For those of you that gave up the Internet for Lent, why are you reading this? Also, Ben Roethlisberger has been accused of sexual assault in Georgia.
At this point, no formal charges have been brought by the authorities, but there's a woman down there that said he assaulted her.
Two things jump out at me:
- It's assault, not rape.
- The authorities are taking their sweet time, even though they have eyewitnesses that say Ben was being a jerk at the bar, they have her testimony, and she got checked out at the hospital.
Chances are that he will. Depending on the severity of the punishment Roethlisberger gets and how sprained Kaiser Goodell's labrum is that day, the suspension from the league offices might not be that bad. Hell, Donte Stallworth killed a guy and didn't miss too much time.
For #2, they're either doing everything like the book so there are no loose ends, or they're stalling because there's no real evidence. Keeping Ben's history in mind, there's probably something to the accusation and some kind of formal charge will be brought. The timing of it, though, is important. If everything happens in the offseason, then Ben can serve his NFL suspension and get back to work.. If this drags on, then he'll probably file for a continuance so he doesn't miss any games or practices because he needs to be in court. Chances are it won't drag on, so we're probably looking at the first four games with Dennis Dixon at quarterback.
Morally, Ben's got some serious issues. From what I heard, he has a skank fetish and he tends to take more liberties than he should. Every now and again, you can shrug your shoulders and say, "That's how God made him." But, this is now two in two years and that's just what was reported. For every accusation, there are usually five incidents that don't see the light of day.
The thing is that Steelers aren't going to cut him unless he's facing serious jail time or is suspended indefinitely.
At the 2007 Combine, I stopped listening when guys said they had been suspended for this or that or had tested positive for weed because I knew that the Steelers wouldn't go near guys like that. With everything that has happened with Ben, Santonio, James Harrison, and even Cedrick Wilson, I have to say that's not the case anymore. If you can play ball and you're important to the team, ownership really doesn't seem to care if you have a few "indiscretions" every now and again.
The fans might not like it, but, ultimately, only thought of and mentioned by ownership when the team wins a championship. Hey, Ernie Holmes shot a rifle at a cop. Bam Morris got pulled over with 250 pounds of weed in his trunk. James Harrison beat his baby mama. Santonio and Marvell Smith both got busted with weed. Everyone on the offensive line was juicing in the 70s. Jeff Reed got into an altercation with a cop and they franchised him. The Rooneys were heavily involved with gambling for years.
The organization has its warts, so it's not them acting out of character if they keep Ben. It's the business of winning football games, which is something the Steelers have done very well for a very long time.
I hate to say it, but you can no longer brag about the Steelers as a "classy organization" when you get into a debate at a bar. You'll just have to fall back on the six Super Rings like everyone else.
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