Following back-to-back losses to 2-10 teams, former Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger said on his podcast that the Steeler Way had been lost on the team. All of the franchise’s great players over the years have carried forth “The sSandard” that Mike Tomlin talks about so often, and Roethlisberger worries that it doesn’t mean anything anymore.
During Wednesday’s practice media availability RB Najee Harris was asked about Roethlisberger’s comments on the Steeler Way fading.
“Ben can have his opinion,” Harris said in a clip posted by TribLIVE’s Chris Adamski. “I’m not trying to sit here and say he is right or wrong. I don’t know how to answer that. Ben is a Hall of Famer. Ben obviously been here, won a Super Bowl. He knows what the standard is. Ben is somebody who [is] credible…I got here his last year, so I can’t really say I know what the Steeler Way is.”
The Steelers are in the midst of a playoff hunt. They had a nearly 80 percent chance of making the playoffs prior to the disappointing losses last week. Their chances have plummeted to 25 percent entering Week 15 against the Colts. The Steelers have had rampant communication issues that the coaches and players continue to point to throughout their struggles. Veteran CB Patrick Peterson has pointed to a void of leadership on offense as a reason why.
The offense is young. Of the few players who are NFL veterans, only WR Diontae Johnson has spent more than his rookie contract with the team. The team’s offensive captain, QB Kenny Pickett, is injured, so the onus to be that on-field leader falls on guys like Harris. Recently, QB Mitch Trubisky called Harris, Mason Cole, and Allen Robinson II the leaders of the group. Cole and Robinson have three years of combined experience with the team and Harris is still on his rookie contract.
The Steelers have been a franchise that prefers to build through the draft. That is one way to ensure that players get indoctrinated into the culture for which the organization has been known. Four of the current starters on offense are external free agents and a majority of the rest are on rookie contracts. Without continuity or a veteran presence on that side of the ball, it is easy to see how the Steeler Way might be fading.
‘He’d been here with Troy [Polamalu], he’d been here with Jerome [Bettis],” Harris said of Roethlisberger. “He knows that really, so somebody outside sees that, and he’d been in this building, and I mean, you kind of could guess and say maybe he’s right.”
