It's really nice to see former Pittsburgh Steelers legendary quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger still staying active in his post-retirement life. The 18-year veteran called it quits back in January 2022, and has since been seen at Pittsburgh Penguins and Pirates games, sharing his testimony about faith, spending time with family, and most recently, adding to his YouTube channel (Channel Seven) with his latest series, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger (right) and long-time friend/co-host Spencer (left) sample beer and talk football in Roethlisberger's basement on September 1, 2022 during the first episode of "Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger." | YouTube / Channel Seven
During the future Hall of Famer's first episode of his new series, Roethlisberger talks Backyard Brawl, tries several different beers, and gives his take on the current QB1 battle in Pittsburgh between Mitch Trubisky and rookie, Kenny Pickett, along with how the preseason can be a good (vs. bad) thing for certain players:
"I think a rookie, like for us, Kenny Pickett, right? He got drafted first round out of Pitt. I thought he's had a great preseason. I thought he's played really well. I think it's for guys like him especially, that it'd be good [the preseason]. In my opinion, I think Mitchell Trubisky is the starter. He should start. I think he's a veteran, he's been around for awhile. He gives you, in my opinion, the best chance to win right now. But I think Kenny has done a great job.""You watch him, from what I've seen in the preseason, you wouldn't be like, 'Oh, man he's a rookie, he's got some learning curves.' He's going to, because when the regular season picks up, it gets faster, but I think he's done a great job. I think though it would benefit him, and I would say this about almost all rookie quarterbacks, it benefits you to sit behind a veteran for a little bit of time."
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Kenny Pickett (#8) enters Acrisure Stadium during the team's 2022 preseason finale against the Detroit Lions. | Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Roethlisberger continued his thoughts about the rookie and Trubisky:
"I think Mitch is a great leader, a great football player, he's a great athlete, he's a good quarterback. He's the guy, they brought him in here for a reason, and I think he's going to mentor Kenny. And I think he'll really help Kenny a lot. But in my opinion, it should be Mitch's job for the time being. And if Mitch plays well, keep him in there. And even if Mitch has a bad game or something, that doesn't mean just yank him.""People are so excited for Kenny, which they should be. I mean, he's a Pitt kid, he played at Pitt, and so they're [Steeler Nation] super excited for him, but I just hope the fans don't like, the first time that Mitch doesn't play well, they don't start booing or yank him or do something like that, because listen, it's going to happen. Give the guy a chance to keep going at whatever. So, it'll be interesting to see."
"But I do, in my opinion, feel that it's Mitch's job. He hasn't done anything to lose the job. He's played well enough as well to keep it as the starter. But ultimately, it's going to be Coach T's [Mike Tomlin] decision. And I think the other hard thing that people don't think about is, it's really hard to go back and forth. If you put Kenny in there and he starts to struggle, and then you put Mitch in, you can't really go back to Kenny. To go back and forth like that, it's really hard. You want to keep one guy in there as long as you can, and just go from there. We'll see."
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Mitch Trubisky (#10) enters Acrisure Stadium during the team's 2022 preseason finale against the Detroit Lions. | Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
So do yinz agree with Roethlisberger? Or is it already time to hand over the reigns to the rookie, Kenny Pickett? Make sure to click to comment below!
To watch the full first episode from Roethlisberger's new YouTube series, click here!
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