Count Ben Roethlisberger as one of those who isn’t remotely surprised that Tom Brady was able to beat Roger Goodell when it came to the severity of the suspension. Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger certainly knows a thing or two about going up against Goodell when it comes to disciplinary action, and it appears the star football player’s experience has colored his opinion of this situation. While attempting to hold himself back from saying anything really inflammatory Ben Roethlisberger made it known he supported the way Tom Brady has gone about trying to clear his name.
“Well it just felt like the league had done something without really — I wasn’t big in looking at all the details,” Ben Roethlisberger said in a conference call with the Patriots media according to Fox Sports .
“I guess it was more of a feeling and an inkling of knowing that the commissioner jumped to a pretty harsh punishment.”
The quarterback went on to say that he still has the “utmost” respect for Tom Brady, despite his alleged role in Deflategate. So, why was Ben Roethlisberger talking about Tom Brady and his battle against Roger Goodell at all? The Pittsburgh Steelers will face off against Super Bowl XLIX champion New England Patriots in the two teams’ season opener. The game becomes quite a better contest when it features a matchup between Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, instead of Brady’s backup. Had the Pats’ quarterback not been able to win his appeal in federal court, he would have been suspended for the first four games of the regular season. Roger Goodell handed down this punishment despite the fact that a recent report that indicted Brady in the Deflategate had a noticeable lack of proof. Ben Roethlisberger has run afoul of the league in a situation where he later claimed the situation was overblown, and this likely added to his support for Tom Brady.
Talking about the actual matchup that will now feature the marquee quarterbacks squaring off, Ben Roethlisberger said, “It’s going to be electric. Especially having Tom out here… it’s going to be awesome. It’s the way that NFL football should start, and that’s maybe one of the reasons I knew that Tom would be out there, because I knew the NFL doesn’t want to start a game without him out there,” according to Sports Illustrated . One has to wonder how much support for Tom Brady Ben Roethlisberger will feel if his team loses.
[Photo by Joe Robbins / Getty Images]
