What did Heyward say about Roethlisberger’s “me-type attitude” comments?
Cam Heyward has fired back at ex-Steelers team-mate Ben Roethlisberger, after the retired QB criticised current players’ lack of a “team-first” attitude.
Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward has hit back at former colleague Ben Roethlisberger’s recent comments that NFL players today tend to have a “me-type attitude”.
Roethlisberger: “It turned from a team-first to a me-type attitude”
In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week, Roethlisberger said: “I feel like the game has changed. I feel like the people have changed in a sense. Maybe it’s because I got spoiled when I came in. The team was so important. It was all about the team. Now, it’s about me and this, that and the other.
“I might be standing on a soapbox a little bit, but that’s my biggest takeaway from when I started to the end. It turned from a team-first to a me-type attitude. It was hard.”
Heyward: “There are a lot more guys that are team-first guys”
In response, Heyward told his ESPN podcast Not Just Football, which was released on Wednesday: “It looks as though we’re looked at as selfish players, and I think that’s not the point.
“We have a lot of young players that come from different backgrounds, we have guys that have experienced different things from what others or I may have experienced. That doesn’t make them selfish or more of a me-type attitude [...].
“There are a lot more guys that are team-first guys than just me-type in attitude. I took offence to that.”
Heyward and Roethlisberger were Steelers team-mates from 2011 - when the defensive end was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft - until the quarterback’s retirement at the end of last season.
Positive impact
Heyward also noted that Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyson Alualu and Brett Keisel had a positive impact in the locker room, despite being criticised while at the Steelers because of their personalities.
“If you look back at Antonio Brown, that guy played through injuries, was triple-teamed, and still sacrificed his body to go up and catch the ball,” Heyward said.
Discussing Smith-Schuster, he said: “What was JuJu known for? Knocking out a guy from the Bengals, Vontaze Burfict. And everybody appreciated him for that. He didn’t have to go and do that. He didn’t have to sacrifice his body to come down and knock Vontaze Burfict out.
“There were so many outside factors looking at him as, ‘Oh, this guy just likes to have fun.’ And he should have fun! We’re in the time of our lives, experiencing this great game. Isn’t this game supposed to be fun?”