Former Steelers star questions Ben Roethlisberger’s leadership methods, has some advice for the QB

If anyone knows about the leadership skills of Ben Roethlisberger, it’s Hines Ward. 

Not only did the former Steelers receiver spend all 14 years of his career in Pittsburgh, but he also spent eight seasons as Roethlisberger’s teammate (2004-11). With the current version of the team basically imploding over the past 12 months, Ward sees a situation where Big Ben could be doing more. 

During an interview with NFL Network on Friday, Ward suggested that maybe Roethlisberger should stop calling out teammates on his very public radio show and maybe start criticizing them in private. 

“Ben is the leader of that team. He’s been there, he’s done that. I just think he has to take the initiative to kinda do more as a leader,” Ward said, via NFL.com. “Not just being able to call guys out on his radio show. Take them behind — treat them like, you know we always say we’re a band of brothers — like, pull me to the side, let me know what I can do to get better.”

Although some people in Pittsburgh — like general manager Kevin Colbert — have defended Roethlisberger’s leadership abilities, Ward clearly feels that Big Ben could be doing more.

“You don’t have to air it out to the public where everyone can hear,” Ward said. “So I just think he needs to do a better job of that.”

Roethlisberger’s leadership abilities have come into question this offseason and that’s mostly because he seems to be a big reason why Antonio Brown wants out of Pittsburgh. 

Earlier this offseason, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora reported that a big reason Brown wants to leave is because he’s having issues with Roethlisberger and coach Mike Tomlin. During a Twitter Q&A on Feb. 16, Brown wrote that Roethlisberger has an “owner mentality,” which definitely wasn’t a compliment. 

The insult came roughly six weeks after the two players got into a heated dispute before a practice leading up to their Week 17 game. The dispute was so serious that it caused Brown to skip practice for the rest of the week and to sit out the team’s season finale against the Bengals. 

As for Ward, he said it’s unfortunate that all the drama in Pittsburgh is causing the team to lose two of its best players in Brown and Le’Veon Bell. 

“It’s disappointing just to hear all the talks off the field with the Pittsburgh Steelers, that’s really never been the case,” Ward said. “It’s unfortunate. Two great talents like Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown aren’t going to be on the team going into next season.”

So what’s Ward’s advice for the team moving forward?

“For the Steelers, just get back to playing football,” he said. “That’s always been our motto; just lining up and kicking tail and that’s what I think, for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they gotta get back to just doing that.”

Of course, the simplest solution here for the Steelers might be just asking Roethlisberger to cancel his radio show, because that seems to be causing a lot of the drama in Pittsburgh.