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Art Rooney II releases statement regarding Ben Roethlisberger

allison koehler
·2 min read

There were more questions than answers after Tuesday’s “went well” comment from Ben Roethlisberger. But some of those questions were addressed via a statement from Steelers President Art Rooney II.

Rooney released a statement today to say what Steelers fans already knew: The Steelers want Ben back, Ben wants to come back, and the contract needs to be worked out.

Steelers Director of Communications, Burt Lauten, posted the statement on Twitter:

Ben Roethlisberger and I met yesterday morning and we had a productive meeting. We were able to discuss a lot of things that relate to where we are and where we want to go. Ben assured me that he is committed to coming back to help us win, and I told Ben that we would like to have him back to help us win a championship.

We both understand that the next step is to work out Ben’s contract situation.

Again, nothing new here. Rooney essentially just reiterated what we had a feeling was true.

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Roethlisberger’s agent, Ryan Tollner, released a statement of his own Monday night (it made me wonder whether Rooney would’ve publicly addressed the situation if Tollner hadn’t first). The news was good or bad depending on what side you’re on of the Should-Big-Ben-return fence.

I’ve been riding that fence since General Manager Kevin Colbert seemed wishy-washy about whether the Steelers truly wanted Ben back. One side of me says, Rip the bandaid off now. See what you have in Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins since they’re both free agents after this upcoming season.

The other part of me is relieved that Roethlisberger is coming back. A certain comfort comes with familiarity. His season ended on an embarrassing note — a loss to a team that he’s owned all of his career. Not to mention the implosion that was the second half of their season. Big Ben is a future Hall of Famer who’s taken this franchise to three Super Bowls. At the very least, he deserves the chance to right those wrongs before he rides off into the sunset.

I also think it’s a good move that Rooney publicly stated that they’re behind Roethlisberger. After the contract is hammered out, they can move forward into the offseason knowing who the quarterback will be.