Another former Pittsburgh Steelers player is offering his take on Ben Roethlisberger.
Max Starks, who played nine seasons with the team from 2004-2012 as an offensive tackle, described Roethlisberger as a “physical leader” in a segment on NFL Network’s Total Access on Monday.
Starks noted that he hasn’t been in the locker room the last six years, but he said that he and Roethlisberger “grew up together” and “had fun.”
As far as some of the criticisms that have been aired this offseason about the quarterback, Starks offered a positive take.
“Some people are vocal leaders, some are physical leaders,” Starks said. “I’ve always know him to be a physical leader. When he gets on the field, he’s giving you every ounce that he has.”
Starks said that they went to war together and had success — including Super Bowl championships in 2006 and 2009.
Starks started the segment talking about Roethlisberger’s current level of play. “He’s only getting better with age. He’s like fine wine, at this point,” Starks said. “He’s had career-best numbers … This is what you want to see from a franchise quarterback going into his 16th year.”
Starks thinks Roethlisberger will play the next three years on his contract and maybe more.
The segment highlighted Roethlisberger’s improvement quickly passing the ball — last season he ranked second in the league in getting the ball out with an average of 2.55 seconds.
Watch the video:
Starks also went on to defend Roethlisberger in the drama from last season and said that the situation now – with Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell not on the team — puts the quarterback in a better place.
After a wild off-season, is the drama over in Pittsburgh? ?@maxstarks78 and @Terrell_Davis have some opinions ⬇️ #Steelers pic.twitter.com/rExfhcHQxX
— NFL Total Access (@NFLTotalAccess) June 17, 2019
