An offseason dominated by Ben Roethlisberger headlines is finally over. And despite the Steelers quarterback’s best efforts to do all the right things in training camp, his absence highlights his transgressions on football’s version of Christmas morning.
“And it’s all because of a situation that happened off the field,” said Hines Ward this week. “And we’re the ones who got to deal with it.”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette calls Big Ben’s absence and how he will be received upon returning an issue that will “burn quietly in the locker room, out of the public glare, for the remainder of the season and maybe beyond.”
“If that were me, in his shoes, and we started off bad, that would devastate me because I know what I bring to the team, I know what I mean to this organization, and I let my off-field actions be the reason [for that],” Ward said.
“It may not be the total reason why we started off bad, but I know me being on field gives us a better chance to win. I would be disappointed. And what happens if they have success without me? And to not be able to be around the guys, that’s a whole other ballgame.”
Ward has become the unofficial spokesman of the team, the locker room conscience. If he’s saying this, he’s not the only one thinking it. There is a sense the Roethlisberger story has calmed down, but Ward seems to think the start of the season only raises the stakes.
“The whole situation is going to have drama, period,” Mr. Ward said.