First Call: New questions about Ben Roethlisberger's weight; Penguins player roasts Philadelphia

Monday’s “First Call” revisits the rebooted topic of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s commitment to conditioning.

We also get some less-than-happy responses from NFL players to the news about the NFL expanding to a 17th game. PPG Paints Arena is ready to host the Frozen Four. And we now know which teams will be on the ice.

Plus, a new Pittsburgh Penguin trash talks the Philadelphia Flyers from the comfort of his new home.

‘Too Big’ Ben?

On Friday, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio and “Football Morning in America” writer Peter King discussed Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Specifically, the Steelers’ decision to keep him on board for one more year. And, even more specifically, Roethlisberger’s conditioning.

“He’d do much better if he was 20 lbs lighter and he came to camp in pristine condition,” King said.

King went so far as to say that coach Mike Tomlin and owner Art Rooney II would have been wise to instruct Roethlisberger to come into 2021’s training camp much lighter to improve his elusiveness.

“If Ben Roethlisberger really rededicates himself and comes back to training camp in great shape — or better shape than he was in last December — I’ll change my thinking on this,” King said. “But what bothered me down the stretch for the Pittsburgh Steelers … He’s a tree trunk of a quarterback anyway. But when you see what’s going on in football today and how fast football has become, and you see Ben Roethlisberger’s inability to get out of the way, and — not exclusively — but because he’s so heavy, or he was so heavy last year, that to me is part of this thing.”

Last year, in the wake of similar concerns expressed by Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer, general manager Kevin Colbert said he wasn’t concerned about Roethlisberger’s conditioning. And he was only sacked 13 times in 621 dropbacks. Just three times in his last nine starts.

But when a quarterback throws the ball as quickly as the Steelers did by design (an average of 2.17 seconds) to protect Roethlisberger from having to move behind a shaky offensive line, that stat can be deceiving.

Although is that about age and bad knees or weight? I think it’s more about the former. Sure, if Ben can shed a few pounds, that would help. But he’s played most of his career a few pounds heavier than what would be considered “pristine.”

I don’t know what you do about the knees or Father Time.

Salty about 17

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is the latest to report that the NFL is destined to go to a 17-game season.

NFL is expected to expand the regular season schedule this week to 17 games. The league had played a 16-game regular season schedule since 1978, by far the longest stretch without a change in NFL history.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 28, 2021

That didn’t go over great with some NFL players, including New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara who tweeted this (not safe for work) response. Several other players expressed similar displeasure, in more PG-13 terms.

Owners got the right to expand the regular season to 17 games as part of last year’s collective bargaining agreement with players. But adding the extra contest was a point of contention among many players who voted against the proposal.

The truth hurts

Penguins defenseman Mark Friedman came to Pittsburgh after being picked up off of waivers from Philadelphia earlier this year. He recently conducted an interview with the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. In it, the Toronto native seems to like the western part of the state more than he did the other end of the turnpike.

In the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, Pens’ Mark Friedman, a former #Flyers Dman, took shots: “There is more of a homier feel than Philadelphia. It’s not as busy, not as noisy, nicer people. It’s not as dirty, especially in Cranberry where I live. It’s just a great neighborhood.”

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) March 28, 2021

Click the mentions. You’ll see that opinion is going over with Philadelphia fans … umm, as well as you might expect.

In place for Pittsburgh

The NCAA hockey championship weekend is set. The Frozen Four will take place at PPG Paints Arena on April 8 and 10.

Three of the schools are from Minnesota. One of them is Minnesota State. It’s the first Frozen Four for the Mavericks.

UMass will play Minnesota-Duluth in one semifinal. St. Cloud State will face Minnesota State in the other.

For St. Cloud State, it is a return to Pittsburgh. The Huskies went to their first Frozen Four back in 2013, which was also at the (then) Consol Energy Center. They lost to Quinnipiac in the semifinals before the Bobcats lost to eventual national champion Yale.

UMass and UMD squared off in the 2019 NCAA championship game. Minnesota-Duluth emerged with a 3-0 victory against the Minutemen in Buffalo, N.Y.

The Bulldogs are looking for a fourth consecutive championship game appearance.