(Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)
Former Steelers' quarterback Terry Bradshaw was on the "The Herd" with Colin Cowherd on Friday, and the four-time Super Bowl champion talked about how he and Ben Roethlisberger are now on good terms, which wasn't always the case.
Bradshaw and Roethlisberger never really had a good relationship with one another. It stems from when Bradshaw told Roethlisberger early in his career that he shouldn't be riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Roethlisberger didn't take Bradshaw's advice well, and there was always just a sense of uncomfortableness between the two from that point on.
"I did an interview with Ben Roethlisberger, and it was the best interview I’ve ever done because of the friction between the two of us, self-imposed or whatever," Bradshaw said of his pregame interview with Roethlisberger on Fox before the Steelers-Eagles game on Oct. 11. "And out of that interview him being relieved, jovial, fun to be with, calling me a superstar and having fun with it. And ... we came out of that interview, and I said ‘wow.’ It felt so good because I was nervous doing the interview because we haven’t gotten along because of off the field stuff. And I was very critical of him, not his playing, just off the field stuff.
"This interview we did two weeks ago, I feel like things have been mended. I think it's good and I look forward to going to Pittsburgh now and being able to go up to Ben and say, 'Hey, how are you doing?' He has my number, I had a writer there in Pittsburgh give him my number, so if he ever wanted to call or wanted to talk. Hopefully, he will one of these days. "It’s good for me. It’s good for him. It’s good for the city. It’s good for the Steelers."
In addition to being critical about Roethlisberger riding a motorcycle without a helmet before his accident in June of 2006, Bradshaw also criticized him when two sexual assault allegations came out against Roethlisberger. There was never no found evidence of Roethlisberger doing any wrongdoing in both cases, other than the poor judgment of putting himself in a bad situation with the incident in Milledgeville, Ga., in 2010. Roethlisberger was suspended for four games by the NFL in 2010 due to violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.
Bradshaw hammered Roethlisberger on Fox in 2010 stating, "For years you acted recklessly. You hung out in college bars, you disrespected women. The Steelers got rid of Super Bowl hero Santonio Holmes for failing a substance abuse test, but they should have dumped you, because what you did, in my eyes, was a lot worse. ... If I had owned the Steelers, hear me loud and clear, he would not be a Steeler. I would have gotten rid of him. What he did in my eyes is absolutely unacceptable.”
Bradshaw said Roethlisberger never has to look over his shoulder at him, as he believes he's the superior player of the two. The eras are different and the game has changed from when Bradshaw played, which he thinks makes it harder on Roethlisberger.
"He has had to deal with various players [sic] interchangeable. OK? I didn’t. The same team that won the Super Bowl when you were 13 is the same one that won the Super Bowl when you were 19. That's before player movement. Now you can get new players in. You have Le'Veon Bell, gone. You have Antonio Brown, gone. Your tight end, gone. Players come in and want more money, gone. You can't pay 'em all. And the Steelers have done a great job of drafting players. But he doesn't need to look over his shoulder at me because if you ask me right now I can't warm up him statistically, it's not even a contest. We won four Super Bowls and I never had anybody say, 'Hey Terry, how many yards (have) you thrown for?' Well, I am glad I can't remember because it's pretty embarrassing. But you can't say it's a different era, you just accept it and move on and that's life."
Cowherd also asked Bradshaw if this Steelers team has Super Bowl potential, to which he said without hesitation yes.
"This Steelers team, absolutely," Bradshaw said. "As a matter of fact the way they're playing and playing very consistent. Last week on the Fox pregame show I laughed at Cleveland. They're talking 'they're going to go in there this is the new Cleveland Browns.' I said 'they are going to get that butt whooped.' Ben and I both are 12-0 against Cleveland at home, he is now 13-0. I am not worried about Cleveland. We don't lose to Cleveland, not with Ben playing. I think they are playing better than Baltimore. Right now, Tennessee, who they are playing this week, and who I obviously picked to beat Tennessee. Two undefeateds, there's three left. They go 6-0, they're just building momentum. And Ben's playing lights out."
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