Ben Roethlisberger’s teammates just need thicker skin. That was Bruce Arians response to the backlash Big Ben has faced from former Steelers players like Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and even Hines Ward for not being the best leader.
“One of the best I’ve ever been around,” said Arians, who worked with Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh from 2004 to 2006, via The Athletic’s Greg Auman. “Guys have to have thicker skin. He’s the leader. He’s the guy. … It’s his team. That’s the way it should be.”
It’s kind of an odd defense considering that Roethlisberger has a reputation for not having the thickest skin himself. Big Ben, who has been known to publicly criticize teammates, may have thinner skin than even Arians realizes.
Via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette:
Arians wrote that Porter singled out Roethlisberger “with blunt language,” and Roethlisberger became a different person and grew up fast afterward.
Roethlisberger said Friday that not only did Porter’s act before the team not help him “grow up” as Arians noted, but that it bothered him.
“If anything, it made me despise Joey.”
If you need further proof that Roethlisberger shies away from criticism, just do a Twitter search of “Ben Roethlisberger block.” If you’ve ever criticized Big Ben on Twitter, there’s a good chance that you’ve been blocked. I know I’ve been blocked from reading his timeline, which I’m sure is fantastic.
Roethlisberger told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt that he’s not the one doing the blocking. He says it’s his social media coordinator Erin doing it. In a very on-brand move, Roethlisberger found a way to blame somebody else for this.
We want to know: Have you been blocked by Ben Roethlisberger on Twitter? Seriously, go check, you may be blocked without realizing it — even if you don’t work in media.
Here’s a link to his profile. Check it out and then vote in our poll…
