One of the biggest concerns for the Steelers heading into the 2012 season was what the Todd Haley effect would entail. During the offseason, Ben Roethlisberger made it relatively clear that he was bitter about the hire and the fact that Pittsburgh was going to run the ball a lot more with Haley acting as offensive coordinator. Although, he denies that now.
“People really did make a big deal about it,” Roethlisberger said according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I heard Cris Carter (of ESPN) ask, ‘Why doesn’t Ben embrace the change and want to get better?’ That’s ridiculous. I’m all about getting better. I never said the change was going to be bad or good. I just said it was a change. It was what it was.”
However, Roethlisberger did admit that he had a minor confrontation with Haley during Pittsburgh’s week one loss to the Broncos.
“We had one little incident,” he said. “I walked away. I’ll leave it at that. I walked away.”
The Steelers then went on to score plenty of points in a 27-10 win over the Jets last weekend, so clearly there wasn’t much to the exchange. But it is a reminder that with every transition period comes some frustration, and Steelers fans should be a least a little concerned. If Pittsburgh loses a few games, it will only make matters worse if Roethlisberger and Haley play the blame game. We’ll have a better feel for how their relationship is going to play out in a few weeks.
H/T Pro Football Talk
Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE
