LATROBE, PA (93.7 The Fan) – Understandably it's been a topic of conversation among Steeler nation. The team's record-setting quarterback with multiple Super Bowl championships ripped a me-first attitude he says exists within the Steelers. It's a reason they didn't win more.
Long-time defensive captain Cam Heyward took to his podcast to respond to it. He said the former offensive captain's comments 'rubbed him the wrong way'.
Is it really a big issue with the current team, a percentage of whom never played with Roethlisberger? Do they discuss it among themselves?
"Not at all," Heyward said Thursday. "Not at all. We respect Ben. Ben had his comments. I wanted to address it before we got to training camp. We're focused on football. We're focused on bonding."
"We had some mean games of Jenga and Uno. I don't think we really concerned ourselves with what Ben said."
Heyward said he really had nothing else to say, he's not going to go back and forth about it. He did say they do discuss making sure everyone is bought in, that the mentality is team-first. It's not done explicitly, rather it's done by team-building.
"Making sure we are bonding and learning from each other," Heyward said. "Learning where we made mistakes. Hold ourselves accountable, I think that's the main thing. If we can hold ourselves accountable and we can get to a point to where it's not the coach telling us we are wrong, but each other telling us we are wrong. That goes a lot farther for us."
"It's easy to say 'my bad' I messed up on this play, but how do I change that. Do I not let the same mistake keep happening? One guy makes a mistake, everybody should be learning from that. That shows we all have some growth."
Heyward said there is a bit of a blurred line in that you are in to grow the business of football, but also build your personal brand. He's for players capitalizing on their image, as long as it's done the right way and doesn't interfere with the team. The 33-year-old also emphasized it's important for them to have fun while playing a game that is once-in-a-lifetime
"You address what needs to be handled, make sure everybody has a common goal," Heyward said. "I don't think I go into it thinking 'I got to change this, I got to change that'. It's about growing with these guys in this atmosphere, in this environment."
"Understand we do this together, it's not one guy or two guys. It's a team sport and I love it because everybody has to be accountable."
Heyward on Diontae 'hold-in'
As someone who recently worried about getting his own contract extension, Heyward says he understands exactly what receiver Diontae Johnson is doing. He's copying what TJ Watt did last year in that he comes to practice, goes through individual drills, but not team drills.
"I remember before I got here when Hines (Ward) was holding out and they finally got Hines here," Heyward said. "Everybody has their own situation and how they handle it. If it's not disrupting the team, it's not disrupting us."
Heyward said he looks at it like Head Coach Mike Tomlin in that it's an opportunity for the other receivers. Saying it allows rookies George Pickens and Calvin Austin, among others, to get more action.
"Diontae will be ready by week one, I don't think he is going to harm the team in any way," Heyward said.
