Kevin Colbert publicly annointed soon-to-be 37-year-old Ben Roethlisberger the "unquestioned leader" of the Pittsburgh Steelers who has the freedom to publicly criticize teammates.

"He's the elder statesmen and the Super Bowl winner," Colbert told a group of local reporters Wednesday. "If our players were smart, they'd listen to him because he's been there. He's done it. He can tell them, 'No guys, what you're doing is or is not good enough to do this.'"

Roethlisberger criticized Antonio Brown after a Week 12 loss.

Privately, Brown took exception to that. And publicly, Brown tweeted Saturday that Roethlisberger had an "owner mentality" because of his willingness to call out players and coaches.