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Former Patriot Slams Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger, Jerome Bettis for Cheating Accusation

One former New England Patriots cornerback heard the accusation from Pittsburgh Steelers legends Ben Roethlisberger and Jerome Bettis.

Noah Strackbein

In this story:

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers versus New England Patriots rivalry has seemingly faded as the two teams change into a new era of football. But their old days, and the fierce competitions they once had, are rising to the surface and bringing out some social media sprawls. 

During the recent episode of Footbahlin' With Ben Roethlisberger, Big Ben and running back Jerome Bettis dove into the 2004 AFC Championship game, and both claimed they knew the Patriots cheated. 

"Hey, to be fair, the Patriots cheated," Roethlisberger said.

"For sure, they did. It’s not even a question in my mind," Bettis replied. 

Bettis then explained how the Patriots called a timeout on a 4th and 1 because they knew the Steelers' play-call. Then they made the adjustments and stuffed them. 

"Who normally goes to the sideline on timeouts? The defensive captains, right? They told the nose guard … they pulled him to the sideline. Big 400-pound guy, he don’t want to go to the sideline and come all the way back," Betts said. "What he want to go to the sideline for? They yelling, made him go to the sideline and I always thought ‘What he going…’ He went all the way to the sideline and back."

Well, one former Patriot has heard the news, and has sent his reply. Posting a Tiktok on social media, former New England cornerback Asante Samuel called out the accusations from Roethlisberger and Bettis. 

"Steeler Nation, what's going on with your legends and Hall of Famers Ben Roethlisberger and Jerome Bettis? 19 years later, you guys decide to be soar losers and say we cheated the 2004 AFC Championship," Samuel said. 

He then explained why he believes New England won the game. 

"This is what determined the outcome of the game. Tom Brady was better than Ben Roethlisberger. Rodney Harrison was better than Troy Polamalu. Corey Dillon was better than Jermone Bettis, and Asante Samuel was better than Deshae Towsend. It was as simple as that," Samuel said. "No more to be said. We were better than you in pretty much everywhere in the game."

The Patriots were caught for spygate between the 2001 and 2004 seasons, but if you ask New England, that wasn't what gave them an upper-hand against the Steelers. 

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Noah Strackbein
NOAH STRACKBEIN

Noah is the Publisher for All Steelers, Inside the Panthers (InsideThePanthers.com) and Inside the Penguins (InsidethePenguins.com), and is the host of All Steelers Talk (YouTube.com/AllSteelersTalk). A Scranton native, Noah made his way to the Pittsburgh sports scene in 2017. Now, he's pretty much full-yinzer.

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