On Tuesday, a new book written by current Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians will officially go on sale and you can probably bet it will include several stories about Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger being as he coached him for several years.
Ahead of The Quarterback Whisperer being released, however, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk probably received an advanced copy and he provided an excerpt of it on Monday that included a story about Roethlisberger during his early years in Pittsburgh.
Arians apparently wrote that early in Roethlisberger’s NFL career he was a big problem for the Steelers when it came to his overall attitude towards his teammates and that one of veteran defensive players at the time had to set him straight.
That veteran was none other than former outside linebacker Joey Porter, who is currently the teams outside linebacker coach. Below is the excerpt that Florio passed along that details all of that.
“During the [2005] season Ben often acted immature, as if all the stories that documented the greatness of ‘Big Ben’ had gone to his head,” Arians writes. “He wasn’t signing as many autographs for teammates as he should; some days he would sign, some days he wouldn’t.”
Late in the year, with playoff hopes dwindling, several veterans addressed the team. Linebacker Joey Porter, according to Arians, singled out Roethlisberger with “blunt language,” telling the quarterback that he “needed to be ‘one of us.’” Per Arians, Roethlisberger instantly “became a different person” and “grew up fast.”
None of what Arians wrote is probably a bit shocking to fans of the Steelers and besides, Arians really has no reason to lie about what transpired that season as he and Roethlisberger are reportedly still very close to this very day. If it’s not true, I’m sure Roethlisberger and Porter will both refute Arians’ reconciliation of what transpired when the two report to Latrobe for training camp in a few more weeks.
Personally, I look forward to reading Arians’ new book for several reasons of which one is centered around being interested to read what else he has to say about working with and developing Roethlisberger during the span of time the two were together in Pittsburgh.
