
The NFL ages in dog years. The 2005 season wasn’t that long ago, and plenty of people will always think about the AFC Championship Game that year when they see Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger at Invesco Field at Mile High. But there’s barely anybody still with the Broncos who was involved in that game.
The Broncos have only three players left from that team four years ago: guard Ben Hamilton, cornerback Champ Bailey and linebacker D.J. Williams. The Steelers have kept a lot of that team together, with 22 players remaining from 2005. Perhaps if the Broncos had won that game and the subsequent Super Bowl as Pittsburgh did, they would have kept more than a few guys around too.
Both coaches are different, many of the players are different, and even Roethlisberger says he won’t think much about that game when he returns for Monday night’s game against Denver.
“It was a long time ago,” Roethlisberger said. “When I come up there, I think more about (John) Elway than I do of that game.”
[...] 22 Steelers remain from that 2005 AFC Championship Game, while the Broncos boast only three. [CSG] [...]