Last week’s first NFL game of the season between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots might have brought back football for fans—and lost MILLIONS for gamblers—but it didn’t come without LOADS of controversy.
While the fans in Foxborough celebrated Tom Brady’s return following the overruling of his four-game suspension by the league for Deflategate, New England continued to find themselves in hot water for being cheaters.
And Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is one of those who thinks something was fishy last week.
We all know that the Steelers coaches headsets’ were, allegedly, receiving the play-by-play from the Pats’ radio announcers, leaving them scurrying as to what plays were being called, leaving Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin implying something always goes wrong when playing in New England.
Roethlisberger appeared to echo his coach’s opinion, talking to CBS Pittsburgh about both the headset controversy and Spygate from 2007, saying:
“Whether we were outcoached or outplayed or they had some kind of a leg up, I always felt that they knew some of our offensive plays. For whatever reason. Maybe it was better scouting or whatever. But I had always felt that. But I’m not one to sit and say, ‘Hey,’ you know, to pout about it or talk about it. I just felt that they were — they beat us on that day and maybe I was a rookie and didn’t know any better but I always felt that the knew some of the plays we were calling.”
Those are some strong words from a two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback. Then again, with the history that the Pats have had, can you blame Big Ben for truly believing it?
The Pats might not have been punished for the headset mixup from last week’s game, but perception from current players is that they’re always up to no good for a competitive advantage.