First Call: Ben Roethlisberger on the notion of becoming an offensive coordinator; Steelers looking at defensive backs

Ben Roetlisberger is talking about life after football. The Steelers are considering making another move to bolster their defensive backfield. The Prime Video ratings for “Thursday Night Football” are a struggle.

And Duquesne’s next men’s basketball game looks like it could be a real test.

All that in Wednesday’s “First Call.”

Thanks, but no thanks

In his latest “Footbahlin’ with Ben” podcast, former Steelers quarterback Ben Rothlisberger put to rest two popular talking points about his post-football life.

• Would he ever want to be an offensive coordinator?

• Would he ever want to get into broadcasting full time?

The answers were definitively “no” to the first question. Perhaps only minimally to the second one.

During the latest episode, KDKA television sports anchor Bob Pompeani was Roethlisberger’s guest. Pompeani relayed to Roethlisberger that he frequently gets calls from fans suggesting that the Steelers hire Big Ben as a coordinator.

“And I answer that for you saying that there is no way he’d do that given the time commitment,” Pompeani said.

“Correct,” Roethlisberger replied.

“No way?” Pompeani followed up.

“No way,” Roethlisberger stated in agreement.

A similar response came from Roethlisberger regarding broadcasting, saying that the part of retirement he enjoys is being around his family and spending time with his kids.

“If (I) did something locally, (I) could do it,” Roethlisberger said. “But to do games or to do something like that, it doesn’t intrigue me right now.”

Roethlisberger said he is simply enjoying coaching his kids’ teams, playing golf and taking his daughter horseback riding too much to commit to something else.

Depth check

It appears the Steelers are looking to beef up their secondary. Since William Jackson III was acquired in a trade with Washington and immediately went on injured reserve with a back ailment, the Steelers are working out various cornerbacks.

According to the Pro Football Network, the Steelers worked out Chris Westry, Jace Whittaker and Tim Harris. Westry has started games in the past with the Baltimore Ravens and has also played for the Dallas Cowboys, breaking up three total passes in eight games and registering 18 career tackles.

Whittaker has nine tackles in three games spanning three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, including three this season. Harris played in two games with the San Francisco 49ers in 2020 and one game with the Cleveland Browns last year.

The Steelers released LB Hamilcar Rashed from the practice squad on Tuesday.

Not so ‘prime’ time

Prime Video’s ratings for “Thursday Night Football” haven’t been great. And this week, they bottomed out.

According to SportsMediaWatch.com, the Week 10 game between the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers averaged 6.8 million viewers. That’s the smallest audience in the slot during 2022.

As ProFootballTalk.com reports, that’s significant because the season average now sits at under 10 million for the first time. With nine games played, Prime Video’s average viewership is 9.65 million. PFT says Prime Video promised advertisers an average of 12.5 million viewers.

Amazon is disputing the Nielsen numbers, claiming their average is at 11.4 million.

The next two Prime Video contests should aid the average, though. This week, “Thursday Night Football” features the Green Bay Packers against the AFC South-leading Tennessee Titans. Then, it’s the Buffalo Bills versus the New England Patriots the Thursday after Thanksgiving.

Red-hot Raiders

After routing South Carolina State 96-71 Monday night, Duquesne may find itself with a tough test in its next game.

Keith Dambrot’s Dukes are playing Colgate at LeBron James Arena in Akron on Friday night. The Raiders just upset Syracuse 80-68.

It was the second straight win for Colgate in the JMA Wireless Dome in as many years. They shot 47.8% from the field, including a blistering 19 of 38 from three-point land. Guard Tucker Richardson led the way with 27 points.

Via ESPN Stats and Info, this is Colgate’s first win streak against the Orange since it won four straight in the series from 1960-62.

Colgate also won the Patriot League title a year ago.