The Pittsburgh Steelers have no knowledge that Ben Roethlisberger played the Super Bowl with two broken ribs, as the quarterback told a Web site.
According to SI.com, Roethlisberger said his fractured ribs did not show up on X-rays taken before he led the Steelers to a 27-23 win over Arizona on Feb. 1, but were revealed only during a MRI test he had last week.
"Luckily, in the game, I didn't take any big hits to make 'em hurt," Roethlisberger told SI.com. "But I knew all along there was something wrong. There wouldn't have been anything that could have been done about fractured ribs anyway. It was just suck it up and play."
Roethlisberger did not miss any practices before the Super Bowl, although a pool report from the Wednesday practice said he attempted during the middle of the workout to stretch his torso. He missed one practice during the off week before the Super Bowl because of what the team said was a back injury.
"There's not a whole lot to say," Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett said Monday. "Ben was fine to go. He was cleared to play. He didn't miss any [practice] time. There was no doubt he was going to play."
The Steelers said it would have been difficult for Roethlisberger to play any better than he did in leading the decisive 78-yard drive that ended with a precisely thrown 6-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds remaining.
Several plays before, Roethlisberger -- leading his sixth game-winning drive of the season -- hit Holmes on a 40-yard completion.
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Roethlisberger did not mention any possible injury during postgame interviews.
It is uncertain if the validity of Roethlisberger's claim will be proven.
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