As quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger’s job is to throw the ball, not block people — but that’s exactly what he’s been doing on Twitter on Friday.
The two-time Super Bowl champion announced he was returning to the NFL for his 14th season, after mulling over retirement following the Steelers’ AFC Championship Game loss to the New England Patriots in January.
“Informed the team I am looking forward to my 14th season. Steeler Nation will get my absolute best! — Ben,” he tweeted from @_BigBen7.
Informed the team I am looking forward to my 14th season. Steeler Nation will get my absolute best! — Ben.
— BigBen7.com (@_BigBen7) April 7, 2017
All of this is normal enough — but then the 35-year-old QB blocked a slew of sports writers on Twitter, prompting shocked and confused responses from them.
“I’m blocked by Ben Roethlisberger? Uh, okay,” NFL.com Draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote, before realizing: “So he blocked EVERYONE who follows Pro Football Talk? REally???”
So he blocked EVERYONE who follows Pro Football Talk? REally??? https://t.co/dKErsQHiC6
— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) April 7, 2017
What the hell, Ben? pic.twitter.com/PBCBbxHYIm
— Vincent Frank (@VincentFrankNFL) April 7, 2017
Add me to the Big Ben block party .. no idea what I tweeted to get blocked.. pic.twitter.com/Rkl4bWqybx
— Sean Pendergast (@SeanTPendergast) April 7, 2017
It is suspected that the blockings stem from September 2015, when anyone associated with Pro Football Commentator got blacklisted.
Im hearing from folks that @_BigBen7 blocks alot of ppl on Twitter. Rabbit ears for critcism. Not elite
— PFT Commenter (@PFTCommenter) September 9, 2015
Roethlisberger currently has 195K followers on his official Twitter account and follows only 1,090 — so hopefully not all of his fans are blocked.
If you want to see Big Ben in action on the field rather than on social media, the Steelers opening game for the 2017 NFL season will be on Sunday, Sept. 7, with their opponent to be announced later tho month.