# Why does Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger always look unshaven? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2012, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-steelers-quarterback-ben-roethlisberger-always-look-unshaven/609584 "2012-01-15T08:28:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-steelers-quarterback-ben-roethlisberger-always-look-unshaven/609584/1 "2012-01-15T08:28:05Z")
[Even in his wedding photo](http://photos.triblive.com/photos/PITT/1290348/36923272E.jpg). Is it just some aspect of the way his skin photographs, or is he really going around with a 5 o’clock shadow all the time. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-steelers-quarterback-ben-roethlisberger-always-look-unshaven/609584/2 "2012-01-15T08:33:54Z")
I shave every day and I always look stubbly. Somewhere in between Big Ben and Hugh Laurie as House. Maybe I’m just not doing it properly…😕 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-steelers-quarterback-ben-roethlisberger-always-look-unshaven/609584/3 "2012-01-15T17:02:25Z")
Roethlisberger and Richard Nixon - how many degrees of separation? ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-steelers-quarterback-ben-roethlisberger-always-look-unshaven/609584/4 "2012-01-15T21:35:10Z")
Some guys have incredibly fast-growing facial hair. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-steelers-quarterback-ben-roethlisberger-always-look-unshaven/609584/5 "2012-01-15T23:10:08Z")
Fred Flintstone! ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-steelers-quarterback-ben-roethlisberger-always-look-unshaven/609584/6 "2012-01-15T23:14:31Z")
Ben is just so manly his stubble cuts the razors. I myself avoid this problem by shaving with sharpened diamond blades. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-steelers-quarterback-ben-roethlisberger-always-look-unshaven/609584/7 "2012-01-15T23:16:16Z")
I’ve always wondered about guys with permanent beard stubble. How do they do it? If they shave every other day then they’d sill occasionally be clean shaven. If they shave once a week then they’d have a heavier beard sometimes and other times stubble. Plus they’d still be clean shaven once a week. Beats the heck out of me. I recall a few years ago the permanent beard stubble was the fad. But I don’t know how they did it. I’ve seen celebrities with permanent stubble that somehow never got photographed clean shaven. I had a scraggly long beard for five years. My mountain man look was pretty intimidating. Then as a state employee my beard was neatly, and closely trimmed for 15 years. I’ve been clean shaven for the past ten years. Never wanted the stubble look. That looks like you’re too lazy to shave. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-steelers-quarterback-ben-roethlisberger-always-look-unshaven/609584/8 "2012-01-15T23:27:15Z")
That’s easy, **aceplace57**. A fast-growing beard will show stubble within a matter of hours; before I surrendered and grew a beard\*, I would have noticeable stubble by mid-afternoon when I shaved first thing in the morning. So, to get effectively ‘always on’ stubble, just shave daily, right before bed. 🙂 Unless the paparazzi are sneaking into your bedroom, they’ll never manage to catch you totally clean-shaven. \*Diamonds are freaking expensive! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-steelers-quarterback-ben-roethlisberger-always-look-unshaven/609584/9 "2012-01-16T04:39:53Z")
A lot of men maintain that look by shaving with a beard trimmer - it’s not as close a shave as a razor, so there’s always stubble, but it’s a much cleaner look than not trimming the hair at all for a few days. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-steelers-quarterback-ben-roethlisberger-always-look-unshaven/609584/10 "2012-01-16T14:24:27Z")
ISTR at the height of the Don Johnson stubble fad they were selling comb-like attachments for ordinary electric shavers (Remington, et al) which held the cutters just far enough off the face to ensure a stubbly result. I’m like **SCSmmons**. Stubble by nightfall every day. When I’m doing office work I always keep a razor & blades in my desk for a mid-day touchup before going to see the great grand-boss or meet customers. Mine was blond (now gray) so it wasn’t/isn’t as obvious as more swarthy sorts. But it was still a bit scruffy looking by day’s end.