Steelers Former Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger Has Some Valuable Stories Matthew Stafford Should Take Note Of

Pittsburgh Steelers long-time quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger is known for having an illustrious 18-year career as the starting signal-caller in The Steel City, however his success didn't just come from what he was able to do on a football field. Roethlisberger was also a tremendous leader, often times spending valuable time with his younger receivers in the offseason to train and also grow a connection since, towards the end of his career, there was such a large age gap between himself and his pass catchers. 

How Steelers' Roethlisberger Would Form A Bond With Younger Players

Roethlisberger was 39 years old during his last season playing for the Steelers, meaning he was about 14 years older than two of his top receivers in JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson. It would be difficult to form a working relationship with them due to the age gap, which could hurt the team in the long run since chemistry between a quarterback and his receivers is so crucial to a team's success. To combat this, Roethlisberger would often take his pass catchers on retreats to workout and bond during the offseason. 

"There was times when I would take a week or a weekend and I would take my receivers, tight ends, and running backs and we'd go somewhere and we'd throw."

Roethlisberger mentioned this on an episode of his podcast, Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger, where he explained how he would try not to throw too much in the offseason. He mentioned he would only do it when he brought the younger guys on a trip to train, bond, and grow a connection. This could be a story and some advice that Los Angeles Rams quarterback, Matthew Stafford should take into account. 

Stafford has recently stated that he finds himself having trouble connecting with the younger guys on the Rams because he is so much older and experienced in the league than them. Roethlisberger wasn't giving direct advice to Stafford, as he brought this story up long before the news of Stafford having issues connecting with his younger teammates broke.

Stafford is entering his age-35 season, which is his 15th year in the NFL. It's understandable he is having issues connecting and forming a bond with his younger teammates, especially since the Rams are one of the youngest teams in the NFL and just added 14 rookies to their 53-man roster. Roethlisberger's stories about bringing younger teammates on retreats could really help Stafford form bonds with younger guys, and is something he should consider doing in the future. 

"That's as much about team building as anything and getting to know each other. Especially with younger guys, you know I did it when JuJu was a younger guy in the league and some of those guys, James Conner was there, Jesse James, Eli Rogers. We did it because I was so much older, so I wanted time to connect. That's what I did."

Roethlisberger took charge of making sure he and the rest of the offense would be able to connect and win as a team, no matter what age a player was, and it might be time for Stafford to do the same. A younger player who played with Roethlisberger and finds himself now playing with Stafford, Kevin Dotson, might notice some differences in leadership as he makes the transition to becoming a Ram since being traded recently by Pittsburgh. 

Dotson played with Roethlisberger for two seasons in Pittsburgh after being drafted by the Steelers in the fourth-round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He is just 26, which is nine years younger than Stafford so surely he will notice if there is an issue of forming a bond with the older players in Los Angeles with Stafford being at the top of the list. Even though Roethlisberger's story was not meant to be advice for Stafford, he would still benefit from listening to it and implementing Roethlisberger's strategy moving forward.

Do you think Stafford and the Rams would benefit from doing something similar to what Roethlisberger used to do? Let us know in the comments below!

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