PITTSBURGH — Now that Ben Roethlisberger has retired, Cam Heyward is the undisputed veteran leader in the Steelers locker room. And the latter made clear Wednesday that he’s not fond of the former’s recent public critiques of his ex-teammates.
Roethlisberger bemoaned the “me-type attitude” of younger players in an exclusive interview with the Post-Gazette last week, arguing that it’s a result of them being “coddled” at a young age by college coaches whose only interest is winning.
That prompted an unambiguous response from the Steelers’ defensive captain Wednesday on his podcast, “Not Just Football with Cam Heyward.”
“It looks as though we are looked at as selfish players, and I don’t think that’s the point,” Heyward said, according to a tease released by ESPN. The episode was set to go live later Wednesday. “We have a lot of young players that come from different backgrounds, have experienced different things from what others or I may have experienced. That doesn’t make them selfish or more of a me-type attitude. ... There are a lot more team-first guys than me-type attitude. I took offense to that.”
He was willing to name names, too, with ESPN saying Heyward defended Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyson Alualu and Brett Keisel as “team-first guys,” despite public perception that they were locker room cancers or too focused on life off the field. He expounded on that thought before practice Wednesday, too, telling the Post-Gazette exclusively that players were “more team-first than he thinks.”
“Everyone is on social media now and it’s looked upon as a me-first culture,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s still about everyone working together and getting the job done.”
Heyward also told the Post-Gazette that he was “upset” by the comments and has not texted with Roethlisberger since.
On the podcast, Heyward then went further to define how he sees his role as a team captain for the defense, suggesting there may have been a difference of opinion on that with Roethlisberger.
“I’m accountable for those guys,” Heyward said. “Obviously we haven’t had a Super Bowl in a long time, and maybe that’s where Ben is like, ‘Man, if those guys would have grown up.’ But it’s up to the older guys to step up and hold guys accountable. ... It’s up to a vet to put you under your wing and pull you across and say, ‘Hey, this is what it’s like to be a Pittsburgh Steeler.’ And that’s what I’m trying to do.
“Maybe Ben didn’t see it that way, but man, I’m going to protect my guys. You just can’t say it’s a ‘me-type of attitude’ now. Everyone’s out to be a Super Bowl winner, make money, one day be an MVP. But when it all comes together, we care about one thing, this logo right here. ... I’ve always tried to extend that to my younger teammates. I think Ben was a little out on that one.”
It’s also worth noting that Roethlisberger created his own share of distractions in the early years of his career.
His motorcycle accident in 2006 famously caused controversy, with many criticizing the young quarterback for jeopardizing his health by choosing to ride without a helmet.
There were also sexual assault allegations in 2009 and 2010. Roethlisberger was never charged criminally for either incident, but was suspended six games by the NFL and publicly apologized for the “negative attention” he brought to the franchise through those years.
Heyward did not reference any of that in his comments, instead choosing simply to emphasize the role the team played in his success.
“Don’t say Cam is calling out Ben — it’s not like that,” Heyward said. “But I will say, I’ll protect my team. I will make sure that everybody knows that we care only about football on the field and less about off the field. We can all understand Ben has been a heck of a QB. You don’t do this game and become a Hall of Fame quarterback and do it at a low level.
“Ben has taken some hits not a lot of other teams could do. He saved us, he won games we weren’t supposed to win, and he’s always stepped up. But it was the team around him that helped him do it, and I don’t want anyone to ever forget that the whole team won — not just Ben.”
