After Ben Roethlisberger signed a restructured contract on Thursday, he sought to put to rest rumors of a fractured Pittsburgh Steelers locker room.
"For anybody to say there are locker room issues or leadership issues are completely off base," he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The two-time Super Bowl champion said the offseason hullaballoo, which started with an anonymous teammate blastingLaMarr Woodley, was a product of "frustration" after a disappointing 8-8 season.
After the initial comments about Woodley last month, safety Ryan Clark told NFL Network the team was "fractured", wide receiver Antonio Brown said the Steelers weren't "a team in 2012" and former Steeler Hines Ward said the locker room seemed to be in "total disarray" while questioning the veteran leadership.
Roethlisberger took offense to questions about leadership, pointing to Ike Taylor, Brett Keisel, Larry Foote and Casey Hampton as examples of veteran leaders.
"I want it to be known there is no locker-room issue, there is no leadership issue," he said. "Even if guys say it out of frustration, they're trying to find something to say. I think it's important to know we all have each other's back."
Ben has spoken. Now let's see if the rest of his teammates get the message.
Follow Kevin Patra on Twitter @kpatra.
