Boys will be boys I guess but in this case they sound a lot more like middle schoolers rather than grown men and retired football players. The Pittsburgh Steelers have largely been a soap opera this past season and one could argue much longer than that but apparently there is no end in sight. Joey Porter took to Cam Heyward’s Podcast this week to tell us things about Ben Roethlisberger that most of us already knew.
“Seven broke the brotherhood (spoke negatively about Tomlin)… He was not a good teammate,” said Porter. Really? Is this breaking news that he wasn’t a “good teammate?” ESPN, Sports Illustrated and numerous other outlets certainly thought it was. But it isn’t. Rumors of Big Ben’s selfish behavior circulated early in his career. Arrogant and conceited were thrown around more than his passes. There were numerous testimonials about his lack of tipping on big bar tabs and then of course there was the motorcycle accident which was followed by ugly accusations out of Lake Tahoe and Milledgeville, Georgia.
When reporters dug into these events they also found out about Roethlisberger as a teammate and it largely wasn’t real good. He tended to stick to his own little private space in the locker room. There were a few guys “allowed” into the circle but many stayed away and Big Ben rarely strayed. Most however looked past all of this because of what he could do on the football field.
Everything I just typed is known. So why is Porter bringing it up on a podcast suddenly a breaking news item?
Largely because Porter hasn’t liked what Roethlisberger and James Harrison have said regarding the Steelers and more specifically Mike Tomlin. Secondary to that is because guys like Mike Mitchell, Mike Adams and yes, even Mason Rudolph piled on Roethlisberger in the podcast’s Instagram comments. Again I ask, why is this news if we had learned about it 15 years ago?
What I find interesting is that Porter is someone who probably shouldn’t be throwing stones at glass houses. He’s had his own run-ins with the law and wasn’t exactly considered the nicest person around town either. What is perhaps the most disappointing part of all of this is that Porter, Roethlisberger and Harrison (who also has his share of issues) have built nice lives for themselves in their post-playing days. Honestly, that’s the part that all of us should be talking about.
Instead, we are left with grown men acting like children all in the name of engagement farming and getting clicks. Boys will be boys after all and the soap opera never ends.
