There is an old saying that when a politician speaks the truth it is called a gaffe.
I was reminded of that line when Ben Roethlisberger publicly complained about the Pittsburgh Steelers drafting quarterback Mason Rudolph on the third round.
Roethisberger got a lot of flak for the comment when he wondered how Rudolph helps the team now.
From his standpoint, Roethlisberger spoke the truth. Rudolph doesn’t help the team win now, and Big Ben wants to win now.
And if Rudolph turns out to be a good quarterback, he could be pushing Big Ben for a job in a year or two.
Remember that Joe Montana won four Super Bowls for the San Francisco 49ers and was pushed out when he got hurt and the team decided to go with Steve Young.
Rudolph probably isn’t a Steve Young, but veteran quarterbacks don’t like to have to look over their shoulders.
But I have some advice for Big Ben. The first is to stop talking about retiring. He made a step in the right direction when he said he now wants to play three to five more years.
It was still a good idea for the Steelers to draft a quarterback, even if Big Ben hadn’t done so much talking about retiring in recent years. They also did it last year when they took Joshua Dobbs in the fourth round.
It’s always good for teams to draft quarterbacks, because they never know when they might hit on one.
The other thing Roethlisberger could do is win another Super Bowl.
It’s been nine years since he won one of those. Two years later, he lost to Green Bay and hasn’t been back since.
Big Ben should win more and talk less.