Former Pittsburgh Steelers Ben Roethlisberger would sometimes call his own plays during his playing days, even if the coach wanted something else called. Former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher talked about some of Roethlisberger’s “selective hearing,” when the team would send a play in and Roethlisberger would sometimes tap his helmet as if he couldn’t hear the play call.
“I kept thinking we’re having problems with our communication, he would go ‘Coach, there’s no problem, I can hear everything in this helmet,’ I would go, ok, let me look at the second alternative here, maybe it was selective hearing,” Cowher said earlier this week on The Dan Patrick Show.