There are always people who are young, but a generation will eventually grow old.
A few days ago, pittsburgh Steelers veteran quarterback Ben Rodrithberg officially retired, ending his 18-year career with this team. And his retirement is reminiscent of two other contemporaries, Eli Manning and Philip Rivers. Yes, although Tom Brady, who is older than them, has not officially retired, the once-famous "04 Three Masters" has completely become a historical term.
The draft shock sensationalized the league
The so-called "04 Three Masters" are the three quarterbacks selected in 2004, and this draft is also destined to have an inextricable relationship between them. At that time, little Manning was playing well in the college arena, and with big Manning Zhuyu in front, the family genes would not be bad; so it was early identified as the best candidate for The Champion Show. But Manning Jr. and his family believed that the lightning in hand at that time was far away in San Diego, and the small size of the ball market was not conducive to its own development. Therefore, there is a sound of wind, dead or alive do not go to lightning, if lightning is strongly selected, they will go back to college to fight for another year.
Lightning didn't want to play like this, so after selecting Manning Jr., he swapped with the Giants, and Manning Jr. came to the Giants as he wished, and lightning ushered in another quarterback, "Big River" Rivers. Although they let Drew Brice go two years later, these are all afterwords. However, the Steelman, who selected Big Ben with the 11th pick in the first round, explained what it meant to make a fortune by making a fortune, taking over as the starter in the second week of his first season, winning all 13 games, and leading the team to the Super Bowl in the second season. Since then, the 3 people have inevitably been compared.
Debuted for several years and was full of talent
It seems that being selected in the same year is destined to make the fates of the three closely linked, and their career experiences are more or less similar, and their peak periods are all in the early stages of their careers. After winning the Super Bowl in 2005, Big Ben tasted victory again in the 2008 season; although Big River did not win the Super Bowl, after he started the 2006 season, the combination with star running guard Radenion Tomlinson was extremely ornamental, allowing the Lightning to accumulate a large number of fans, and the team's competitiveness was also among the top of the American League.
However, among the 3 people, the most legendary resume is Manning Jr., as we all know, in the 2007 season, he led the Giants to a cold victory over the Patriots who had almost created a perfect season in the previous 18 games and won the Super Bowl; this matter still haunts Brady. In the 2011 season, he performed brilliantly again, helping the Giants to overthrow the invincible Patriots again, and beating Brady twice in the Super Bowl also earned him the title of "Old Han Nemesis".
Ten years without a hitch
However, since 2011, the trajectory of the three people's fate has taken a sharp turn, with the big Manning glowing for the second spring, the Seahawks forming the "Explosive Legion" and Brady's five-year triple crown, all three of them have not achieved brilliant results. Manning Jr. gradually declined with the Giants, and his signature long-term fighting pass could no longer save the team; Rivers lost his left arm after Tomlinson left, and the lightning also plummeted, only occasionally.
One of the most regrettable is Big Ben, although the career early two crowns in hand, but those two Super Bowls are more for the veterans of the carnival, looking at the joy of Troy Pollamaru, Hines Ward and other people, Big Ben is sincerely happy and hopes to win a Super Bowl championship of his own one day. However, after losing to Brother Long in the 2010 season, Steelers never had a chance on the Super Bowl stage; even though the former "3B" group was famous, Daben had not been able to taste the Super Bowl for 10 years.
The two "one man, one city" are both team totems
With Manning Jr. unwilling to be a substitute, in the 2020 season, he chose to retire after being dropped from the main position by Daniel Jones, and also opened the prologue to the end of the 04 three masters. The following year, Rivers left lightning to come to the Ponies to work for a year as a short-term worker, and also announced his retirement in early 2021. Now Omoto's retirement officially ends the career resume of these 3 people for more than ten years.
Manning Jr. and Big Ben have both completed one person and one city, which brady, Big Manning and others have not been able to achieve, although the mobility of the NFL is relatively low, but one person and one city is not so easy to do. Although Rivers failed to achieve such a great feat, he is actually still the most representative player of the Lightning (and far ahead in terms of having children), and the 3 have written a legend of their own with a long career.
The mountains are high and the road is far away, and the rivers and lakes are goodbye.
(Aibao)