Ben Roethlisberger has been under fire recently. Joey Porter Sr. had some scathing comments about how Roethlisberger was a bad teammate. That’s created quite the stir. While some former teammates have come out in defense of Roethlisberger, others seemed to support Porter’s criticisms. Mike Florio is taking that a step further, wondering if Roethlisberger’s career could’ve been better if he had applied himself more and been a better teammate.
“I think it’s fair to ask whether or not he got the most out of his talent,” Florio said Thursday on the Pro Football Talk podcast. “It’s possible, if he was more committed and more emotionally intelligent, he would’ve gotten more out of his teammates, out of his talent, and he would’ve had more than two rings.”
Roethlisberger was one of the best quarterbacks of his generation. He’ll likely find himself in the Pro Football Hall of Fame sooner rather than later. He’s one of only 13 starting quarterbacks to win multiple Super Bowls. It feels a little outlandish to say that Roethlisberger held himself back by not being committed enough.
However, there are some examples to back up Florio’s claim. Chris Simms told a story during that same podcast that perfectly encapsulates who Roethlisberger was as a player.
“He was a little bit like John Wayne,” Simms said. “He just wanted to be like, ‘Howdy, partner. I’m here and now I’m ready to save the day.’ That’s how he was. You saw me one of the first training camps I ever worked with you.
“He didn’t know how he gripped the football. That’s usually pretty rare with Hall of Fame-ish type quarterbacks. ‘Well, I never even thought about it…’ Which, in its own right, is amazing… He’s just gonna go out and play and use his natural ability.”
The interaction in question came during Steelers training camp in 2019. Roethlisberger wasn’t a rookie. He retired after the 2021 season, so his career was basically wrapped up at that point. Despite that, he wasn’t sure what style that used to hold a football.
That’s who Roethlisberger was. He was less focused on playing a chess match against opposing defenses than some of his peers. Roethlisberger had a lot of natural talent, and he used that to win games. To be fair, that strategy worked more often than not. Roethlisberger has a career winning record in the regular season and the playoffs.
However, as Florio said, perhaps Roethlisberger could’ve been even better if he had more knowledge of the smaller details of the game. Being naturally gifted is great, but other players like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning used their minds to elevate themselves even further.
It might not be fair to say that Roethlisberger could’ve gotten more out of his teammates, though. Most Steelers skill players thrived with Roethlisberger under center, such as Santonio Holmes, Mike Wallace, and Antonio Brown. Very few left Pittsburgh and saw more success.
Could Roethlisberger’s career have been better? Yes, but that could be said about every NFL player. No one wins it all every year. Roethlisberger had his flaws, but he did enough to win two Super Bowls in Pittsburgh. That cements him in NFL immortality.
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