For the first time since 2004, the Pittsburgh Steelers will not have Ben Roethlisberger as their starting quarterback.
Roethlisberger recently opened up about his final year with the Steelers in an interview with Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In that wide-ranging interview, Big Ben didn’t hold back on how the league changed after he came in and the problems with the selfish attitude of current NFL players.
“I feel like the game has changed. I feel like the people have changed in a sense,” Roethlisberger said. “Maybe it’s because I got spoiled when I came in. The team was so important. It was all about the team. Now, it’s about me and this, that and the other.”
“I might be standing on a soapbox a little bit, but that’s my biggest takeaway from when I started to the end. It turned from a team-first to a me-type attitude. It was hard. It’s hard for these young guys, too. Social media. They’re treated so well in college. Now, this new NIL [name, image and likeness] stuff, which is unbelievable. They’re treated so special. They’re coddled at a young age because college coaches need them to win, too.”
Roethlisberger saw some bad attitudes during his time with the Steelers as he was once teammates with Antonio Brown, who forced himself to be traded, and running back Le’Veon Bell, who sat out an entire season because he wanted more money.
Roethlisberger finished his final season with 3,740 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He led the team to one last playoff appearance, but it did not end well when they played the Chiefs.
For his career, Roethlisberger played 18 seasons and completed 64.4 percent of his passes for 64,088 yards, 418 touchdowns, 211 interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 93.5.
