Ben Roethlisberger Apologizes to Antonio Brown

The Pittsburgh Steelers trading Antonio Brown was perhaps the biggest shock of the offseason. Sure, he talked about wanting out, but he’s so good no one thought it would happen. But it did happen, and the reports that emerged in the middle of it all traced the conflict back to Ben Roethlisberger. There’s always been a lot of chatter about how Big Ben was as a teammate, but Brown openly criticized both Roethlisberger and the organization for letting him do whatever he wants.

A few months after the fact, Roethlisberger is feeling remorseful about how the whole situation panned out. In a preview for an exclusive interview he did with KDKA News in Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger apologized for calling out Brown in the press during the season, and said he “genuinely feels bad.”

Perhaps Roethlisberger is driven by a true sense of regret, or perhaps it’s only now landing he’ll be without his favorite target of the last half decade. Either way, the apology came too late, but at least he owned his mistakes. As he mentioned, Roethlisberger wasn’t shy about criticizing his teammate last year, claiming Brown didn’t read the coverage correctly on a game-ending turnover against Denver.

Roethlisberger’s interview will air at 6 p.m. Eastern time on Monday. It will surely be revealing, although perhaps not quite as revealing as when Brown questioned the Steelers as an organization when he went on LeBron James’ show earlier this offseason. Pittsburgh hopes to rebound without Brown after a down year, while Brown is aiming to prove everyone wrong in Oakland. An entertaining storyline to keep an eye on.