Former Steelers CB Bryant McFadden Reveals Past Offseason Moment That Absolutely Cost Pittsburgh A Super Bowl

As all storied franchises do, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had plenty of moments where one little thing could change the direction of the team for a game, for a season, or even a dynasty. The official SteelerNation X account put up an open-ended question about the biggest "What-If" moment in Steelers history. There are many good options that fans mentioned, like the team infamously passing on Dan Marino, or the Jesse James catch/no catch controversy from 2017. 

However, former Steelers cornerback Bryant McFadden had his own idea for what fits best in that scenario. He responded to that SteelerNation post with one incident that he believes cost the team a chance at the Super Bowl. 

Four months after winning Super Bowl XL, star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger got into a serious motorcycle accident that left him in critical condition with numerous injuries. He would recover and eventually make it into a preseason game, but the lack of training camp can do numbers on a player, especially one as young as Roethlisberger was at the time, even though he had just won a championship. 

Roethlisberger reportedly had an emergency appendectomy prior to the team's Week 1 game, so he was forced to miss that. Charlie Batch came in and secured the win to get the Steelers off on the right foot, but they never continued on that. A visibly unhealthy Roethlisberger came in and sputtered out the gate, as Pittsburgh lost six of their next seven games with him under center.  

After that, Roethlisberger was finally back to normal form and the Steelers went on a run to win six of their last eight games. However, that was not enough to make the postseason. They finished the year 8-8, and the defending Super Bowl champions were sitting on the couch talking about what would have happened had the leader of the team not gotten into that accident that reportedly almost ended his life early. 

McFadden mentioned that the whole team was out of rhythm to begin the year, and it's easy to see why. For starters, football is seen as a collective brotherhood, and a team's brother just almost lost his life. It wasn't just any brother either; it was the quarterback that just led the team to a championship. They were all partying and celebrating together just mere months prior to this accident, and the vibes went from ecstatic to somber really quick. 

It's also hard to get into a rhythm when the starting quarterback missed all of training camp, then had to go back into the hospital for another emergency surgery procedure. "Big Ben" was not nearly as big and strong as he was known to be throughout his career. He likely should have been on the bench so he could have taken the time to get back into shape and return to 100% quicker.

Steelers Only Ponder What-If Scenario

If that motorcycle accident never happens, the Steelers most likely win multiple games during that big losing skid. Even just a few wins would be enough to put them in the playoffs, and if that happens, who knows how far they go? Maybe McFadden was right; maybe they win back-to-back titles, which would later turn into three-of-four Super Bowls after Super Bowl XLIII. They might have been known as a dynasty again.

On top of that, Hall of Fame Head Coach Bill Cowher retired after that tumultuous season. Instead of going out on top and maybe even being enshrined sooner, his career ended in one of the most heartbreaking and upsetting campaigns a team could have. The health and well-being of Roethlisberger took up plenty of space in his mind, as well as the minds of other players. In the end, the season just felt lost, especially since McFadden believed that they would have been champions again.

What do you think about McFadden's post about Roethlisberger's motorcycle accident costing the team a chance to be back-to-back champions? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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