Much like a fastball pitcher, any quarterback who at all relies upon his physicality or athletic ability to succeed in his profession is going to find himself at a crossroads as he gets older, recognizing that he has to adapt in order to continue having success as his natural abilities diminish.
That is very much what we have seen with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in a gradual process over the course of the past decade or so. As a young athlete, he would thrive on the unscripted play, in which he could buy extra time by throwing off a would-be tackler and hit the open man five or six seconds after the snap.