Roethlisberger said when Ben was younger, it was a father/son relationship, something he thought was important. Now, it’s a friendship.
“I was his dad. I disciplined him,†said Roethlisberger. “There was one time he didn’t do well in school and I made him sit out a year of little league. It’s something he still remembers, and I hear him tell his kids the same thing. When you talk to kids, you know they hear you, they just don’t always acknowledge it. A lot of things we say as parents we realize they are being heard. To have him turn around and do that with his kids, it helps me, makes me realize I did a few things right.
“I would give him advice as a kid, and he would ask me for advice. He still does, but they are different things now. There is nothing I can teach him about football. I might say something, why didn’t you do this, or why did you do that, and he will say that’s on me. We don’t talk about football, maybe only one percent of the time. He will call me and ask about gardening, or planting a tree, or raising the kids. We talk about that stuff way more than football.â€