Asante Samuel Backs Patriots Against Steelers Cheating Accusation

Just days after former Pittsburgh Steelers Ben Roethlisberger and Jerome Bettis accused the New England Patriots of stealing signals in the 2004 AFC Championship game, Asante Samuel offered a response.

The 11-year NFL cornerback played for the Patriots in 2004 in his second of five seasons with New England. Samuel joined another former teammate in Vince Wilfork as the latest former Patriots to comically combat the accusations.

"Steelers nation, what's going on with your legends and Hall of Famers Ben Roethlisberger and Jerome Bettis?" Samuel said in a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. "19 years later, you guys decide to be sore losers and say we cheated in the 2004 AFC Championship. You claim that on a critical play on fourth down, you lined up and we called timeout because we knew the play that was coming. We knew the signs, some tips or we had some type of information to figure out that play. You call it cheating? Are you crazy?"

The Patriots dominated the Steelers in a 41-27 win to advance to the Super Bowl for the third time in four seasons. Samuel reiterated that New England defeated Pittsburgh solely from a performance advantage at multiple positions.

"This is what determines the outcome of the game," Samuel said. "Tom Brady was better than Ben Roethlisberger. Rodney Harrison was better than Troy Polamalu. Corey Dillon was better than Jerome Bettis and Asante Samuel was better than Deshea Townsend. It's as simple as that. No more to be said. We were better than you in pretty much everywhere of the game."

After Roethlisberger led the accusations, Samuel took a final jab at the two-time Super Bowl champion for his three-interception performance in the title game.

"Actually, I knew from that game in front of everybody in the AFC Championship," Samuel added. "Big Ben, you made me realize that I can be a player in this game."

While Samuel has not always been the first to defend the Patriots, the former cornerback responded to set the record straight.