Steelers receiver Hines Ward skipped into a deep pile of controversy over the weekend, via some candid remarks to Bob Costas of NBC regarding the team’s decision not to play quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on Sunday night against the Ravens.
Ward called in to ESPN’s SportsCenter on Monday with what the anchors are calling a “clarification.” The words, however, sound more like a “retraction.”
The retraction is being blamed on a lack of communication, with Adam Schefter explaining that Ward simply wasn’t comfortable with the manner in which the message was communicated.
The mixed signals to Ward likely became a consequence of the fact that the post-practice headaches were cover for a coaching decision made early in the week, and kept under wraps so that the Ravens would prepare to face Roethlisberger.
Our guess is that coach Mike Tomlin has pulled Ward aside last night or this morning and talked to him about the situation, prompting Ward’s effort to clean up the mess he made by suggesting that Roethlisberger should have hidden any symptoms he might have been experiencing and sucked it up for a “must” win situation.