Steelers LT Max Starks: We’ll always be there for Ben Roethlisberger
Article By ddillon.tsn on 2nd April, 2010
When the Steelers opened their offseason program Monday, their left tackle, Max Starks, was 2,000 miles away in Arizona. It had nothing to do with a contract dispute or any other discontent on the part of Starks, who joined his Steelers teammates in Pittsburgh on Thursday. He has been training at the Athletes Performance center in Phoenix since 2004, the year the Steelers drafted him out of Florida.
Max Starks said working out in Phoenix 'makes it easier for me to focus and get myself in the right mindset.' Starks talked to Sporting News' Dennis Dillon about the advantages of working out at AP, the latest Ben Roethlisberger controversy and Starks' new role.
Q: Roethlisberger has been accused of sexual assault of a woman in Georgia. What are your thoughts on his situation?
A: Ben is our quarterback. He's a friend of mine. I support him in whatever happens. I wasn't there; I haven't talked to him about it. But we'll always be there as teammates and as a team to uplift him. But that's something he has to go through and deal with.
Q: Does he need to stop putting himself in these situations?
A: When you put people on pedestals, you're always looking to knock them off those pedestals. That's just the nature of our society. If it was any regular guy doing this, it wouldn't be an issue. But because it's a professional athlete, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, the magnitude is that much greater, the scope is that much wider, the margin for error is that much less.
Q: If he gets suspended and you have to start the season without him, how will that affect the team?
A: Ben is a differencemaker and a phenomenal quarterback. Our team will just have to rebound. We have Dennis Dixon and we re-signed Charlie Batch, so we have some good quarterbacks who have stepped in in auxiliary roles before. On any given day, we have 47 guys dressing ready to rock and roll. As long as the core 47 that we put out there is r...
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Max Starks said working out in Phoenix 'makes it easier for me to focus and get myself in the right mindset.' Starks talked to Sporting News' Dennis Dillon about the advantages of working out at AP, the latest Ben Roethlisberger controversy and Starks' new role.
Q: Roethlisberger has been accused of sexual assault of a woman in Georgia. What are your thoughts on his situation?
A: Ben is our quarterback. He's a friend of mine. I support him in whatever happens. I wasn't there; I haven't talked to him about it. But we'll always be there as teammates and as a team to uplift him. But that's something he has to go through and deal with.
Q: Does he need to stop putting himself in these situations?
A: When you put people on pedestals, you're always looking to knock them off those pedestals. That's just the nature of our society. If it was any regular guy doing this, it wouldn't be an issue. But because it's a professional athlete, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, the magnitude is that much greater, the scope is that much wider, the margin for error is that much less.
Q: If he gets suspended and you have to start the season without him, how will that affect the team?
A: Ben is a differencemaker and a phenomenal quarterback. Our team will just have to rebound. We have Dennis Dixon and we re-signed Charlie Batch, so we have some good quarterbacks who have stepped in in auxiliary roles before. On any given day, we have 47 guys dressing ready to rock and roll. As long as the core 47 that we put out there is r...
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