It’s safe to say Maurkice Pouncey has had enough of the national media coming down on Ben Roethlisberger. A day after disputing the story that Roethlisberger purposely fumbled in 2014, Pouncey posted a photo on Instagram with a wholehearted defense of Big Ben.
The caption reads: “I’ve been with Ben going on 10yr I swear on my kids he is a true LEADER!! sucks to see players who leave and are mad at the organization now try and point fingers like they are perfect! But this is the world we live in now !”
And the photo appears to be from one of Roethlisberger’s celebrity softball games. Last year, the game raised $20,000 in tickets alone. All the money went to Big Ben’s foundation that supports his hometown of Findlay, Ohio.
As reader Jeff pointed out to us, Ramon Foster quickly responded to Pouncey’s post.
@RamonFoster chimes in with a strong FOH to everyone. Love it pic.twitter.com/oto9D22uMx
— Jeff Bruder (@JeffBruder) March 20, 2019
So far, Roethlisberger has been silent in responding to any of these stories. Part of that may be due to the fact he isn’t on social media, letting managers run the accounts he does have (even if they can get a little too giddy with the block button). It’s safe to say the media won’t hear from him until maybe right after the draft or at the latest, during mandatory minicamp a few months from now.
Some of the criticism sent his way has been fair. Ryan Clark summed it up well, saying that #7 probably isn’t a “natural leader” and has been something he’s had to work at over the course of his career. And Roethlisberger has admitted in the past he wasn’t a good teammate nor leader, not having to be when he entered a locker room full of veterans who led the way.
But it’s clear he has many in that locker room in his corner, including seemingly his entire offensive line. If there’s a position group you want having your back, it’s the starting five in charge of protecting you.
