Steelers Great Ben Roethlisberger Lacked 'Integrity To The Game'; Vince Young Definitely Better Leader Says Texas Longhorn

Former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle, Jonathan Scott was with the team for two seasons in 2010 and 2011. During his short time on the team, he formulated a lot of opinions, mostly negative, about his quarterback and future Hall of Famer, Ben Roethlisberger.

Scott played college football for the University of Texas. During his time there, he played both right and left tackle. He performed well, even earning first-team All-American honors as well as helping the Longhorns win the BCS National Championship. Those skills did not translate well to the NFL unfortunately. 

A fifth-round draft pick in 2006, Scott joined the Detroit Lions. He spent the early part of his career battling back from injuries, including a broken hip. He was waived by the Lions in 2008 before the final roster cuts. Scott would not be picked up by another team until late that season when he was nabbed by the Buffalo Bills. 

The Bills opted not to re-sign him and that is when the Steelers made what was arguably one of their worst free-agency signings in history. Steelers starting tackle, Max Starks was injured and Scott filled in all during the 2010 season, including in Super Bowl XLV. He was compared to a turnstile in the loss to the Green Bay Packers. 

Steelers' Jonathan Scott Admires An Unexpected Quarterback

Scott recently appeared on the Select Few Podcast and spilled the beans about all of his negative feelings towards Roethlisberger. He said that he felt that Roethlisberger lacked the qualities of a strong leader. Admittedly, Roethlisberger was in a bit of a maturing phase when Scott was on the team, but teammates weren't questioning his leadership. He'd already won two Super Bowls at that point. He also said that he felt like back up, Charlie Batch was a better quarterback than Roethlisberger and claimed that they would have won that Super Bowl if he had played.   

As if all of that wasn't enough, Scott went on to discuss which NFL quarterback he considered the perfect leader. The answer was Vince Young. Young and Scott played together for one year while they were both at Texas and won that National Championship together. 

Young was an excellent college quarterback. At that time, the NFL was just beginning to become a pass-first league and this was a bit of a knock on Young's ability. He was often called a better rusher than passer. He was the first NCAA player to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a single season, however. Young also had a bit of an unusual throwing motion. He threw kind of side-armed versus straight over the top. Some of these criticisms caused him to fall down the draft board a bit.  

He also took a bit of a hit with the Wonderlic test (an evaluation used during the drafting process). It is meant to help determine a player's aptitude for understanding complicated NFL playbooks. Young scored a six out of a possible 50. However, after further investigation, his score was changed to 16. None of it seemed to matter as the Tennessee Titans took Young with the third overall pick, making him the heir apparent to Steve McNair.

While Young captured the imaginations of football fans everywhere initially, he ended up being labeled a bust by many. He was unable to maintain his accuracy and the rushing just wasn't enough. While he got the Titans to the postseason and earned himself two Pro Bowl nods, he didn't last long. Some say that Young did not have the emotional or mental capacity to be an NFL quarterback, and didn't have thick enough skin to withstand the criticisms. 

Scott noted that he considered Young a great leader, saying that he brought more integrity to the game than Roethlisberger.   

"He had a certain level of integrity to the game, on and off the field. It was an undying commitment to be great. It was infectious. It made you desire to want to be in his presence. I didn't get that experience with Ben Roethlisberger."

The part he fails to mention is that many of Young's professional teammates did not have that experience and fans witnessed something entirely different. In 2008, after a poor performance in the season opener, fans booed Young after an interception. Reports said that he seemed unwilling to go back out onto the field afterward. He looked sad and distant.  

Later that season, after an MCL sprain, Young reportedly told his therapist that he wanted to take his own life, and Head Coach, Jeff Fisher had to alert the local authorities since Young owned a gun. Young even told the media that he thought about retiring after his rookie year. 

No one is knocking Young for the mental toll playing in the NFL took on him or the fact that he felt completely lost. The turmoil that Young experienced was his truth and it was heart-wrenching to hear. It also does preclude Young from displaying leadership skills while he was in college with Scott or even in the NFL. However, during his time in the NFL, Young was not praised for his leadership of the teams he played on nor did he consistently lead his team to championships. 

It is clear that Scott and Roethlisberger just do and did not see eye to eye. It's interesting that Scott would choose to pick a young man who displayed so much emotional baggage as a better leader than a man who led countless teams, engineered more comeback drives than you can count and hoisted the Lombardi twice. 

At this point, Scott comes across as a bitter former player. While everyone is entitled to an opinion, sometimes the best way to show your own leadership and class is by saying nothing at all.