After the loss to the New England Patriots, former Super Bowl Champion and Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger brought up some issues he had with the Steelers. One such issue he had revolved around the perceived loss of the Steelers Way. Needless to say, that topic unleashed a bit of a firestorm, and most of the heat was aimed squarely at Roethlisberger.
That trend continued when former NFL and Penn State LB LaVar Arrington gave his thoughts on Thursday’s episode of 2 Pros And A Cup Of Joe on Fox Sports Radio. While both he and his co-host, former NFL QB Brady Quinn, took exception to Roethlisberger’s thought that the Steeler Way is gone, Arrington took it a step further and questioned whether Roethlisberger was the right person to call out the franchise.
“I just find it hard to believe that Ben Roethlisberger thinks he should be the voice of how that Pittsburgh Way, what it is,” Arrington said. “I wouldn’t say he’s the greatest, I’d say Terry Bradshaw’s probably the greatest Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback… But there’s so many more that you would say would be more of a voice to where you say, you know what? This guy did it the right way. He’s been a leader. He’s been someone that’s a part of the community that would have a voice and say what that Steeler Way is really like.
“If you’re from there, you get that because the people who had came around did things in the community. Kept their noses clean, didn’t get in any type of off-field type of trouble or anything like that. So for me, I’m like you’re a beloved player. People really bang with you. You don’t need to come out and be critical in a way where you’re calling out the way of that franchise.”
For many younger fans of the Steelers and the NFL in general, Roethlisberger is synonymous with the Steelers. After all, he played his entire 18-year career with the team and won two Super Bowls while being named Rookie of the Year in 2004 and making six Pro Bowls. That’s quite a career.
However, Arrington sees things a little differently. Sure, he never played for the Steelers, but he was born in Pittsburgh and played his college ball in Pennsylvania at Penn State. Evidently, he feels that Roethlisberger’s musings were a direct attack on the storied franchise, and Arrington doesn’t think that Roethlisberger is worthy of making those criticisms.
While Arrington is directly willing to come out and name names of players who he feels could suitably speak to the Steelers Way over Roethlisberger (including Greg Lloyd, Rod Woodson, Dwayne Woodruff, Joe Greene, and LC Greenwood to name a few,) he hints at Roethlisberger’s off-field issues as another reason why he shouldn’t be opining on the Steelers Way.
Arrington does try to say that he’s not “throwing shade” at Roethlisberger nor attempting to diminish his accomplishments with the Steelers. He’s just trying to caution him.
“I think he should be careful,” Arrington said. “It’s not that big of a deal in this scenario, but if you continue to be that type of voice where someone who’s won Super Bowls and had so much success for that franchise is taking shots like that, pop shots, it’s an unnecessary thing for someone of his stature and his status to do. It’s not necessary… Hey Ben, we know you had a Hall of Fame career and you’re the second-best quarterback in the history of the team. Just relax a little bit though.”
It’s evident that Arrington disagrees with Roethlisberger’s comments and whether he should be the one making those comments. It would be interesting to hear Arrington’s thoughts if he felt like Roethlisberger does, though. Would he still be calling out Roethlisberger as not being worthy of saying these things?
Because at the end of the day, despite the 7-6 record, the Steelers just lost two straight games to teams eight games under .500 at kickoff. That’s something that’s never happened before in NFL history. The Steelers are used to being a historic franchise, but not in this way. It certainly feels like this team isn’t up to the standards of the Steelers Way, and even current S Minkah Fitzpatrick feels like something’s off with the team’s attitude.
You can watch the entirety of Arrington and Brady’s discussion on Roethlisberger’s comments below.
