How exactly do you defend yourself against or prevent hearsay type accusations of bad behavior? "A waiter at a restaurant said..." Honestly, pretty much anyone can make that up.

Was interesting....Someone heard a show on the radio where, a writer I think, mentioned that Ben has treated many in the media badly and was getting what he deserved. The guy kind of backed off and then said "well, what goes around comes around".

That is honestly a big part of this. There are more than a few writers who are out to get even, some like Florio who just will print anything shocking to generate hits, and then you have some late to the party just piling on because it's selling. I guarantee you can dig up stories like this on most anyone (well, maybe not Tebow!), but the media won't print it unless they are trying to settle some personal score.

Take an objective look at your last 5-10 years and ask yourself if every less than noble moment was dug up if an article on you couldn't sound worse. That time you forgot to clean-up after your dog becomes "he takes his dog to crap in my yard every day".

A big, big part of this continued mudslinging is Rooney and the local media just catering to what the self-righteous yinzers want to hear. They could bring some fairness and balance to this, but I think they honestly would rather indulge that base than risk alienating them. It's not hard to just shrug your shoulders and say the guy brought it on himself and the tougher the lesson, the better.

NNN wrote: I'd want to sweep that whole era under the rug too, if my team's history looked like this.

From 1933-1971 (39 seasons), Pittsburgh boasted the following.

15 head coaches
7 winning seasons
A 168-270-18 record (.388)
2 mergers with other teams (and a 5-14-1 record)
1 postseason game, which wasn't a title game but rather a divisional playoff game
0 postseason wins
0 postseason points

Basically, take everything that Cleveland has done since 1999, multiply by 3.5, and you're almost on the pathetic level that was Pittsburgh football for their first 39 years.

Yep, that happened and all of the Steeler fans that I know acknowledge that.

Fortunately, these last 40 years in the NFL have more than made up for that.
Oh, and AAFC titles still aren't NFL championships.....and they never will be. I'll give you your 4 pre-Super Bowl era NFL championships but GTFO of here with those other 4.

sonofsam wrote: I read that article, I am not a Steelers fan, but I do enjoy watching Ben play. The guys mind is not right. I'm sure we could all agree that it would be so easy to fall into the trap of money and fame, but when you are in a position where the colors you wear are bigger than the name on the back, you need to respect those colors and the people who bleed those colors. Ben has done some pretty screwed up things, and said some terrible things. All the meanwhile, he keeps apologizing and continuing to disappoint. I really hope he learns his lesson from the negativity and bad karma chasing him, but I will remain skeptical until I see him hold his own. The people he is hanging out with sound like the kid of people that either encourage his behavior or just turn their head. He needs to get some new friends and move forward. Would be nice to see him do some charity work for kids, his town, and for a battered women's shelter. Let him see first hand the type of monster he could turn into. I don't want another apology, I want action. Show us Ben... Grow up and become a responsible adult, then you can become a responsible millionaire with fame.

Great Post

killer_ewok wrote:

NNN wrote: I'd want to sweep that whole era under the rug too, if my team's history looked like this.

From 1933-1971 (39 seasons), Pittsburgh boasted the following.

15 head coaches
7 winning seasons
A 168-270-18 record (.388)
2 mergers with other teams (and a 5-14-1 record)
1 postseason game, which wasn't a title game but rather a divisional playoff game
0 postseason wins
0 postseason points

Basically, take everything that Cleveland has done since 1999, multiply by 3.5, and you're almost on the pathetic level that was Pittsburgh football for their first 39 years.

Yep, that happened and all of the Steeler fans that I know acknowledge that.

Fortunately, these last 40 years in the NFL have more than made up for that.
Oh, and AAFC titles still aren't NFL championships.....and they never will be. I'll give you your 4 pre-Super Bowl era NFL championships but GTFO of here with those other 4.

This!

Shitload of enablers on here.