AJ McCarron went to a Bowl game in 2003 in Alabama to watch a Miami (Ohio) team led by Ben Roethlisberger. After the game where Big Ben took home MVP honors, he gave a young AJ McCarron a gift the Bengals Quarterback hasn’t forgotten to this day.
“I remember him giving me a wristband and just how cool it was,” McCarron recalled Tuesday, per ESPN’s Coley Harvey. “After the game, I went under the stadium to the locker room and saw his mom, dad, sister and him.”
If you wondering if Big Ben remembers that moment, apparently he does as McCarron relates the story when he reminded him.
“He started dying laughing,” the Bengals quarterback said. “He said he remembered. I don’t know if he did, but at least it made me feel good and like it was cool.”
The two will face each other 13 years later for the first round of the AFC playoffs and this time there will be no gifts involved as the two rivals will look to advance into the next round. AJ McCarron will look to finally give a win to the Bengals under Marvin Lewis.