Ex-Steelers Insist Ben Roethlisberger More To Blame For Team’s Drama
The pit that is the Pittsburgh Steelers’ organization seems to be getting deeper and deeper.
The departures of running back Le’Veon Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown have induced an uproar among both Steelers fans and former players, and two former players spoke with Sports Illustrated to say the problems aren’t just with management.
“Ben is a great player but he doesn’t try to connect with teammates,” Josh Harris, an undrafted running back out of Wake Forest who spent the 2014 season with the Steelers, told Robert Klemko of SI. “During my time there, I had conversations with vets like Heath Miller, William Gay, Cam Heyward, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Will Allen, Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu, Bruce Gradkowski, even James Harrison, but never Ben. Troy made an effort to talk guys. Not Ben though. And it was like that for others too.”
Running back Isaac Redman partially agreed with Harris, telling SI that Roethlisberger could have done more to bring the team together, “but he was never a problem in the locker room.”
Although it’s been open season on Bell and Brown’s reputations even before their departures for the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders, respectively, Jesse James also threw some shade Pittsburgh’s way after he signed with the Detroit Lions.
Whatever the source of the Steelers’ drama, it’s going to make for an interesting offseason in the Steel City.