By Jess Costello
SteelerNation.com
Last Sunday, Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and teammates spent hours with hundreds of football campers while feeding over 5,000 families through the Kraft Hunger Initiative. After tossing footballs around and entertaining the kids, Roethlisberger commented on the 'new' feeling in the Steelers' locker room.
"It’s been a little crazy the last few years, maybe more so than usual that we’re used to dealing with," Roethlisberger said after the camp. "To kind of get back to quote unquote normalcy is kind of nice.”
Off-season rumors and drama seemed to calm down after the story lines of Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell dissolved. It took awhile, but the off-season workouts seem noticeably calmer.
What seemed like an eternity, players had to keep answering questions regarding Bell and Brown, and most of them just wanted to move on from it.
The consecutive losses in December didn't make anything easier, either.
But the tune has finally changed, and Roethlisberger has been vocal about his excitement for the season.
"I’m excited, I really am excited in what we have," Roethlisberger said. "We put a lot of work in, that’s what it’s going to take, it’s going to take a team effort. We’re all going to give everything we have and see where it goes. We can’t predict the future, but we can predict we’re going to give everything we have.”
The Steelers' quarterback is happy with his offensive weapons, including the two Pro Bowlers, JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner.
Roethlisberger's teammates Ryan Switzer and Diontae Johnson were present at the camp. Two more players that the quarterback is excited to work with this season.
"We’ll approach it a lot like we have any other season -- we’ll get ready to go when it’s time in July," Roethlisberger said. "Right now it’s not time, it’s time for us to enjoy some down time. When it’s time for this season, we’ll all be ready to go."
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