49ers receiver Emmanuel Sanders is scheduled to become a free agent in March, and if his recent comments tell you anything, he won’t be making a return to Pittsburgh with Ben Roethlisberger still the Steelers quarterback.
Sanders, a former Pro Bowler, was acquired by the San Francisco 49ers from the Denver Broncos back in October. He was originally a third-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers that spent four seasons with Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown on the team.
Sanders told Ed Bouchette of TheAthletic.com that his relationship with both Brown and Roethlisberger have disappeared over the years.
”Me and AB kind of fell off after that whole NFL Network thing,’’ Sanders said, via Ed Bouchette of The Athletic. “He’s dealing with enough. I have so much love for the dude. I’m praying everything just works out for him. But after the NFL Network thing and I told him he was wrong the way he exited out of Pittsburgh, he cut me off.”
Sanders stands behind what he said almost six years ago when he said Peyton Manning was a “far better leader” than Roethlisberger. Plus his additional statement that “this is the first time that I had a quarterback that stays every single day after practice” prompted even Antonio Brown to jump to Roethlisberger’s defense.
“I would love that, but me and Ben don’t have the best relationship. I believe that bridge is burnt,” Sanders responded when asked if he might consider re-signing with Pittsburgh in free agency. “When I first got to Pittsburgh, Ben was still like a little bit of (a jerk) and a lot of people didn’t know that. That was in 2010. Ben has grown up a lot, you know? He was still like a (jerk). I had to deal with him for like two years as a rookie with him being (a jerk), you know. I said who the (heck) is this dude? So I grew to not like him but just to deal with him. But from what I’ve heard, he’s grown up a lot, which is good because I’ve grown up too.”
Don’t expect a reunion with those 3 anytime soon.
