Give Ben Roethlisberger credit. He managed to use his first public statement since his birthday party-gone-bad in Georgia to make himself look like even more of a jackass.
We won’t even go into his appearance.
Bob Smizik did a great job of summing it up on his Post-Gazette blog.
He wrote that Ben acted like a guy whose team had just won 48-0 when it was really more like 10-7.
I do want to thank him for asking God to bless me at the end, though. Nice touch.
Here’s something that’s not being talked about enough: The guy came within minutes of dying from head injuries resulting from a motorcycle accident. He wasn’t wearing a helmet.
Am I nuts or is there a pretty obvious lesson to be learned from that experience?
Not long after recovering from those injuries and not long after seeing and hearing the massive outpouring of sympathy and support from people all over the country, he was seen riding a morotcycle IN PITTSBURGH without a helmet.
Ben Roethlisberger is a lot of things: immature, arrogant, rude, dishonest, narcissistic, but he’s not stupid.
And let’s be clear. The story about Roethlisberger riding without a helmet is not a rumor. It is a fact. There was a video tape but the news director of one of the local TV stations destroyed it.
Do you think the Rooneys know about it? I don’t know. The news director was obviously trying to protect the Steelers from embarrassment when he destroyed the tape. But, did he tell the Rooneys about the tape?
I’m guessing that he did.
Does Roger Goodell know about it? If he doesn’t, shouldn’t somebody tell him before he hears Roethlisberger tell him that he’s sorry and that he’s learned a lesson?
If Roethlisberger is suspended for somewhere between two and four games, will that serve as a wake up call?
For most players, I would think so.
But if coming within a few minutes of dying doesn’t get your attention, what’s missing a few football games going to do?