That was until he spent a few days in the Steelers locker room. That honestly changed everything.

"It was no question the lowest I have ever been in my football career," said Switzer. "The lowest without a doubt. Just to go from the lowest I have ever felt to potentially the highest, being integrated into this team, such a strong group of guys. It went from the lowest to the highest. That is a credit to Coach (Mike) Tomlin, the veterans in the locker room, the organization. Everyone who welcomed me and made me feel like I was at home.

"To have a Hall of Fame quarterback work with me, reach out to me. It would have been so easy for him to say this guy got here seven days before the first game. I don't trust him, I don't want to work with him. But he didn't do that."

Instead Ben Roethlisberger possibly helped save Switzer's career. Roethlisberger welcomed Switzer in a way he never could have imagined, taking him from a dark time when he thought it was time to hang up the cleats, to the best time he had in his young NFL career.

"Ben and I talked after the season," said Switzer. "I wanted to express my thanks to him. When I got here I remember telling my wife, my agent, I am going to see how this first couple of days go. I was so low mentally I was ready to retire. The game at that point wasn't worth the mental stress it was putting on me and my life. He helped me so much.

"Looking back it's crazy because football means so much to me. I love this game. It's a top five priority in my life. To think that I felt that way and I was just a day or two away from giving up on everything I ever worked for. It's kind of surreal looking back at it that I was that close to being done with it.

"I can't even tell you the gratitude I have for the situation looking back at it. I wouldn't be mentally where I am right now if I was in Dallas, if I hadn't gone through the trades, if I hadn't gone through the moves and everything I went through. I am going into my third year but I feel like I have played nine, just because of the things that I have learned and the stuff I have been through. I am grateful for that. It can't do anything but propel me from here on out.