The Pittsburgh Steelers are without a franchise quarterback in 2023. Kenny Pickett was expected to be the guy when he was drafted in the first round back in 2022, but the fact of the matter is that once in a lifetime signal-callers don't grow on trees. Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season and everything has gone downhill since. The organization missed the playoffs in 2022 and, in 2023, the harsh reality of that happening once again is certainly on the table.
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Steelers retired quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (#7) runs on the field to warm up prior to a 2021 regular season game at then-Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA.
Roethlisberger has not been shy regarding the state of the current team since he retired and started a podcast, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger. He recently remarked that the the tradition of the legendary franchise may be no more. Not everyone is buying into the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback's opinion.
ESPN's popular show, Around The Horn, has been around for over two decades. On Wednesday, the host of the show, Tony Reali, brought up Roethlisberger's comments to his panel that consisted of Tim Cowlishaw, Mina Kimes, Frank Isola and Harry Lyles Jr. Cowlishaw isn't buying the future Hall of Famer's comments, rather, the analyst decided to take a shot at the final year of Roethlisberger's career.
"I'm gonna sell that. The Steelers, despite how they played against Arizona and New England, are still 7-6 with a chance. I seem to remember Ben's last playoff team kind of sneaking into the playoffs with a bad record too," Cowlishaw said.
Cowlishaw is referring to when the Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens at the end of the 2021 season and snuck into the playoffs, only to get blown out in the first round. Kimes chimed in next and was less than favorable towards the retired quarterback. She even decided to rip into him towards the end of her comments by implying that he wasn't good at the end of his professional tenure.
"This team bears a lot of similarities to the last few teams of Roethlisberger's career, which is to say, teams that outperform their rosters and outperform, despite bad quarterback play," Kimes remarked.
It's not common that all four commentators on one of ESPN's most consistent shows agree on everything, but the negative energy flying in the direction of Roethlisberger didn't stop with Cowlishaw and Kimes.
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Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (#7) prepares to throw a pass against the Raiders during a 2021 regular season contest at then-Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA.
Isola was next up and he ended up agreeing with his peers. He took it a step further, however, and it didn't sit well with him that Roethlisberger seemed to call out Head Coach Mike Tomlin for ignoring the Steelers' legendary culture.
"Come on. This has been going on since the beginning of time. Guys that retire, they start talking about the good ol' days. I do it every day myself and I know it's completely ridiculous as well... you're gonna go after a guy like [Mike Tomlin]... that's pretty weak," Isola stated.
Harry Lyles Jr. was the last one to speak on the topic. Instead of giving Roethlisberger the benefit of the doubt, he did the exact opposite. Lyles Jr. decided to take a shot at Roethlisberger for simply wanting clicks and attention in regards to his popular podcast.
"I am extremely selling [that] all of the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers might be over. Like, alright dude, we'll subscribe to your podcast, we get it."
Ouch. Steelers fans enjoy listening to Roethlisberger talk all things when it comes to the franchise, but the popular ESPN show seems to disagree. According to the four panelists, the former quarterback needs to take a step back and avoid calling it how it is. Instead of criticizing Tomlin's lack of playoff success over the course of the last decade, they seemed to have believed Roethlisberger was wrong to critique the state of the franchise in 2023.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter / X: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin (left) and now-retired quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (right) stand on the sidelines at then-Heinz Field during the National Anthem prior to a 2021 regular season game in Pittsburgh, PA.
Steelers' Roethlisberger Has One Supporter On Around The Horn
Reali has been on ESPN for awhile now and Pittsburgh fans have him to thank after his panel's clear disgust with Roethlisberger on Wednesday. He called them out and said that all four of them have recently said similar things about the state of the Steelers, but the show quickly moved on to a different topic.
Overall, Roethlisberger is right. Tomlin's message seems to have run stale and the young generation of players don't understand what it means to be a Steeler. Someone needs to help Cowlishaw, Kimes, Isola and Lyles Jr. realize that.
Do you think the comments about Roethlisberger from the ESPN panel on Around the Horn were warranted? Let us know in the comments below!
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