Dunlap: Good For Roethlisberger For Speaking Out
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - Ben Roethlisberger keeps talking.
And it keeps making sense.
After the Steelers' stunning loss to the Cowboys on Sunday, Ben talked.
He spoke of accountability --- he talked about how he didn't know if it was players, coaches, or a combination of both, but things needed to get fixed quickly.
Then Big Ben kept blabbing, in a good way in my opinion.
He next took his act to his weekly radio spot on 93.7 The Fan on Tuesday, when he talked about how things needed to be tightened up, how there needed to be some responsibility and culpability for the failures of this 4-5 Pittsburgh Steelers football team.
Good.
Someone needed to say it, someone needed to make it public.
Because this is a football team that doesn't do the little things well: From some of the younger receivers failing to run crisp routes and finish plays off, all the way up to a dynamic and established receiver like Antonio Brown quitting on the final play of the game, stepping out of bounds when all zeroes were on the clock and his team was down.
All this behavior is, quite simply, unconscionable for a team fighting for its playoff life.
It's irresponsible, reprehensible and it damn right should make Ben mad --- and I hope he keeps talking publicly about it and assailing his teammates until (if they ever?) wise up.
With all of this, there seem to be a few easily identifiable factors at play as to why it is easy to be pulled to Ben's side in this whole ordeal.
First, this is a man who has never once dogged it on the football field as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He just hurried back from a knee injury and, if anything, has been criticized for putting his body at risk too much and hustling back from ailments too quickly. On top of that, Roethlisberger has been criticized in the past for staying in blowout games when the score had long been decided.
He is, basically, a man who has a sole purpose of giving everything he can for those 60 minutes of a football game and I can understand where he doesn't take kindly to those who don't share that similar drive and focus. Ben is a winner for a reason --- because he doesn't cut corners. And, rest assured, people wired to not cut corners who achieve at such a high level really don't have time for those who don't give maximum effort for the maximum time.
In addition to that, keep in mind the guys who were veterans when Roethlisberger was coming up. They were men who demanded perfection and accountability and had zero time for nonsense when it was game time.
There was Aaron Smith.
There was Troy Polamalu.
There was Alan Faneca.
There was Casey Hampton.
There was Jerome Bettis.
There was Hines Ward.
There was James Farrior.
There was James Harrison.
There was Brett Keisel.
There was Larry Foote.
There was Chris Hoke.
Those are the men who Roethlisberger learned from. Those are the men who guided Roethlisberger back to center when his immaturity got the better of him at times early in his career.
The Steelers teams that Big Ben came up in his early career knowing seem a far cry --- at least from an on-field focus and attention to detail standpoint --- than this vintage.
So when Ben talks, it seems to me that's what he's getting at. It seems to me what Ben once knew about being a Steeler and what it means to be to some others now is grossly different.
And you know what? I hope Ben keeps talking until some guys get it.
If they never get it, that's on them --- because this is a case of Ben trying to be the best leader he can be. It's time some men wise up and follow him.
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.
