Sorry I've been a little late to the party on this one. In case you don't know, the man pictured is none other than the recently investigated for sexual assault Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. Our friends at thesmokinggun.com provided a whole lot of details for us with a copy of the police report found here. There is also a report regarding another woman who was possibly sexually assaulted by the two time Super Bowl Winner found here. So if you're keeping track at home, that's three women now who have alleged that Big Ben and his Little Ben have a problem taking things that don't belong to them. Make no mistake about it, even though he hasn't been found guilty, or lost a lawsuit, or even been charged with a crime, the damage is done. Roethlisberger has exposed himself (and his grayish wiener if deadspin is to be believed) as a complete Dirtball, plain and simple. Do we really need him to be found guilty, libel, or even charged with a crime, to figure out that this guy has problems ranging from serious to criminal with drinking and women? This latest one especially bothers me because this wasn't some woman that targeted him for money. This is some random girl partying with her friends that was served (even though she was underage) alcohol by Ben, and then locked in a bathroom with him by his bodyguards - of which Roethlisberger pulled his Little Ben out before he even walked in the bathroom door! Add all of it up and it becomes clear that Roethlisberger is hardly deserving of the benefit of the doubt in the Court of Public Opinion.
Enter Judge Goodell. He went on the record and stated that Roethlisberger HAD violated the Personal Conduct Policy. Goodell also went on to say that a player does not need to be convicted or charged with a crime to be in violation of it, and that a pattern of behavior plus bad judgements which reflect poorly on the player themselves, his teammates, his team, and the entire league are enough to demand punishment. Goodell also stated that punishment is forthcoming.
The Steelers are expecting a 4 game suspension. That seems realistic to some degree, but that's without knowledge of how Goodell's meeting with Ben actually went. If it went bad, meaning Roethlisberger didn't impress Goodell with any degree of remorse, or show any trace of a guy who normally makes good decisions but has just been unlucky, Goodell could impose a "conditional" suspension like he did with Michael Vick. That means the actual length of the suspension isn't immediately determined.
Whatever Ben does eventually get suspended for, it will have an impact on his trade value. If the suspension is announced on Wednesday, it will most likely have an impact on the Steelers draft day moves as well. If the Steelers are going to be consistent, they need to trade Ben like they did Santonio Holmes. The Steelers have long taken an arrogant stance of pride regarding their "family" franchise - even though that's a bunch of garbage as numerous criminals have worn a Steeler uniform over the past 40 years (i.e. Ernie Holmes, Greg Lloyd, and Justin Strzelczyk to name a few).
Let's just see how tight that "family" really is with this one. I can already hear Whitey Guccione laughing hysterically...
What i've heard these three times aren't just only times. Add up some more in college and down falls JCrew u's god.
ReplyDeleteOh hell no, there's probably a TON more of these incidents with Ben. This is just surface level stuff so far. Hopefully more will come forward. The irony of this is, for all of Tiger's dipsticking...he's never had any of them accuse him of rape you know what I mean?
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