Steelers fans responds to Ben Roethlisberger’s strong criticism
A Pittsburgh Steelers veteran is responding after former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger questioned whether the team’s tradition is eroding.
In his weekly podcast, Roethlisberger questioned whether the Steelers’ tradition is “done” following their 21-18 loss to the New England Patriots. The former quarterback questioned the team’s coaching and leadership, and wondered which players were willing to confront others and set the tone.
It was a stinging criticism from a franchise icon, and it prompted current Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward to offer a response on Thursday’s edition of “Good Morning Football” on NFL Network.
“Ben his an opinion. He’s entitled to that, but I don’t agree,” Heyward said. “We lost these last two games, been rough, but the Steelers way is about grinding it out and it doesn’t matter what’s going on. There’s plenty to be done about it, and tradition starts by winning games, having good defense, and scoring points.”
The Steelers have certainly been grinding, but without much reward. Their disjointed offense has been a big problem, and even coach Mike Tomlin is starting to hear criticism. Roethlisberger’s take might be a bit extreme, but things are certainly not right in Pittsburgh.
I’m definitely not a Big Ben fan, but his comments was really directed towards the offense if you heard it. For all those who praise Tomlin and ownership, it really appears they have lost their edge in drafting players and especially WR’s that aren’t either a distraction or play with any heart. Their O-line isn’t good and they simply lack any firepower.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher had tremendous success with Ben Roethlisberger as his quarterback, but the two sometimes dealt with what Cowher thought were “selective hearing” issues.
During a recent interview on The Dan Patrick Show, Cowher admitted that Big Ben would occasionally go rogue and call his own plays. Cowher initially attributed it to headset problems but later determined Roethlisberger was just doing his own thing.
“I kept thinking we’re having problems with our communication, he would go ‘Coach, there’s no problem, I can hear everything in this helmet,’ I would go, OK, let me look at the second alternative here, maybe it was selective hearing,” Cowher recalled to Patrick.
Cowher added that Roethlisberger was often given multiple options for different plays but sometimes just ignored them. He’d go completely off-script and against the gameplan. Though that may have been frustrating, ultimately, you can’t argue with the results.
Roethlisberger recorded a 29-11 record with Cowher as his head coach and defeated the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. He was also named the 2004 AP Rookie of the Year.
The success continued after Cowher’s retirement as Roethlisberger compiled a career regular season record of 165-81-1 and won a second Super Bowl in 2009. He will almost assuredly be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — selective hearing and all — when he becomes eligible in 2027.
