Mark Madden: National media continues to disrespect Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger

Former NFL executive Gil Brandt posted a Twitter poll: Who is the NFL MVP?

Voting for Ben Roethlisberger (four interceptions, no losses) wasn’t an option. Kyler Murray (eight interceptions, three losses) was. Russell Wilson (10 interceptions, three losses) was. Rudy Giuliani needs to get to the bottom of this.

Former NFL quarterback (kind of) Chris Simms of NBC sports listed his top 10 NFL QBs.

Roethlisberger was not among them. Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Ryan Tannehill and DeShaun Watson were. Roethlisberger has beaten all four this season.

The Steelers were 8-8 without Roethlisberger last season. Roethlisberger returned after extensive elbow surgery, and the Steelers are 9-0.

Yet Alex Smith is everybody’s favorite for Comeback Player of the Year. Smith started the year as backup QB on a bad Washington team. He has played in three games, started one, lost that game and has thrown one touchdown and three interceptions. Roethlisberger has thrown 22 touchdowns against the aforementioned four picks, and his team is doing a bit better.

But ESPN did a documentary on Smith’s 17 leg surgeries that was both graphic and well-received. Kudos to Smith for persevering, but doesn’t quality of performance matter?

Maybe Roethlisberger’s operation is no big deal. It’s only the arm he throws with.

When Chase Claypool was omitted from ESPN’s list of top 10 rookies despite leading all first-year players with nine touchdowns, Andrew Erickson from the Pro Football Focus website blamed Roethlisberger’s inability to throw Claypool the deep ball.

Sam Monson of that same website has been driving the narrative that Roethlisberger is holding the Steelers back from being truly elite. Wow.

Dan Graziano reports on ESPN.com that Roethlisberger could be a salary-cap casualty in the offseason. (His cap hit is over $40 million.) You read right: The Steelers might cut Roethlisberger.

That just won’t happen. There’s zero chance. But the nonsense never stops.

Roethlisberger shouldn’t be a lock for MVP. That’s obvious. Kansas City is 8-1, and Patrick Mahomes has insane stats, including 25 touchdown passes vs. one interception. He is the heavy favorite. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers lurks not far behind.

But Roethlisberger should be a solid No. 3 in that race. His value was embellished in his absence last season.

But disrespect for Roethlisberger has long run rampant in the national media. This is just the latest.

The worst was when Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell hurt the Steelers more than they helped. That’s being confirmed this year. Upon their departure, ex-players in the media blamed Roethlisberger for the dysfunction. That has been proven false at all sites involved: Pittsburgh, Oakland, Foxborough and New York so far. Up next: Tampa and Kansas City.

Roethlisberger pretends to not care. But he does. He sees and hears everything, or is told about it.

The root of the vendetta might be the incidents that got him suspended four games in 2010. Roethlisberger was guilty of nothing but bad judgment. Charges were never filed. But residue remains, however wrongly. (The Steelers didn’t help by backing the NFL. The Pittsburgh media doesn’t help, either. It doesn’t rally around Roethlisberger like you’d think.)

Those rooting against Roethlisberger after his return from surgery have been sorely disappointed. They hoped Roethlisberger wouldn’t play well. Now that he is, they’re pretending that he isn’t.

It’s beyond absurd. How can 9-0 be minimized?

Roethlisberger’s best revenge would be to keep winning.

Roethlisberger gets in the Pro Football Hall of Fame no matter what. His accomplishments will be too overwhelming. Another Super Bowl sure wouldn’t hurt, though.

Simms also left Tom Brady off his top 10 list, BTW. Simms played five NFL seasons, started just 16 games and won only seven. Just sayin’.