PITTSBURGH — The public back-and-forth between Ben Roethlisberger and his former Steelers teammates still isn’t over.
The ex-quarterback appeared on the DVE Morning Show on Thursday to clarify comments to the Post-Gazette last week in which he criticized the “me-type attitude” of younger players, with a strong implication that he was talking about guys in his own locker room.
Those comments prompted a strong rebuke from defensive captain Cam Heyward on Wednesday, when he said he took “offense” to the comments on his podcast. He later told the Post-Gazette he was upset by the comments and had not texted with Roethlisberger about them.
Roethlisberger, however, now says he was not talking only about his ex-teammates in particular.
“I probably should have been more detailed, more specific, in what I said,” he told host Randy Baumann. “It’s not the majority. It’s not the majority of guys that are that way. I think, in part, I was saying, too, that, when asked what the difference in the league nowadays from when I first got in, and even when Cam first got in, the difference in the league and the mentality of players. And toughness. Whatever you want to say.
“To me, it was a very broad strokes kind of comment. Cam and I, honestly, have sat down many times in the last couple of years and had the same conversation. So it’s not like it’s new to Cam. I get that Cam’s supporting his teammates that he’s still playing with. I wasn’t trying to bash anybody specifically. I was just making a broad strokes judgment. And Cam’s entitled to disagree with me and whatever he says — this, that, and the other. But like I said, he and I have had those comments. So I know he knows what I’m talking about.
“And I will say this. I agree with him, and I should have been more clear. The majority of guys on that team are very team-first guys. So I hated that it got painted as the majority are me-first. It’s not that way. There are so many great team guys on that team that care about the Steelers, this organization and winning. That, maybe, I should have clarified a little bit more to begin with, so that’s my bad.”
Baumann then asked Roethlisberger to name the “bad eggs,” but Roethlisberger demurred. But Baumann kept pushing on the point, specifically with regard to former star receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le’Veon Bell, two controversial players whom Heyward defended as good teammates.
This despite Brown’s long list of public spats with his former teammates — Roethlisberger chief among them — and his refusal to play in what would have been his last game with the Steelers in 2018. And despite Bell’s contract holdout that kept him out for that entire season and contributed to the Steelers missing the playoffs.
Roethlisberger opted to praise both as football players and regret the way things ended with both.
“I wish that everything would have worked out because it would have been great to see both those guys stay here and see where their careers could have stayed or went to, what level being here,” he said. “I think we all would have loved that. ... Man, it would have been fun to see.”
The topic of Diontae Johnson also came up. The team’s top receiver has not been participating fully in training camp workouts amid negotiations with the Steelers about a possible second contract. He’s scheduled to be a free agent after this season.
Roethlisberger told co-host Mike Prisuta that he did not know the full details of Johnson’s situation but has discussed the matter with him in the past week.
“I just told him, I said, listen, ‘You are an unbelievable football player.’ And I know it can be frustrating at times,” he said. “I don’t know if they’re going to get something done, if they’re trying to get something done. I know he probably wants something. And, you know, I think he deserves a contract. I think he’s played really, really well and I think he’s one of if not the best players on that offense.”
