Hands Off, Big Ben

Really Ben Roethlisberger? Again?

Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, has been accused of sexual assault by a 20 year old Georgia college student…again. Granted, last time wasn’t a 20 year old Georgia college student, but it was a woman at a Lake Tahoe hotel and casino. I don’t know. Big Ben isn’t looking too good right now. And he’s making one of the best-run franchises in sports not look too good either. He’s 28 and he’s already made some big mistakes.

So let’s start looking at the Ben Roethlisberger timeline. The first major screw up occurred in June of 2006 when he got into a very serious motorcycle accident. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. But that’s not even the most ridiculous part. He didn’t have a motorcycle license. And he did all of this when his head coach, the chin, advised him not too. “Advised” is too passive. He probably straight up told him not to, and might have yelled while doing it.

Second screw up-the alleged sexual assault case in Lake Tahoe last year. While the case was dismissed, the fact that he was accused still looks bad. People haven’t forgotten about the Ray Lewis case. Even though he got off fairly easy, he’ll always be linked to it. The allegations from last year didn’t just go away for Big Ben. One, the accuser still plans to sue Big Ben. And two, people are going to link this incident with the current one. And I don’t blame them. Two sexual assault cases, why not?        

And the third screw up is the current allegation. Now, I don’t know if he really did it. Only two people know if he did it, him and the accuser. Therefore, I can’t say whether he did it or not because I would just be guessing. What I do know is that he shouldn’t even have put himself in that situation. It doesn’t matter whether he sexually assaulted her or not. The fact is he shouldn’t have even been in a situation like that given his recent past, very recent past.

The guy graduated college like 7 years ago and is still partying with college students. Sadly, Matt Leinart will probably be doing the same thing. The thing to keep in mind though is just because he seems like a nice guy doesn’t mean he could never do anything like this. (Double negatives. Big whoop. You wanna fight about it?) What the fans see of Big Ben is just a perception. We have no idea what the guy is really like. Why would he be himself in front of television cameras? Some guys do it, but that doesn’t mean that all of them do or even have to for that matter. Big Ben could just be fooling us and be putting up a front. If there is no front and he really is a good guy, I just hope he smartens up and stays away from the partying lifestyle. Or at least develops a new one. One where rape is not likely.