When the Pittsburgh Steelers selected TE Pat Freiermuth in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft, he got to play with QB Ben Roethlisberger in his final NFL season. While Heath Miller is the tight end most people identify with Roethlisberger’s tenure, Freiermuth did get to play in 16 of the 17 games as a rookie. He even started nine games.
On Wednesday, Freiermuth joined Podward State, a Penn State student-run podcast, to discuss both his tenure with the Nittany Lions and the Steelers. One of the topics of discussion was playing with Roethlisberger.
“It was awesome,” Freiermuth said. “I got there Day 1 and my locker was right next to his. Just learning from a future Hall of Famer, first-ballot guy, was awesome. Being a young guy in my first year in the league, there were so many situations thrown at you, so many different people coming at you from different angles, I thought it was kind of cool to have someone next to my locker to talk me through things and help me grow and teach me how it is to be a pro. Ben was a great mentor to me, and I can’t say enough good things about him.”
It had to be intimidating at first after getting assigned a locker room next to the two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback. Yet it seems like Roethlisberger didn’t let that feeling linger very long at all. According to Freiermuth, Roethlisberger helped him navigate the perils of being a rookie in the NFL.
Roethlisberger also enjoyed getting to be around Freiermuth. He even said that he wished he “could’ve had more years with him.” Even as a rookie who didn’t play all 17 games and only started nine games, Roethlisberger showed trust in Freiermuth. Freiermuth had the fourth-most targets in 2021 and caught 60 passes for 497 yards and seven touchdowns. Those seven receiving touchdowns were second on the team only behind WR Diontae Johnson.
While Roethlisberger has since retired and Freiermuth is about to catch passes from (at least) the fifth different quarterback during his time in Pittsburgh, the tight end still thinks fondly of the season they sat next to each other in the locker room. Roethlisberger as the veteran quarterback hunting one last chance at success could have focused his attention elsewhere. Instead, he embraced the rookie tight end who has never forgotten that.
You can watch the entire episode of Podward State and Freiermuth’s interview below:
