Mark Madden: Conditioning won't be problem for Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger

The Steelers schedule has been released. Now we can predict their record.

We could have done that right after last season ended. The schedule template dictated the Steelers’ opponents and sites for each game. We just needed dates matched to foes. That has been done. We have a graphic to peruse. The Steelers look like a 12-4 team.

I’m obviously kidding. A 9-7 record is more probable, maybe 8-8. The defense won’t get 36 takeaways again. The offense lacks enough components that can be counted on, and that includes the line. Ben Roethlisberger and his bionic elbow need to take a dip in the fountain of youth, and the Steelers need to cut their 30 turnovers by at least a third.

It’s too early to analyze deeper than that, although that will stop very few. We need to see how the rookies fit. The Steelers still need to add some spare parts.

But it is cockeyed optimism to think football will be played in this state come September. The optics of caring more has a sizable lead over greed.

But none of that matters if Roethlisberger is fat.

When I was a kid, my mother told people I was big-boned. Roethlisberger is big-bearded. He can’t pull it off like Brett Keisel. That beard has to go. It adds 40 pounds. Never mind body-shaming. Let’s put a stop to beard-shaming.

Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer wrote, “There is no fitness in Ben Roethlisberger.” Glazer was likely kidding, but on the square. Glazer says Roethlisberger is doing yoga, playing golf and drinking beer. The yoga revelation is shocking. I hope it’s DDP Yoga.

Let’s say Roethlisberger has never been a monument to conditioning and doesn’t take the 24/7/365 approach Tom Brady (tells us he) does.

So what?

Roethlisberger has won two Super Bowls and is a lock to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Who cares if he golfs and drinks beer? Antonio Brown works harder than anyone ever. But Brown wrecked his teams, and now he can’t get a job.

Roethlisberger is 6-foot-5, so he looks the part (if he loses the beard). Maybe Tim Tebow and Brady Quinn, for example, were more prototypical. But they couldn’t play in the NFL. “We’re not selling jeans here,” as Brad Pitt/Billy Beane said in “Moneyball.” All Tebow’s legendary dedication got him professionally was a spot in Triple-A baseball at 31.

Let Roethlisberger be Roethlisberger. It has worked so far. Mario Lemieux wasn’t a workout freak until he came back in 2000. He somehow did OK before then. Hard work is overrated. Talent counts a lot more.

Glazer and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin are tight. Some wonder if Tomlin fed Glazer that tidbit to light a fire under Roethlisberger.

That’s silly. Glazer blurted out his appraisal, likely with zero thought, as part of an online sports mailbag, the laziest of journalistic endeavors. At 38 and coming off elbow surgery, Roethlisberger knows what he is up against. He needs no reminder.

An edge at quarterback might be a trump card for the Steelers, but Roethlisberger must come back strong and the defense has to exacerbate that advantage. Eleven of the 13 quarterbacks the Steelers will face have combined to play just 21 seasons and start 271 times. The three opposing QBs in the AFC North have accumulated four seasons and 51 starts. Roethlisberger has played 16 seasons and started 216 times.

But none of that matters if Roethlisberger is fat.

Perhaps Ben could add 40 pounds (or another 40 pounds worth of beard) and jump on the offensive line.

The offensive line underachieved badly last year except for right tackle Matt Feiler. He overachieved, so he’ll likely move to a different position. Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro made the Pro Bowl on rep but played below their usual standard. Alejandro Villanueva faded. Pouncey, DeCastro and Villanueva are all on the bad side of 30.

So is Roethlisberger. In fact, he is barely on the good side of 40.

But Roethlisberger’s conditioning won’t be a problem. Glazer’s comment and all joking aside, it never has been. Roethlisberger works harder than he is given credit for. That’s in keeping with the media’s informal policy of not giving Roethlisberger credit.