A couple of weeks ago, after the Georgia district attorney revealed the results of his investigation of the alleged sexual assault by Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, a lot of people became outraged and wanted him gone.
The fans wanted him gone. The media wanted him gone. There were even strong rumors that the Rooney family was working on a trade to get him out of town. In-fact, right up until hours before the draft, there was speculation that teams drafting in the top ten could get their hands on Roethlisberger in-exchange for their first round draft pick and maybe not much more.
Speaking as a Steelers fan, I was relieved that the draft came and went and Roethlisberger was still a Pittsburgh Steeler.
I know there are a lot of people out there who really hate Roethlisberger. Everyone who is a Steeler fan has probably heard the stories of Ben being a jerk when he interacts with people. And how he's an entitled jackass who thinks he doesn't have to pay his bar tabs and should get his food for free because of who he is.
Also, Ben Roethlisberger has never been the most popular player with his teammates. Outside the Lines chronicled that quite well the other day.
Ben probably is a jerk to the fans. And if there was a "Steelers Survivor" contest held in the locker room, he'd probably be the first one voted off.
But is this a reason to get rid of him? Is this a reason to cut ties with possibly the best quarterback in the history of the franchise?
I know that, more importantly, he's been accused of sexual assault, not once, but twice, and that would be a reason to trade him............if the allegations were true.
I'm not saying the allegations aren't true, but he's never been convicted of anything. In-fact, he's never been tried, charged or even arrested. And all we've heard is what the district attorney's findings were. We haven't heard from Roethlisberger or really his attorneys about his side of the story so we really don't know.
The people who are calling him a sexual predator are rushing to judgement. If the Georgia district attorney couldn't find enough evidence to even charge him with a crime, who are we to pass judgement?
And the people who are ripping the Ben supporters and saying stuff like, "What if that was your daughter?....." Well, what if your son was accused of a crime? How would feel if an entire city passed judgement on him without charges even being filed?
And the fans who are sending their number 7 Roethlisberger jerseys back to the Rooneys complete with a letter, come on.
This is all a huge overreaction. The only thing we know about Ben Roethlisberger's off-the-field conduct is that he's an immature douchebag, for lack of a better term.
People would like to see the Rooneys get rid of Ben in-order to restore the Steelers image. Please. There is no such thing as the "Rooney Way." It's a myth; an idealistic image that is not based in reality.
Steeler players have been getting into trouble with the law for as long as the team has been in existence. I'm not going to name any instances, just look them up.
I'm not worried about the Steeler's image and you shouldn't be either. Why do you care about their image? I've heard people say they're embarrassed to be a Steelers fan. Why the heck would you be embarrassed about the Steelers? It's not a reflection on you. I'm a die-hard sports fan but even I'm not serious enough about it to be embarrassed by anything any athlete does. The only people that should be embarrassed about Ben's behavior are Ben, his family, and maybe the Rooneys.
Roethlisberger has a very poor image right now, but he's going to get a chance to repair it so why not let him do it here?
Strictly from a football standpoint, trading Roethlisberger would be the worst thing the owners could have done.
Getting a first round draft pick or two for a once-in-a-generation franchise quarterback would hardly be an equal return.
There were friends of mine who were almost salivating at the prospect of trading Ben for a couple of first round picks. Unproven rookies are always a gamble, and even if they become good players, well, there are good players all over the league, but there are only a handful of players with the special skills that Roethlisberger has.
Sam Bradford might be the next great quarterback, but he could also be the next Ryan Leaf. You just never know with draft picks.
Franchise quarterbacks come along only so often and when Ben finally does retire, that's the end of Super Bowls for us for quite some time. You might not think I'm right, but I can almost guarantee you it's true.
It took the Steelers over twenty years to get another franchise quarterback after Terry Bradshaw retired. The Packers had to wait three decades in-between Bart Starr and Bret Favre.
And what about the Dolphins and Broncos? Dan Marino retired in 1999 and Miami hasn't come close to finding a quarterback like him.
John Elway retired in 1998 and the Broncos have had some OK teams but they can't find the quarterback to get them over the hump.
When a team gets a quarterback like Roethlisberger, Manning or Brady, history shows that they're not going to get a guy like him again for many, many years. You know how the Penguins had the best player in the land in Mario Lemieux, and then when he retired, we got to watch Jagre do his thing and then just a few years later, Sidney Crosby came along? Well, that's a freak thing. It's like winning a Powerball three straight times. In other words, the odds against that happening are very high.
I know people like Dennis Dixon, but that's no surprise. If there's one thing the Steelers fans love almost as much as the Lombardi trophy, it's the backup quarterback. If Kristofer Disharoon was the backup quarterback for the Steelers, the fans would be calling the talk shows and wondering if maybe the coaches should give him a shot and get Roethlisberger out of town.
But I digress. Dennis Dixon might be a good quarterback, and he might lead the Steelers to the playoffs, but is he good enough to lead them to a championship? Was Tommy Maddox good enough to do it? What about Kordell Stewart? How about Mike Tomczak? Remember Neil O'Donnell? And let's not forget Bubby Brister. All good quarterbacks who brought something to the table and gave us a lot of wonderful moments, but they all came up short in the Super Bowl department.
The Steelers have had many decent quarterbacks, but only two great ones, and not coincidentally, they were the two that brought us championships.
I'm not saying that the Super Bowl is the only thing for me. A good playoff run is great, too, and provides many memories, but if my team is in a big playoff game, I like their chances a lot better if they have a huge gun under center.
Roethlisberger is only 28 years old, and maybe the window is starting to close on the championships around here for a while, but as long as they have Roethlisberger, they will always have a chance, and that's why they had to keep him.
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