When this tweet went out on Friday afternoon, there were many different reactions.

Informed the team I am looking forward to my 14th season. Steeler Nation will get my absolute best! — Ben.

— BigBen7.com (@_BigBen7) April 7, 2017

Though few expected quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to retire, it was still nice to officially hear he will be back for the upcoming NFL season.

However, this begs the question: what if Ben’s tweet wasn’t about his return for a 14th season with the Steelers? What if he took to Twitter to announce a new path outside of the NFL? And what if today, the Steelers didn’t have their franchise QB anymore?

So I ask: have we taken Ben for granted?

I’m going to argue that we have. We as in myself, and we as in Steelers Nation. I think that we do this because we act as if we’ll be the same team without him. Maybe that’s because we know what it’s like to go without him for a few games; we’ve certainly experienced it with his injury history.

But we don’t know what it’s like to go a season and then forever without him.

Franchise quarterbacks aren’t just created and you don’t stumble upon them easily. They’re unique and they have the composition of qualities that go beyond playing the sport; all qualities that Ben has.

How will we respond when he’s gone? Eventually, he’s going to leave the game. Are we ready to accept a 5-year gap without an elite quarterback? 7 years? 10 or more years?

From Terry Bradshaw to Big Ben, 22 long years passed. In those 22 years, the Steelers didn’t win the Super Bowl once and fans had to endure quarterbacks like Tommy Maddox, Bubby Brister, Kordell Stewart, and Mark Malone.

If you want to hope that the right player falls in the draft to Pittsburgh and accept a brief gap from the Steelers team we are used to, by all means. I’d just hope you’re prepared for the 22-year gap that could just as easily exist.

Or, if you’re like me and you only know the Steelers with Big Ben then you really don’t know what you’ve had until it’s gone. Myself, as well as many other younger fans, have been spoiled in that sense. I started learning the game the season that Tommy Maddox got hurt and Roethlisberger entered the stage. I’ve been on this Earth for about as long as the Steelers went from one franchise quarterback to another. I would be lying if I said I was prepared to have to endure that.

Thankfully, what Ben tweeted was the opposite of the scenario I’ve presented. However, it’s naïve to ignore the inevitable. Ben’s 14th season in the NFL could be his last.

Or it could just be the 14th of much more to come.

Let’s go into this 2017 season knowing full-well it would be an entirely different ballgame (quite literally) if Ben’s decision was different. Enjoy each heart-pounding moment of this season with our quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger.

Don’t be the kind of person who doesn’t realize what is right in front of them until it’s gone.