Fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers have been lucky enough to still have former two-time winning Super Bowl Champion, Ben Roethlisberger remain involved with the team in 2022. It has been a different role than one may expect, but his podcast, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger has been an awesome one to listen to and watch throughout the organization's tumultuous, yet exhilarating first season without him on the roster for the first time in nearly two decades. The future Hall of Fame quarterback and co-host, Spencer Te'o have done a phenomenal job throughout the year.
Former Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger (right) and co-host, Spencer Te'o (left) begin to talk about the team's Week 17 game against the Baltimore Ravens on the
Towards the end of Episode 18, the duo discussed the team's massive Week 17 victory against the Baltimore Ravens. Throughout the years, this has been one of the best rivalries in the NFL and once again, the two franchises didn't disappoint in front of America on Sunday Night Football. Pittsburgh ended up pulling out the win, defeating Baltimore 16-13 behind rookie signal-caller, Kenny Pickett's game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter.
Te'o brought up the matchup and Roethlisberger immediately got excited. He made a comment about the rivalry and said that the 'Baltimore week' is always unalike any other week of the season:
"Let's talk Baltimore, because it was Ravens week, which always is something special. It's always a little different, it's always a little special," Roethlisberger said.
Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger makes a pass vs. the Baltimore Ravens in Pittsburgh, PA. | Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
The six-time Pro Bowler continued to talk about the days leading up to the critical matchup and brought up the fact that head coach, Mike Tomlin required the players to have a full pads practice on Friday, just two days prior to the game. He insinuated that Tomlin may have upset some of the guys in the locker room with the decision:
"For instance, the Steelers practiced with pads on Friday, which is unusual. Sure enough, Tomlin saves one in his back pocket and makes everyone mad."
Roethlisberger suggests here that Tomlin likes to throw something out there late in the year that was unexpected. NFL teams only get so many practices with pads on throughout the regular season per league rules and rarely do they ever come on a Friday. Regardless if the locker room enjoyed it or not, it certainly worked.
Pittsburgh was physical and did a relatively good job to stymie the Ravens' rushing attack and won the turnover battle, which proved to seal the game when Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted Tyler Huntley late.
After Friday's practice, defensive tackle, Montravius Adams was asked about wearing pads on Friday and it was definitely something he had never done before based on his answer:
"I definitely would say that probably had to be the first," Adams said.
Steelers defensive lineman, Montravius Adams warms up on the field at Acrisure Stadium before a 2022 regular season matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. | Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
He wasn't the only veteran to make a comment about how Tomlin wanted to approach the final day of practice preparation before heading down to an extremely hostile environment in Baltimore. Right guard, James Daniels, also talked about it last Friday:
"It’s extremely rare,” Daniels said. “But I completely understand it."
In part, Roethlisberger may have been joking when saying Tomlin upset the team, but after an intense week of getting ready, it is not hard to be sold on the fact that certain guys, especially maybe the younger players, were annoyed with the decision. At the end of the day, the team won the game and while the pads on Friday weren't the only reason, Tomlin certainly sent a message leading up to the critical contest.
Would you be upset as a player if you had to wear pads at Friday practice? Let us know in the comments below!
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