Steelers Now
Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s recently said on his Footbahlin podcast that Aaron Rodgers in his prime was better than three-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes.
“Well, I would take Aaron in his prime over Patrick now,” Roethlisberger said. “I think Aaron Rodgers in his prime was one of the top few to ever do it – and so is Patrick Mahomes at his prime. Patrick Mahomes is just entering out of his prime, I think.”
The last part of Roethlisberger’s comment irked Mahomes’ personal trainer Bobby Stroupe.
“Not everybody quits working out at 30 years old, Ben,” Stroupe wrote last week on X.
Not everybody quits working out at 30 years old, Ben. https://t.co/2xr8uQRKL8
— Bobby Stroupe (@bobbystroupe) June 28, 2025
Roethlisberger’s opinion also did not sit well with former All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy. For some reason, McCoy thought Roethlisberger’s take was disrespectful, and he was unqualified to make such a statement.
“Big Ben hates. One thing about Big Ben, you play 18 years, you have no All-Pros, not one, not one first team, not one second team,” McCoy said on FS1’s The Facility. “This is just me, I don’t respect players that talk about greats a certain way and you have nowhere the type of success they had. You played for 18 years, and you never was considered the best quarterback or the second-best quarterback in football.”
Roethlisberger was never named All-Pro or won NFL MVP, but he’s still one of the best quarterbacks in league history. I mean, he ranks fifth all-time in passing (64,088).
Rodgers, who’s a four-time NFL MVP, needs just 1,337 passing yards to surpass Roethlisberger for the fifth-most all-time, and needs six passing touchdowns to surpass Brett Favre for fourth-most all-time.
Roethlisberger had a narrative attached to him during his career that he did not stay in shape and work hard during the offseason. Roethlisberger preferred to not throw much in the offseason months, so he would be fresh for the season. This method got some backlash, as talking heads thought he wasn’t building a strong rapport with his receivers.
Former Steelers wide receiver Ryan Switzer recently defended the future Hall of Fame quarterback, posting on X, “I always never understood the narrative that @_BigBen7 didn’t work hard, watch film, etc. He knew what we were playing & where to attack it better than anyone I was around. Most of what he said was going to happen during the week happened on Sunday.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Patrick Mahomes’ Trainer Rips Ben Roethlisberger for Recent Comments
