'It's all about money': Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger slams NFL's busy Christmas schedule for risking player health

Two-time Super Bowl champion Ben Roethlisberger said the NFL is out for money and is willing to risk injuries to its players by scheduling so many games during the Christmas season.

The Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, and Pittsburgh Steelers all played December 21 before suiting up again on December 25 for special Christmas Day games on Netflix.

Roethlisberger is a former Steelers quarterback and wasn't too happy with the schedule his former team was being put through.

"It's miserable," the 42-year-old-began. "It's a shame that the league does this. It just shows that it's all about money, and this is a way that they can, you know, make more money and figure this thing out because it's not fair for the players."

On his podcast "Channel 7," Roethlisberger cited Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes making comments about the rough schedule a couple of weeks before.

"It's not a good feeling," Mahomes said, per the Mirror. "You never want to play this amount of games in this short of time. It's not great for your body. But, at the end of the day, it's your job, your profession. You have to come to work and do it."

Mahomes had a tough 11-day stint, playing in Cleveland on December 15 before returning home to Kansas City to host the Texans on December 21. Then on Christmas Day he played in Pittsburgh. The Chiefs won all three games.

The quarterback said he tried to prepare "all year long" for this particular stretch of games to prevent injury, a factor that Roethlisberger said was obviously being disregarded by the NFL.

'There's no time for your body to get healthy and rest.'

Citing kickoff changes, banned tackles, and concussion protocols, Roethlisberger questioned why the league would make its stars play three games in such a short period of time.

"There's no time for your body to get healthy and rest," Roethlisberger continued. "This time of year nobody's healthy anyway, you're always beat up, you're never 100% ... your body is not recovering fast enough, and now you're asking these guys to go out and play and beat each other up, and it's a shame."

The dejected former quarterback reiterated that the move was "obviously a money thing for the NFL" and, despite knowing this, admitted that he and others were still going to tune in.

"I feel bad for the players and, and then, you know, the holidays, that you want to be at home with your family, too. It's tough."

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