Earlier this year, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger claimed that he was working hard to get ready for the first NFL season after his 30th birthday. In June, he’ll be hardly working.
Martin Rogers of Yahoo! Sports reports that Roethlisberger will head to Scotland and Ireland in June for a dozen rounds of golf. And Roethlisberger has found a way to make it sound like something that will help him get ready for September.
“It is going to be pretty hardcore,” Roethlisberger told Rogers. “I will be playing something like 12 courses in 10 days and they are some of the very best ones that you can find. I’m going to the K Club, St Andrews, and a bunch of others.
“Golf is such a mental challenge, and as frustrating as it can be sometimes, it can definitely make you stronger. Playing some great courses in a setting like Ireland and Scotland will be pretty awesome, but it is also a great way to keep your mind sharp.
“You really have to think your way around and get the grips with the course and the difficulties it offers you. I am a pretty cerebral guy, so it is perfect to have that kind of activity in the offseason that keeps your brain ticking.”
Setting aside for now the question of whether anyone but Roethlisberger would regard Roethlisberger as “cerebral,” there are plenty of ways to sharpen the mental focus that don’t involve something that looks and feels like an extended one-percenter golf vacation.
The good news is that this could help Roethlisberger find common ground with his new offensive coordinator, Todd Haley, who played not football in college but golf. The bad news is that St. Andrews doesn’t have any trees that Ben can mark. And the worst news would come if the “cerebral” Roethlisberger decides to treat the supposed business trip as a write off.