I was driving to work on Monday and listening to a radio show hosted by Stan Savran. Stan had a running thread throughout his show: "When is enough enough with regards to "piling on" Ben Roethlisberger for the sexual assault allegations and for his general off-the-field attitude and behavior prior to the 2010 season?"
Stan was mainly referring to the national perception of Roethlisberger and the negative attitude towards Big Ben even after he has appeared to turn the corner in his personal life.
My answer to that question would be: Probably never.
Nationally, there will more than likely always be a negative attitude towards Roethlisberger. He was accused of a crime that's almost unforgivable in our society. And simply for that reason alone, his character may be questioned from now until well after his playing days are over. It doesn't matter that he wasn't even charged with a crime. Some people (especially females) may always look at him with disgust and contempt.
That might seem a little harsh. I mean, Roethlisberger has turned his life around to the point that he's back in favor with the fans in Pittsburgh. Last year, after his second sexual assault accusation, many fans wanted him traded and women were mailing their Roethlisberger jerseys back to the Rooneys. But during the Super Bowl run, I saw women proudly wearing Roethlisberger jerseys and even young kids were walking around with little number 7 jerseys on.
Roethisberger has even earned the fans' respect for his toughness. He suffered a broken nose and a fractured foot and was the victim of many questionable hits throughout the 2010 season, but he did very little complaining and courageously led the team to the Super Bowl.
Ben has even gotten back in the good graces of the local media. From day one, I would hear local sports reporters sort of drop hints about Roethlisberger's general poor attitude in the lockerroom and about how difficult it was to deal with him on a daily basis. Heck, just a season ago, in 2009, he walked away from reporters who wanted to talk to him and on the way out the door, remarked: "I'm never going to win a Rooney award." He was, of course, referring to the The Chief Award given annually to the Steeler player who shows the most cooperation when dealing with the local media. Surprisingly, this past season, he won that award. If ever there was a testament to how far Ben has come in a short time, it's that. If any group would be able to detect a phony put on, it would be local beat writers who have to deal with a player every day.
So if Roethlisberger has turned his image around so fast locally, why won't he be able to repair the damage nationally?
I have two words to answer that question: Ray Lewis.
Eleven years ago, Ray Lewis was part of a trio charged with double homicide after a fight broke out at a Super Bowl party. The charges against Lewis were eventually dropped. A year later, he was the mvp of Super Bowl XXXV and since then, he's gone on to repair his image. He's involved in charity work, he's done Old Spice commercials, and they've even named a street after him in Baltimore. But outside of Baltimore, in cities like Pittsburgh and other places around the country, people still look at Lewis with much skepticism because there has always been that question about whether he really did commit murder. No matter how many positive things Ray Lewis does both as a player and a private citizen, to many, he will undoubtedly always be seen as a vile human being.
Therefore, we can't be defensive about any Roethlisberger-bashing because we've been doing it here to Lewis for years. Just try and have a conversation about Ray Lewis with a Steelers fan and see how long it takes before the murder trial is mentioned.
I'm not saying it's right for people to continue to pile on Roethlisberger and bring up the past whenever the quarterback's name is mentioned. I'm just saying it's a reality.
Nationally, there will always be questions about the sexual assault allegations. There will always be rumors of him stiffing bartenders and refusing to sign autographs. Heck, even his motorcycle accident will forever be a part of the negative national image for Big Ben.
So, Steeler fans, we might as well be prepared to deal with Roethlsiberger's national image for a long, long time.
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