Big Ben both bothered and bewildered
QB says he never saw relationship with Brown blowing up like it did
Ben Roethlisberger’s relationship with Antonio Brown deteriorated in front of the entire country in the final week of 2018. It played out on social media and national television as Brown orchestrated his exit by not showing up for the final game against the Cincinnati Bengals, then staying absent until the Steelers finally were forced to trade him to the Oakland Raiders in March.
Roethlisberger stayed silent for the past 4½ months while Brown and others took shots at him. In an interview Tuesday, Roethlisberger said he was blindsided by Brown’s absence and still does not know
why the entire episode happened.
“It was hard to process it because I never knew anything,” Roethlisberger said after the first practice of the spring at the team’s training facility on the South Side. “The last time we spoke was on Thursday before the last game. We hugged. We had a great talk. Everything was good.
“I knew nothing. It was hard for me to know anything. I heard from a third party there were issues. I reached out to him many times — text, calls … this was all before the season was over. I never heard back. I could never find out what was going on.
“For me, that’s why it was so confusing. I didn’t know where it came from. The week before was the Saints game. He had an unbelievable game. I never saw any of it coming. I would have loved to have had a chance to talk to him. That’s why I said [Monday] whatever I did to offend to him, I apologize for. I tried to do that in person, but he wouldn’t allow me to.”
Brown said plenty on social media and in a series of interviews on national networks. He said Roethlisberger had an “owner’s mentality” and ripped him for his leadership style. Le’Veon Bell, who played with Roethlisberger and Brown from 2013-17, echoed Brown’s sentiments when he also criticized Roethlisberger’s leadership style in an interview with Sports Illustrated.
Hall of Fame players such as Deion Sanders and others in the national media piled on, as did former teammates Rashard Mendenhall and Josh Harris.
All of it, Roethlisberger said, was difficult to deal with.
“As professional athletes you always talk about thick skin,” Roethlisberger said. “Naturally, you have to have it. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother us at times. It does start to hurt. It affects your family. When it affects your family, it can definitely affect you. Things bother you. You think about it, but you also understand that we live in an amazing country where people have opinions and people can say what they want. You just have to focus on the people that are here and make sure they’re good. And everyone I talked to here is good with me.”
A few of Roethlisberger’s teammates had his back and posted supporting words on their social media accounts in recent weeks. They reiterated their support for Roethlisberger Tuesday.
“Things were misconstrued, and you only hear one side of the story,” said veteran defensive end Cameron Heyward, a team captain alongside Roethlisberger last season. “As a leader, you want to get to the bottom of it and talk. I’ve talked to many. I want to keep that in-house, but not having the full side of every story was kind of baffling to me. Media went to one side — I’m not saying [locally] but it was just a big, big thing that was only portrayed from one side.”
After Brown posted “Two Face” on his Twitter account Monday, hours after Roethlisberger apologized to him in an interview on KDKATV, Heyward posted the following message on his Twitter account: “I love the 20192020 STEELERS and where we are headed … anyone got anything to say about my teammates say it to me. We are all focused on this season and if you can’t get down with that … MOVE ON!”
That was the message Roethlisberger wanted to convey more than anything else Tuesday. Unlike last year, when he skipped most spring practices to take a family vacation, Roethlisberger said he planned to attend every voluntary session.
Replacing Brown’s production will be difficult, he said, but building relationships with his suddenly young receiving corps will be the focus.
“Whether it’s young guys or guys we brought in from other teams,” Roethlisberger said,
“It’s definitely a new kind of challenge. That’s what makes it fun, too.”
He addressed other issues, too:
• On whether JuJu SmithSchuster is ready to ascend to being a No. 1 receiver: “You’ll have to ask him, but I think he is.”
• On taking some of the skill position players to his summer home in Georgia last week: “A lot of people think it’s just about football, but sometimes you have to understand the person, too. When you can understand the person, you can figure out how they like certain passes and try to have fun together.”
• On coming together as a team: “We’ve been attacked from all different angles this offseason. We just need to stick together and have each other’s backs.”