LATROBE, Pa. -- Ben Roethlisberger played down recent comments that made mainstream headlines, saying the game has shifted from a team-first to a "me-type" mentality.
Those comments, from his interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, were criticized by many because they were put in context with the Steelers' lack of playoff success after their loss to the Packers in Super Bowl XLV.
In an interview with WDVE Radio Thursday morning, Roethlisberger said his comments were too broad and should have been "more detailed, more specific."
"It's not the majority of guys are that way," Roethlisberger said. "I wasn't trying to bash anyone specifically."
Roethlisberger's initial comments struck a cord with Cam Heyward, the undisputed leader in the Steelers' locker room. On his podcast, Not Just Football, Heyward rebuked any notion the Steelers have a selfish mentality.
"It looks as though we are looked at as selfish players, and I don't think that's the point," Heyward said. "We have a lot of young players that come from different backgrounds, have experienced different things from what others or I may have experienced. That doesn't make them selfish or more of a me-type attitude. ... There are a lot more team-first guys than me-type attitude. I took offense to that."
Roethlisberger shared a locker room with Heyward for 11 seasons, and understands why he came to the defense of his teammates.
"Cam and I have sat down many times in the last couple years and had the same conversations," Roethlisberger said. "I get Cam supporting his teammates. I wasn't trying to bash anyone specifically. I was just making a broad stroke comment."
Thursday morning, just a couple hours after Roethlisberger's WDVE interview, Heyward shrugged off any further engagement. As he spoke to the media, Heyward's main emphasis was on what's happening in camp.
"We respect Ben. Ben had his comments. I wanted to address it before we got to training camp," Heyward said. "We're focused on football. We're focused on bonding. We've had some mean games of Jenga and Uno. I don't think we really concerned ourselves with what Ben said."
