Several players have talked about it before, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are a family-oriented organization. Tony Dungy has previously talked about being brought into Art Rooney Sr.’s office after signing with the team and being told “you’re a Steeler now.” His message was about representing the family and the organization both on and off the field. Dungy was an undrafted free agent, which tells you they were doing this with every individual player that came through the doors.
But players aren’t perfect, and some of them do make mistakes that are unbecoming of a player held to those standards. Ben Roethlisberger had his share of issues in his early career. He had a motorcycle accident without a helmet that left him in serious condition, and then he had some allegations brought against him that ultimately resulted in a suspension from the NFL.
Demonstrating the family atmosphere of the Steelers, Merril Hoge was called upon to mentor Roethlisberger.
“Ben [Roethlisberger], I think he’s a great story of accountability,” Hoge said via The Victory Degree podcast. “Before I even say anything further, I’ll just have people check themselves. If you can walk on water then you can judge and do everything you want because I’ve only known one person to do that prior. So to judge is nobody’s job…Mistakes are mistakes. He made some mistakes early in his career and I got asked to mentor him. And I remember Mr. Rooney, Art, asked me to do that. I hung up the phone and was thinking, I’m not a babysitter, what am I going to tell Ben?”
Roethlisberger tried to refuse the help, saying “I appreciate you coming, but I got myself in this. I’m gonna get myself out.”
Hoge knew at that point that they would get along well. He scheduled a hunting trip with Ben and spent a lot of time with him during those years as a mentor. In fact, Hoge said they just went hunting a year or two ago and still occasionally get together to this day. Hoge appeared on Roethlisberger’s Footbahlin’ podcast last year.
“He is a good man. He is a great dad and a great husband, and that’s [what] I admire so much about him,” Hoge said.
Obviously the mistakes are not something you ever want to see from anybody, let alone a sports figure that millions of people look up to. But it is nice to hear more about the family environment in the Steelers’ organization. It was a tradition that Rooney instilled in the team, and it has carried forward a half century later.
Who knows how many other examples there have been of Steelers alumni getting involved with certain players over the years. Events like Troy Polamalu’s Resilience Bowl really illustrate the family dynamic.
