Ben Roethlisberger’s comments about Kenny Pickett did not sit well with one-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion Michael Robinson on Monday.
The former Pittsburgh Steelers star admitted to Pickett on his podcast he did not want him to succeed in his first year. Pickett replaced Roethlisberger after the two-time Super Bowl champion retired from the NFL.
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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett, #8, makes his way to the field before playing the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh Jan. 8, 2023. (Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports)
“I’m going to be sure transparent about this. I’m going to get blasted, I probably shouldn’t say this,” Roethlisberger said. “Early on, I didn’t want you to succeed. … That’s selfishness in me, and I feel sorry for that.”
Robinson was a fourth-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2006. He played as a wide receiver and a fullback and won a Super Bowl title in Seattle in 2013. Now an analyst for the NFL Network, Robinson was upset with the remarks.
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Seattle Seahawks fullback Michael Robinson, #26, speaks to the media during Super Bowl XLVIII Media Day at the Prudential Center on Jan. 28, 2014 in Newark, New Jersey. (Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
“Big Ben, man that’s whack bro,” he said. “I know it’s human, I get it. But that’s one of those things where you’re like, I’m thinking like that, but those words don’t actually find their way to come out of my mouth and say it at the end of the day. Because you don’t do that to a young quarterback.
“Ben wouldn’t have wanted to do that to him when he was there.”
Pickett appears to be the Steelers’ quarterback of the future even as Pittsburgh lined up veteran quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and Mason Rudolph behind him.
He played in 13 games, starting 12 of them, in his first season. He had 2,404 passing yards, seven touchdown passes and nine interceptions. He was 7-5 in those starts.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, #7, looks toward the bench in the fourth quarter during a Week 12 NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. (Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK)
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Pickett said Tuesday he had no ill will toward Roethlisberger for the remarks.
