Ben Roethlisberger, the quarterback for my favorite football team, the Pittsburgh Steelers has been charged twice in the past few years with sexual assault. The most recent one occured in Milledgville, Georgia on an Friday morning. The alledged victim was treated and released, this isn't the first time Big Ben has alledgedly sexually assaulted a woman in a club, one happening in Reno, Nevada in 2008. The women in Reno has just recently decided to sue. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/05/ben-roethlisberger-sexual_n_487877.html
In lieu of his recent troubles, the NFL commissioner has decided to suspend hime the first six games of next season. Commissioner, Roger Goodell punished Roethlisberger a week after he was not charged. He has to undergo a comprehensive behavioral evaulation, if he doesn't comply with the NFL's ruling it could be a longer suspension. In addition to bein suspended 4-6 games he can't participate in Steelers' offseason activity until he completes the evalutaion. He can participate in training camps and preseason games in the summer as long as he is cleared by the evaluators and Goodell. He is the first player suspended under Gooddell under the conduct policy who hasn't been arrested or charged with a crime. There is a list on http://www.espn.com/ of 16 NFL players that have been suspended since Goodell took office in 2006. In a letter written by Roger Goodell to Roethlisberger, "In your six years in the NFL, you have thrilled and now disappointed a great many people. I urge you to take full advantage of this opportuity to get your life and career back on track."http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5121614
I'm a Steelers fan and I can't say that I'm upset with what has happened recently, I think that this is just the right thing for Ben to do. People may disagree with what I say but I still think it's a good idea that he got suspended, so hoepfully that this will get him back on track. I think by suspending him and the fact that he has to stand and watch someone else do his job. Hopefully that will trigger something in him and he will get his life back on track.
Ther have been trade rumors recently and the Steelers have talked to 10 teams, the Rams or Bills are not interested. Art Rooney, the team's President, says they can't answer questions about trades so close to the NFL draft. Troy Polamau, Roethlisberger's teammate, had this to say, "I think if Ben has shown anything, it's that he's able to recover whenever he has been face with adversity, everything is not always so peachy. Not everybody has that unblemished image. If he has that repentance, the way he is going to have it to continue to live his life, this will be the great example of that."
I'm not trying to stick up for him, we all know what he did was wrong, and hopefully he realizes that. Also, in remembering the movie we watched in class. I wonder how she was dressed and how she was acting. If you were in a bar and you saw an NFL quarterback? What do you think you would do?
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I agree, I would guess that the lady might have been dressed inappropriatly along with most likely being a little intoxicated while in the bar, not to mention the fact in the presence of an NFL star. I'm not trying to stick up for Ben either I'm just trying to see the reality of this. I also think that some celebrities get sued or so called "picked on" just for money. Even if they did do something wrong it is most likely not as bad as what is told by the person trying to soak them out of their money by suing them. In the end I guess he will have to deal with this discipline and like you said, he will learn his lesson by watching from the sidelines as someone else does his job and maybe think about not getting into situations like this again.
ReplyDeleteI think that Ben needs to go through the steps that the commissioner has set. I agree that it may not have been completely his fault and that celebrities may get picked on because of their status and money, but no one disserves to get sexually assaulted. Just because he is a famous football player does not mean he can break the rules and get away with it. I hope that every other athlete and celebrity see what happened to Ben and learn from his mistakes.
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