Before the game, ESPN will air an interview between the Steelers man and Merril Hoge on Sunday NFL Countdown. In the segment, the quarterback “discusses his suspension and lessons learned in a sit-down interview.”

It’s billed as “Ben Roethlisberger unplugged” but don’t expect anything other than softballs.

Hoge, a former Steelers running back who nearly died after suffering a concussion, won’t ask “Ben” any tough questions. He can’t. ESPN needs to have a good relationship with the players; otherwise they won’t appear. (It’s not like there is any shortage of other networks that would kill to talk to the QB.) Hoge will ask what Roethlisberger learned, the player will ruminate and offer some cliched answers, and we’ll be done.

Sounds like fun.

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