Steelers Great Ben Roethlisberger Slammed As Selfish: "Player Who Wanted The Attention"

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a heck of a run throughout the majority of the 21st century with Ben Roethlisberger leading the way at quarterback. The team appeared in three Super Bowls, winning two, and the future Hall of Fame signal-caller provided stability for 18 seasons. It was rather saddening that he didn't win a playoff game from 2017 to 2021 as the organization has been getting a lot of heat from fans for not winning a postseason matchup since the 2016 campaign. Since his retirement following the 2021 season, it hasn't gotten much better, as the franchise remains in quarterback purgatory.

Roethlisberger's name always has a way of coming back into the news cycle, despite the fact that he is no longer playing on Sundays. Recently, one of his former receivers, Plaxico Burress, ripped into the Dallas Cowboys franchise and compared the current situation down in Texas to the Steelers teams he played on. Somehow, Fox Sports personality, Nick Wright, found a way to bring up Roethlisberger when responding to Burress' comments.

On the First Things First podcast, he went into detail about how the retired quarterback was a huge issue in the Steel City and it doesn't get talked about enough. He ripped into Roethlisberger for being a complete distraction and essentially called him selfish.

"For years, Andrew Fillipponi hosted a radio show in Pittsburgh. Every Tuesday, Ben Roethlisberger would go on, intentionally, one hour before Mike Tomlin's weekly press conference and dropped little bombs that Tomlin then had to respond to improvisationally at the press conference because it had just been said when Tomlin was going up there... That was because they had a player who wanted the attention and was going to be a little hard to deal with," Wright said.

Those are some pretty harsh accusations from Wright and it may just be an opinion, but he certainly seems like he is speaking like someone who could have direct knowledge of the situation. Roethlisberger has had several former teammates and media members defend him over the years, but also has had a plethora of individuals disagree with and criticize him. Wright has never seemed to be too fond of the two-time Super Bowl champion.

It's hard to compare this exact situation to what's going on with the Cowboys. Malik Hooker and Micah Parsons were very public and feuded online over a podcast. Roethlisberger never publicly did something so drastic, and was always professional when facing tough questions about players such as Antonio Brown. It will be interesting to see if Roethlisberger ever responds to these comments if his podcast, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger, returns in the fall.

Steelers fans are much tougher on Head Coach Mike Tomlin compared to Roethlisberger when it comes to the lack of playoff success in recent years. Prior to Roethlisberger's retirement, the heat was on the coach instead of the quarterback because of questionable hiring decisions on the coaching staff. Pair that with accusations that Tomlin won with "Bill Cowher's team" in 2008, and the current head coach is much more responsible for poor postseason play.

Steelers Should Absolutely Take Wright's Comments Personally

While Roethlisberger is no longer in the locker room, the comments from Wright insinuate that Tomlin's locker room is unstable and he won't address certain players for causing distractions or being selfish. 

Tomlin just inked a three-year contract extension and won't be going anywhere anytime soon, but it is clear that several members of the media believe that he is past his prime. It's in the past now, but interesting to look back and wonder if Roethlisberger ever was intentionally trying to cause internal conflict. Fans in Pittsburgh would vehemently disagree, but comments like those from Wright absolutely stir the pot.

Do you think there is any truth to Wright's words about Roethlisberger? Let us know in the comments below!

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