Ben Roethlisberger spoke candidly to younger Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett on a latest podcast. Not all people appreciated his brutal honesty. 

Ben Roethlisberger’s displeasure with the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ choice to draft QB Kenny Pickett within the 2022 NFL Draft was a poorly stored secret on the time. The veteran nonetheless seen himself because the centerpiece of the Steelers’ offense and he plainly took offense to the group prioritizing his alternative.

In a latest look on the Footbahlin Podcast, Roethlisberger had the chance to debate his emotions with Pickett. The 41-year-old admitted to initially wanting Pickett to not “ball out.”

“I’ll be fully trustworthy, I’ll be tremendous clear right here, and I’m gonna get blasted. I in all probability shouldn’t say this, however who cares at this level. I wouldn’t say that I needed Kenny to essentially fail, however when somebody comes to exchange you, I nonetheless really feel like I had it, I hope he doesn’t come ball out. As a result of then it’s like, Ben who?” (h/t ESPN)

Large Ben then went on to apologize to Pickett straight and state that he’s now a fan of the younger quarterback, citing Pickett’s work ethic and expertise.

Kenny Pickett forgives former Steelers teammate Ben Roethlisberger

Kenny Pickett accepted Roethlisberger’s apology with grace. From Brooke Pryor of ESPN, right here’s how the younger QB responded to Large Ben’s feedback: “He’s trustworthy. He’s out entrance about it, and he’s a fan now and he’s pulling for us and it was actually cool to listen to him say that… I feel we’re simply going to proceed to construct on that relationship.”

For Pickett no less than, it appears like Large Ben’s points are water beneath the bridge. Others across the league, nonetheless, have been much less wanting to forgive Roethlisberger. NFL Community’s Michael Robinson didn’t mince phrases on the matter.

“Large Ben, man, that’s whack, bro. I do know it’s human, I get it, however that’s a kind of issues, M.J., the place you’re like, I’m considering like that, however these phrases don’t truly discover their option to come out of my mouth and say it on the finish of the day. Since you don’t do this to a younger quarterback. Ben wouldn’t have needed anyone to do this to him when he was there.” through NFL.com (h/t Steelers Depot)

Robinson understands the toxicity such attitudes can result in in a locker room. Completely, Roethlisberger mustn’t have acted the way in which he did. That stated, step one to fixing an issue is admitting you’ve got one. Large Ben owned as much as his detrimental emotions, grew from them, and is now vocally supportive of Pickett.

As Robinson notes, Ben’s emotions are human. It’s pure to really feel delight or jealously. Roethlisberger is actually not the primary veteran QB to be displeased along with his staff’s choice to prioritize a youthful possibility. Aaron Rodgers went by the identical part with Jordan Love in Inexperienced Bay. Heck, it’s well-known that Tom Brady was not an enormous fan of Jimmy Garopollo in New England.

This appears like a non-issue at this level. If something, we should always admire Ben’s honesty and recognize his capability to course appropriate.