Charlie Batch planning on another season with Steelers
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| Charlie Batch isn't ready to call it quits. (USATSI) |
Charlie Batch might be 21 months away from turning 40, but the 14-year veteran has no plans to retire any time soon. The free-agent quarterback said on Pittsburgh radio this week that he's planning to return to the Steelers for the 2013 season. Batch has been with the organization since 2002. Before that, he spent four seasons with the Lions.
"My plan is to come back and I haven't heard anything differently from the organization," Batch told WXDX-FM in Pittsburgh via sportsradiointerviews.com. "And I think when you leave out of there at the end-of-the-year meetings, you know one way or the other. And they didn't tell me they didn't want me back. So I think that's a good sign."
A perennial backup in Pittsburgh, Batch has started nine games for the Steelers since 2002. Two of those starts actually came late last season in divisional showdowns with Baltimore and Cleveland. After Ben Roethlisberger and backup Byron Leftwich went down with injuries, Batch had to start the Steelers' Week 12 game at Cleveland. Against the Browns, Batch looked like an aging veteran and threw three interceptions in what turned into a mild Cleveland upset.
However, Batch redeemed himself the following week, when he threw for 276 yards and a touchdown in leading the Steelers to a 23-20 over the eventual Super Bowl champion Ravens.
Roethlisberger has only started all 16 regular season games once in his nine-year career, which makes having an experienced backup almost a necessity in Pittsburgh.
With Batch and Leftwich set to be free agents, the only quarterback besides Roethlisberger currently on the Steelers roster is John Parker Wilson. Wilson was claimed off of waivers on Feb. 28 from the Jaguars and has never played in a regular season game.
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