a magical run with Roethlisberger as a rookie, winning 13 straight regular-season games and reaching the AFC Championship Game. Though they fell short against the Patriots at Heinz Field that year, the future appeared bright.
Then Burress left in free agency, signing with the New York Giants on a six-year, $25 million contract in March 2005. While with the Giants, Burress went on to catch the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLII, beating the undefeated Patriots in shocking fashion.
He spent four seasons with the Giants, missing the 2009 and 2010 seasons due to a violation of the league personal conduct policy tied to his accidental shooting at a nightclub in New York City. Burress returned to the NFL in 2011 with the New York Jets and spent just one year then, but then in 2012 circled back to the Steelers.
When he signed with the Jets ahead of the 2011 season, Burress reportedly turned down a two-year offer from the Steelers, allowing him to stay in New York. He had eight touchdowns with the Jets but found himself a free agent once again entering 2012.
That’s when he decided to return to the Steelers, reuniting with Roethlisberger.
Burress signed with the Steelers in November 2012 after injuries to Antonio Brown and Jerricho Cotchery created a major need at receiver. He played in just four games that year, hauling in just three passes for 42 yards, but he did find the end zone once on a pass from Roethlisberger.
The following year, Burress re-signed with the Steelers and was set on running it back, but a torn rotator cuff in practice in early August ended his season — and ultimately his career.
Together, they played just 19 games together with the Steelers, including playoffs, hooking up six times for scores in the process, along with 36 career passes for 719 yards.
Their time was short together, which is unfortunate. It could have been quite special had Burress stayed in Pittsburgh long term.
