Steelers sting Big Ben harder than NFL
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports 1 hour, 28 minutes ago
NEW YORK – The most damning character assassination of Ben Roethlisberger(notes) in the wake of sexual assault allegations against him, an incident that earned him a four to six game NFL suspension Wednesday, didn’t come in that salacious 527-page Georgia police report.
It’s in word that the Pittsburgh Steelers are shopping their 28-year-old, two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback, seeking a top-10 pick in return.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was suspended Wednesday for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.
If the Steelers believed in Big Ben and his ability to change his personal life, they’d take his penalty and move on. It’d be simple for Roethlisberger to avoid the situation that got him in trouble – stay out of college bar bathrooms with drunken coeds.
On the surface this isn’t a drug or alcohol problem. This isn’t a situation where lousy childhood friends are dragging him down. The straight and narrow doesn’t require a major life change. Just interact with women like a man should. Namely, grow up. It ought to be simple.
The Steelers obviously don’t think it’s such a sure thing. They’re so concerned Roethlisberger isn’t going to suddenly settle down with a nice girl and live a quiet life that they are willing to cut bait with a franchise quarterback – the most prized possession in the NFL.
“It really comes down to how well you know the individual player,” Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and a Pittsburgh native, told ESPN. “You have to know whether the player is willing to change.
“If he’s not willing to right the ship, you have to get rid of him.”
Cuban went out of his way to say he doesn’t know Roethlisberger or the details of the situation. He does know what it’s like to own a team and discipline players.
If Roethlisberger was essentially a good guy who engaged in some bad behavior one night, then you draw the line in the sand and move on. This is how bosses and parents and school principals discipline every single day. It’s not like Roethlisberger didn’t take precautions against getting into trouble that night in Milledgeville, Ga. He had a designated driver and security team in tow. He got pictures of him drinking erased.
Those are actually mature decisions.
The Steelers don’t appear to think it matters. They aren’t convinced this won’t happen again.
No team would ever trade a talent like Roethlisberger if they thought he could change. Yes, the Rooney family that owns the franchise takes its place in the Pittsburgh culture seriously. And yes, it does operate at a higher morality level than some other teams. Still, this is a QB.
They didn’t dump Roethlisberger when he was dumb enough to ride, and wreck, his motorcycle without a helmet. They didn’t dump him when a woman in Reno, Nev., alleged a sexual assault case of her own. They didn’t dump wide receiver Santonio Holmes(notes) – who caught Ben’s final-second touchdown pass in the Super Bowl two seasons ago – the first time he had an off-field incident (they have since). The Steelers aren’t rigid iron-fisted disciplinarians.
Rumor has it that Pittsburgh is interested in trading Roethlisberger for a top-10 pick.
The Steelers are out of patience with Roethlisberger, convinced that another bit of trouble is inevitable.
Even if they could get Sam Bradford, the top quarterback in the draft who may go to St. Louis with the No. 1 pick, (and I doubt they can) this would be a lopsided trade. Bradford may be great. May. He’s also an unproven rookie who missed most of his junior season at Oklahoma with a shoulder injury. He isn’t signed and, due to the peculiar ways of NFL contracts, will be the highest-paid player on his team wherever he goes.
Roethlisberger is a proven commodity, tough, smart (on the field) and a proven winner in clutch moments. He’s one of the five best quarterbacks in the league. By the time he’s done, he might win four Super Bowls. He’s locked up to a long-term deal, a huge thing for NFL front offices.
The Steelers are apparently willing to deal Roethlisberger anyway.
“[It’s important] that Ben Roethlisberger understands his responsibility to the league, the game, to his teammates to conduct himself in a positive way,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday at a league youth function at Central Park. “But forget about him as an NFL player; this is about an individual and someone who has to lead a productive life. He has to change the way he’s doing things.”
Can he?
“We’ll find out,” Goodell said. “I think we have a pretty good track record making sure people understand what is required of them … But I’ve always said actions speak louder than words. It’s about actions now, it’s not about words.”
That’s true of the Steelers too. And their actions are saying they have doubts this is the last we hear of Ben Roethlisberger getting in trouble, that this is a bad dude, not a good guy, who got jammed up one night in Georgia.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=dw-roethlisberger042110
