Big Ben has a big beef with Ian Rapoport.
Asked about the NFL Network insider’s report that he was playing with cracked ribs, Ben Roethlisberger cut off the question and aired his grievances.
“You shouldn’t even say his name on this show because nothing that comes — what he says [doesn’t have] any truth to it. I’ll stop you from — I have no idea where that came from,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his weekly radio show on 97.3 The Fan in Pittsburgh. “My wife texted me before the game, like, ‘Did you hear about this?’ I’m in the locker room like, ‘This is unbelievable.’
“I don’t know where that guy gets his information from, so we’re not even gonna give him credence on this show, if that’s OK with you.”
On Wednesday morning, Rapoport stood by his reporting while speaking to the same radio station.
Roethlisberger suffered an injury in Week 14 against the Raiders, which coach Mike Tomlin described as several rib bruises. The quarterback came out of the game and was delayed getting back in, in part due to an old X-ray machine that did not provide a clear result.
Then before Roethlisberger took the field to beat the Patriots 17-10 on Sunday, Rapoport reported the injury was actually cracked ribs. Roethlisberger, for his part, refused to provide any clarity on the injury.
The quarterback and reporter do have a something of a history, which may have fueled Roethlisberger’s most recent comments. In 2013, Rapoport reported that Roethlisberger was planning on asking for a trade after the season, which the quarterback promptly denied and called “one of the most B.S. stories I’ve ever heard.”