Cam Heyward reacts to Ben Roethlisberger's controversial comments about the Steelers

After Ben Roethlisberger announced his retirement, the Pittsburgh Steelers  haven’t found their quarterback of the future. Now, they’re living a terrible moment in the 2023 season following two incredible losses against the Arizona Cardinals and the New England Patriots.

In this scenario, Big Ben took a big shot at Mike Tomlin and the entire organization led by Art Rooney II. It all happened during an appearance in his podcast Footbahlin.

“Maybe the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers is done. Who is grabbing someone by the face mask and saying: ‘That’s not what we do’. Is that happening? Yes, you have guys on defense doing it, but you need guys on other sides of the ball doing it. You need someone to stand up in that room, on offense, and be like, hey, this isn’t what it means to wear the black and gold.”

The Steelers had no margin of error to reach the playoffs in the NFL and then make a Super Bowl run. However, they lost again to the Indianapolis Colts and compromised their chances with a 7-7 record. The remaining rivals on the schedule are the Bengals, Seahawks and Ravens.

Ben Roethlisberger sparked a massive controversy in Pittsburgh (Getty Images)

Ben Roethlisberger takes a shot at Mike Tomlin and the Steelers

After their terrible performances against the Arizona Cardinals and the New England Patriots, the Steelers became the first team over .500 to lose consecutive games to teams 8+ games under .500.

That’s why, Ben Roethlisberger criticized Mike Tomlin for many coaching decisions which have impacted the Steelers during the 2023 season. The former quarterback mentioned another example was the end the game against the Patriots.

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“You can’t afford in the second half of games to burn silly timeouts and to not have them late in the game. To me, that’s bad coaching. There’s some feel you have to have in those situations because timeouts can be so valuable as we saw in this game.”

According to Big Ben, the dangerous situation is that Steelers are losing their identity. “This isn’t what has been handed down from those teams of the ’70s. The Steel Curtain, the four Super Bowls, the Nolls, the Bradshaws, the Blounts. All those people, it’s unbelievable.”

Mike Tomlin might be on the hot seat with Steelers (Getty Images)

Cam Heyward answers Ben Roethlisberger

Of course, Ben Roethlisberger’s comments were heard loud and clear in Pittsburgh and produced a massive effect inside that locker room. Before the game against the Colts, a veteran like Cam Heyward had a response for his former teammate. However, they didn’t prove it on the field.

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“Ben has an opinion. He’s entitled to that, but I don’t agree. We lost these last two games. Been rough, but the Steelers Way is about grinding it out and it doesn’t matter what’s going on. So, there is plenty to be done about it and the tradition starts by winning games, having good defense and scoring points. So, hopefully we can adjust that this week.”