The Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger episode featured a pair of Steelers legends during episode 11 of the growing podcast. Heath Miller joined Spencer T’eo and the future Hall of Fame Pittsburgh signal caller this week. The episode was filmed before the Steelers won a pivotal 20-10 game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday and Miller was inducted into the Hall of Honor during the halftime festivities.
Photo Credit: Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Ben Roethlisberger and Miller are famously close on and off the field. Miller was mentioned by Roethlisberger during episode 10 of the podcast, which was dedicated to fan questions, as the Steelers teammate he would throw passes to if he had to choose just one player. The reasoning has always been chalked up to friendship but after listening to the podcast, a new reason may have revealed itself.
“I’m only calling you out on this because you couldn’t call the plays in the huddle,” Roethlisberger began. “Many times, not just a few times Spence and people out there, I can admit this I would screw up the play call in the huddle. I’d hear Heath whisper, Ben it’s not that, it’s this. Or I’d call a play and Heath would say Ben we can’t run it like that. Oh, what should I do Heath?”
Miller, who went to the University of Virginia was originally recruited as a quarterback out of high school. When he arrived on campus, Matt Schaub was firmly entrenched as the starter and Miller was the eighth-string quarterback in his own words. He wanted to play so he converted to tight end, but his time as a quarterback left an indelible mark on him as a player. During his time with the Steelers, Miller was designated as the emergency quarterback on gameday for the black and gold.
“I’ve always told every tight end thats come in,” Roethlisberger continued. “You have to be the quarterback’s right-hand man on the field. There is so much to think about, not that they don’t, but it’s the tight end’s job to correct the quarterback. It wasn’t done, in a like c’mon you idiot do it like this. He was usually right next to me, and I’d call the play and he’d whisper, Ben no (shaking his head).”
Photo Credit: Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger YouTube
Roethlisberger was famous for improvising plays, but based on the revelation, just how much was Miller at the line putting everyone in the proper place for his quarterback? Zach Gentry who was a quarterback in college, who also played with Roethlisberger, may be assisting Kenny Pickett in the huddle even now without us knowing it. Quarterbacks are often perceived as the Alpha and Omega on a football team and the thought of a tight end keeping them in line on play calling is a fresh perspective on the position.
“Every Friday, I was the emergency quarterback,” Miller chimed in. “This is how much they prepare you, they give you one rep. You open up and hand the ball off to the right, and okay you’re good to go. That should be good.”
“So, he would get one rep,” Roethlisberger continued. "That was my favorite part of practice all week. Heath would get up there and call ‘Blue Ready, set hut’ it was so robotically funny.”
Photo Credit: Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
The humor to Roethlisberger was that his tight end knew the playbook better than him, but when it came time to make the call himself, he froze into a robotic version of himself as the play caller. Miller shared that as the tight end they were fully aware of both the schemes for the run and the pass plays, so he and Matt Spaeth would help out their quarterback if he was calling plays opposite the blocking scheme.
“Sometimes he would be so nice, he wouldn’t even tell me,” Roethlisberger said. “He would just go lineup in the right place. Then he would tell guys to line up over there. I would say 'did I get it wrong Heath?' He would just wave his hand and say it’s fine. Just hand it off.”
Gentry and Pat Freiermuth are the top two tight ends for Pickett, and it makes you curious if either is filling that role for the rookie signal caller. Freiermuth is a bit more demonstrative than Miller on the field, but he has been favorably compared to Miller since he stepped onto the field for the Steelers last year. Fans have even changed the “Heath” chant when a tight end catches the ball to “Muth” which is a huge badge of honor for the second-year tight end.
Photo Credit: Matt Freed / Post-Gazette
The trade sending Chase Claypool to the Chicago Bears has opened the middle of the field for Freiermuth and against the New Orleans Saints, you could see the relationship between quarterback and tight end begin to blossom. The shorthand between the rookie quarterback and the tight end has not been fully developed yet but if it gets anywhere near the level of the two Steelers legends maybe they can share a couple of Super Bowl appearance stories on their own podcast when they retire.
What do you think Steeler Nation? Are you surprised that Heath Miller was correcting Roethlisberger's play calls regularly? Comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
#SteelerNation
