Former Pittsburgh Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall has never been shy about sharing his thoughts on the team’s 2010 Super Bowl loss to the Green Bay Packers. A game where he’s received plenty of criticism for his performance, chiefly his fourth-quarter fumble that was seen as a turning point in the loss.
Appearing on the Raw Room podcast in an episode that dropped Wednesday morning, Mendenhall was asked about past tweets criticizing Ben Roethlisberger and the idea of Roethlisberger always able to take credit for success but never absorbing the blame when the team lost. And he had a lot of thoughts. Which can be dropped into two buckets:
1. As a leader, Ben Roethlisberger should receive more blame for the Super Bowl loss.
2. The Steelers’ game plan was too pass-happy, a large reason why they lost.
They’re comments and thoughts he’s shared before but went into more detail on the podcast.
“If we win the game and our quarterback is so great, that’s fine,” Mendenhall told the show. “If we lose this game in the Super Bowl, it’s on me? Oh, so it’s me because I lost the ball.”
Mendenhall fumbled after taking a handoff on the first play of the fourth quarter in a 21-17 game, one in which the Steelers had clawed their way back into contention. The Packers recovered and marched down the field for a touchdown, extending their lead and helping them come out on top, 31-25.
Mendenhall’s taken to Twitter and social media to defend himself against fans who put the blame on him for the loss. In fact, he’s tweeted he “never fumbled the ball,” placing blame on getting hit so quickly in the backfield. In essence, blaming poor blocking up front for the outcome.
In the podcast, Mendenhall said the overall weight of the blame should fall on the leader of the team. That’s Roethlisberger.
“If that’s a leader, wouldn’t he take the fall along with the credit? And not just the credit. And leave anybody else out there?” he said.
And if Roethlisberger wants to take credit for the Steelers’ two Super Bowl wins with him at the helm, 2005 and 2008, the finger should be pointed at him when the Steelers lose. Roethlisberger finished the game 25-of-40 for 263 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
“They keep saying I lost the game,” Mendenhall said. “Ok, where the fuck is the leader at? He won the Super Bowls, how I lose it? If he’s winning them, how am I losing them?”
More broadly, Mendenhall said the Steelers came into the game with the wrong game plan. Citing a strong running game that worked throughout the regular season and in the playoffs, he said Pittsburgh got away from that identity in the Super Bowl. Instead, they decided to have Roethlisberger go toe-to-toe with Rodgers, a matchup Mendenhall didn’t think Pittsburgh could win.
“We get to the most important fucking game and now we’re playing with the outside,” he said. “It’s a battle between two quarterbacks, Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers and we’re going to get into that shit and choose our hero before we even step onto the field?”
Throughout this episode and Part One of his conversation, Mendenhall said he believes that the 2010 team wasn’t constructed like the victorious 2008 group. He believes Pittsburgh became too focused on outside noise and the glitz and glamor of everything beyond winning a Super Bowl, proving to be a distraction ahead of the big game.
Citing what should’ve been an all-win/all-lose mentality, Mendenhall thinks he receives too much criticism for his play in that game. And if anything, it should be directed at leadership.
“However we lost, when it’s all said and done, you’re not saying the guy, our MVP, our savior, our hero, the guy who has won all these games before, you’re not saying ‘damn, he didn’t get it done today? Fuck, he’ll get them next time.’ You’re saying, it was someone else’s fault,” Mendenhall said. “It was that motherfucker right there on his 15th damn carry. It was him.”
That is, of course, referring to himself as fans blamed him for the crucial fumble. Mendenhall said that narrative continued throughout Roethlisberger’s career, blame always deflected away from him, and eventually placed on RB Le’Veon Bell and WR Antonio Brown after they left the team.
“Even when Pittsburgh started struggling. When Le’Veon went away, when Antonio Brown went away, it was the Killer Bs, it was they fault. It was Le’Veon’s fault, it was AB’s fault,” Mendenhall said. “It was always somebody else’s fault. If somebody is getting credit, won’t they take the fall, too? If they’re not taking the fall, is that leadership? You just gonna shake it and let it be someone else? Because I’m taking the fall for the fucking game and I’m doing my best. That doesn’t make any sense.”
Mendenhall acknowledged it’s only a small group of fans who still go after him for “losing” the Super Bowl and was adamant he wanted to win more than anyone else on the team, citing his shoulder injury that caused him to miss the 2008 Super Bowl run.
Clearly, Mendenhall has made his thoughts clear time and time again. At this point, his comments won’t sway anyone who hasn’t already been swayed. And it’s probably best for him to put the story to bed instead of drumming up a new wave of headlines about it, though he’s likely been able to tune out the criticism at this point of his life.
You can listen to the whole episode below.
