The San Francisco 49ers made a call to former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger during the 2022 season after Jimmy Garoppolo went down with a broken foot. Despite rookie Brock Purdy stepping in and leading the team to a December 4 win over the Miami Dolphins, the 49ers understandably opted to look into all their options, including finding out if Roethlisberger might be interested in temporarily pausing his retirement.
"Last year, there were some truths to the Niners thing," Roethlisberger told Mark Madden at 105.9 The X, per KNBR. "They were, I think, reaching out maybe just to gauge my interest. I had discussions. I don't want to sit here and say I was going or anything like that. They called me to gauge interest…"
San Francisco was 8-4 at the time and winners of five consecutive games. They appeared to be playoff bound and boasted a defense that was playing much better than earlier in the season.
"I'd be lying if I didn't say there was a small part of me that was intrigued, like, 'Oh man, I could still do it,' and prove to people that I could still play," Roethlisberger continued. "At the end of the day, I just can't see myself in anything other than black and gold.
"Even though they had a great chance, I think, to win a Super Bowl, it would've been hard for me to go try and win a Super Bowl anywhere else but here."
There was a report that Philip Rivers contacted the 49ers around the same time. Although, the retired NFL quarterback later denied that report, stating, "I heard from a couple of teams just kind of checking in," indicating that it may have been San Francisco doing the reaching out.
Things ended up working out well for the 49ers' quarterback situation—at least until the NFC Championship Game. Purdy was a pleasant surprise, winning seven consecutive starts (including the playoffs) before suffering a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC title game.
Purdy is expected to be fully recovered sometime in September. San Francisco added veteran Sam Darnold to a quarterback room that also includes former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance, the most likely candidate to start Week 1 with the end of Purdy's expected recovery time nearing the start of the regular season.
Garoppolo departed the 49ers, signing a three-year free-agent deal with the Las Vegas Raiders.