Hines Ward Critical Of Steelers’ Leadership, Ben Calling Out Teammates

PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) – Hines Ward has never been one to mince words when talking about Ben Roethlisberger, and when he joined The Starkey and Mueller Show, he delivered once again.

“I sometimes disagree with kind of how he comments on other people,” Hines said about Ben. “I know some guys might take that the wrong way. I know earlier in his career, he hated to be critiqued by some of the veteran guys himself.”

Hines also talked about the team needing to come together to win a Super Bowl rather than being a bunch of “me guys.”

“There’s only one football to go around, but you have so many weapons that you’re trying to make everyone happy, instead of just going out there playing football and letting coverage dictate where the ball goes.”

Hines shared with us a couple examples of the “me first” mentality.

“I get it, Le’Veon wants that big-time contract, I get it. AB, you want to continue putting up big numbers, you got a big pay day, but at the end of the day, it’s not about you guys, it’s about the team coming together and winning a Super Bowl,” he said.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2017/10/10/hines-ward-steelers-leadership-criticism/

He's right. at least the defense has a team MENtality.

Yup, Hines is right. Although this team is talented, it seems to lack that on the field leadership the roster had, when there was Ward / Bettis on the offense, and Harrison / Troy on the D.

the only one i've seen/heard act like a douchebag has been brown. Ben took full responsibility for the jacksonville shit show and the passing game troubles this season in the after game interview. he's right.
it's like him and brown are on a planned mission to set brown a receiving record or something instead of trying to win games.

Man, I really miss players like Hines, Troy, Farrior and Peezy. Really really miss those type of players. And of course the Bus. I do not think I will love a group of guys as much as I loved the players between 2002-2010. They were so enjoyable to watch. 3 Super Bowls, 2 wins, countless great games. Hall of Famers all around. Beautiful time and I miss them.

I have no issue with Ben calling out his teammates because he holds himself accountable and shoulders all of the blame even when things aren't his fault. Sometimes I think Ben just needs to dial it down though, sometimes these things are best dealt with in-house versus calling our your teammates to the media. Ben didn't like being critiqued when he was younger because that was young, frat-boy Ben. He was immature, and naive. He's grown up quite a bit since his early years with the Steelers.

The main issue I think this team has is me-first guys like Bell. Bell spent the offseason rapping about how much money he should make, and telling the media he wants to be paid WR#2 money to play a position that has the shortest lifespan in the NFL. Bryant is also in that mold, instead of shouldering responsibility for his stupidity that cost him last season he's more angry and arrogant that people have questioned him about it. Bryant still has growing up to do, Bell is all about Bell... We've seen this before with guys like Mike Wallace, and Santonio Holmes. Wallace had a very me-first mentality, and Holmes chose to keep smoking Marijuana when he could've continued a stellar career with the Steelers. Bell and Bryant in particular would be wise to learn from those two players and their past transgressions, otherwise they're going to end up playing for teams like the Browns.

Brown is very egotistical as well, but not in the same way Bell is. Brown has earned his money, he hasn't broken the law, and he's been very reliable. He's just a diva if anything. He is very competitive and much like any other great receiver he understandably wants the ball in his hands. I think he's still got some growing up to do, but he's at least earned the benefit of the doubt, where these other guys like Bell and Bryant really haven't.

Focus needs to be on football and winning games. Not personal stats, not rapping about how much money you think you're unrealistically worth, not arguing with former players and fans on social media, not naysaying the gameplan to the media, or calling out your teammates excessively. As much as it pains me to say this the Patriots** do get one thing right DO YOUR JOB. The Steelers would be doing themselves a favor to adapt that motto.