Ben Roethlisberger says Martavis Bryant should already be reinstated
The Steelers quarterback says the wide receiver has paid his dues
Back in April, the NFL conditionally reinstated Steelers wide receiver Martarvis Bryant, who missed the 2016 season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. The expectation is that he would be fully reinstated by training camp, but more than a week later and Bryant remains on the outside looking in, which means he still can't practice or play with the team until the NFL says so.
It's unclear what's holding things up and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is looking for some resolution.
B. Roethlisberger has heart-to-heart w/ M. Bryant, believes Steelers WR "paid his dues" w/ the league and should be reinstated. pic.twitter.com/QbLhbJ4yYz
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) August 2, 2017
"I don't know ... what's going on but, goodness, you'd think he's paid his dues," Roethlisberger told reporters.
Bryant's absence means opportunities for other wide receivers who might be on the roster bubble, and that includes former Titans second-round pick Justin Hunter, signed this offseason.
"I don't want to get too excited too early, but I really like the presence that (Hunter) brings," Big Ben said.
When asked about Bryant's situation last week, coach Mike Tomlin offered this:
"The league's in charge of that and what we're going to continue to do is cooperate fully as we have and wait for them to instruct us what to do next," he said, adding: "I knew there was a possibility of it, because there were some conditions based on his reinstatement and they've been really consistent in that regard. And Martavis and we all have been working extremely hard to adhere to it."
Tomlin said that Bryant had not done anything to violate his conditional-reinstatement status and that his current situation is "procedural."
So when can we expect to see Bryant practicing with his teammates? "I'm not going to speculate," Tomlin continued. "That decision, from a time table standpoint, is outside my control. I'll let the guys in New York do what they do."
With Bryant, the Steelers' offense could border on unstoppable. In addition to Big Ben and Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh has the league's best running back in Le'Veon Bell (who has yet to report to camp because he hasn't signed his franchise tender), and one of the most underrated offensive lines. And it sounds like Bryant spent his year away from football evaluating what was truly important.
In January, Bryant told SI.com that he's focused solely on football after having doubts early in his career.
"I was young and I made bad decisions. It was just a really bad point and moment in my life. I was actually tired of football. I told my agent I didn't want to play anymore," Bryant said at the time. "It hurt my mom and hurt my grandma for me to constantly be put in that situation that I kept telling them that I would do better.
"Being out this whole year helped me grow up ... I changed a lot of things in my life, and helped me change my ways. I am going to show you how much I've changed."
Now it's just up to the NFL to reinstate Bryant.
















