Cameron Heyward says Ben Roethlisberger’s comments about current NFL players ‘spray me the wrong way’

Captain Pittsburgh Steelers Cameron Heyward exception to Ben Roethlisberger The recent assertion that too many current NFL players have a “personal style,” saying his former teammate’s comments “spoil me the wrong way.”

Roethlisberger, in an extensive interview published on Friday Pittsburgh Post-Gazette“The game has changed” and “people have changed”, he said when addressing the differences he noticed between his early and later years with the Steelers.

“The team was very important,” Roethlisberger said, referring to his first few seasons with Pittsburgh. “It was all about the team. Now, it’s about me and this, this and the other.

“Maybe I’m standing on the soapbox a bit, but that’s the biggest I’ve been able to do since I started right up to the end. I went from a first-team position to one that looked like me. It was tough. It was tough for these guys, too, social media, they treat like me. Good in college.Now,this new stuff is unbelievable,which is unbelievable.They are treated very special.They were pampered at such a young age because college coaches need them to win too.Know the coach. [Terry] Hoeppner never spoiled me. nor did [Bill] Queer”.

Heyward was Roethlisberger’s teammate from 2011 until last season, when the future Hall of Fame quarterback retired. In his latest podcast, Heyward said he disagreed with Roethlisberger’s remark, saying it made him “a little upset.”

“It looks like he’s looking at us as selfish players, and I don’t think that’s the point,” the veteran defense lineman said on the Not Just Football With Cam Heyward podcast. “We have a lot of young players who come from different backgrounds, and they’ve been through different things than I or the others have experienced. That doesn’t make them selfish or acting particularly kind. … There are a lot more players in the first team than in a situation that looks like me.”

Heyward, 33, cited several current and former Steelers — including Antonio BrownAnd the jojo smith schusterAnd the tyson height and Brett Keisel – who had a positive influence on the changing room and organization, and referred to them as “first-team guys” despite criticism of their personalities.

A team captain since 2015, Heyward also said “it’s up to the leadership, including me” to help the young players acclimate to the NFL and the culture of the Steelers, who have twice won the Super Bowls with Roethlisberger.

“I’m responsible for these guys,” Heyward said. “Obviously we haven’t had the Super Bowl in a long time, and that’s probably where Ben is, ‘Oh man, if these guys got older. But it’s up to the older guys to come forward and hold the guys accountable… It’s up to a vet to put you under your wing and pull you in and say, “Hey, this is what it’s like to be a Pittsburgh Stiller.” And that’s what I’m trying to do.

“Ben may not have seen it that way, but man, I’m going to protect my guys. You can’t say it’s a ‘personal style of kind’ now. Everyone’s on their way to being Super Bowl winners, money, one day he’s a top player. But when it all comes together. Together, we care about one thing, that motto right here. … I’ve always tried to expand that to my younger teammates. I think Ben was a little bit off this.”

Roethlisberger, 40, played his entire 18-year career as a quarterback for the Steelers before retiring last January. He was a six-time professional player, ending his career with fifth yards (64,088) in NFL history and leading the Steelers to the Super Bowl after the 2005 and 2008 seasons.

Heyward confirmed he wasn’t “casting a shadow” on Roethlisberger, saying he was “explaining my side”.

“Don’t say Cam’s calling Ben – it’s not like that,” Heyward said. “But I will say, ‘I’m going to protect my team. I’m going to make sure everyone knows we only care about football on the field and less about that off the field. We can all understand that Ben was a structure from QB. You don’t do this game and become a Hall of Fame quarterback and do that’ at a low level.

“Ben took some hits that a lot of other teams couldn’t. He saved us, he won matches we weren’t supposed to win, and he always got ahead. But the team around him helped him do that, and I don’t want him to forget any Someone that the whole team won – not just Ben.”