As the Pittsburgh Steelers open training camp, last week’s bombshell news involving Ben Roethlisberger has quieted considerably.
For that reality, Roethlisberger can thank Mike Vick, Brett Favre, and Plaxico Burress.
The trio of men who currently don’t even play for any NFL team have unwittingly done a huge favor for the starting quarterback of NFL’s defending champions, who has seen the news of the sexual assault civil lawsuit against him quickly subside.
The opening of training camps hasn’t hurt, either. If this lawsuit had been filed a month ago, it likely would have remained on the front page for a bit longer, primarily since nothing else was going on.
There’s still a chance the case might never surface again. At some point, it might make plenty of sense for Roethlisberger and Harrah’s (whose board of directors includes Steelers Hall of Famer Lynn Swann) to work out a settlement of the claims, quietly and confidentially.
Then, if both sides respect the confidentiality of the settlement, the only further development would be the formal dismissal of the case, which if the two sides are smart about it would formally come in months, not weeks.
Regardless of whether Roethlisberger did or didn’t do anything wrong, paying a finite amount now that would potentially be even less than what it would cost to defend the case successfully could be a smart move.
The risk of fighting the lawsuit is too high, especially if part of his defense will be premised on admitting that he indeed had sex with the plaintiff, and that it was consensual.
The case would then focus on one question — and that’s way too many eggs for anyone to put in one basket.
first, let me offer my condolences. i am sorry for your loss of a chest thumping story that has given you the opportunity to berate other media outlets.
now, as much as you acknowledge that this story might not have legs, i think you are still in denial as to the reasons why. of course, i don’t know that the law suit is without merit, the lawyer’s motives are ulterior or that his targets are unnamed, that the plaintiff is bat-poop insane, or if the case will not see the light of day.
but since this is your speculation at this time, i feel its important to note, the largest reason the case may fade and die on you is that it wasn’t what you hoped it was. i realize in a kubler-ross sense you have several more stages of grief to go through, maybe when the case is dismissed, and you have healed, you will be able to acknowledge, this story was never what you thought it was anyway.
mr. florio, tip a 40 to the great story that never materialized.
So, Mike, you have a story about how it’s not a story?
Did you expect the 4-letter to be covering it?
I believe you may be confused by the saying ‘no news is good news’. That doesn’t really apply to a blog.
In this case, no news is really just that – no news. Sorry, but we will not to be able to count this as one of your 50 posts today.
I’ve heard quite a few opinions that say the smart thing to do, even if he is innocent of the charges, would be to settle. This boggles my mind that we live in a society where this is sound advice.
In my mind, it’s simple: Ben is either guilty or he’s innocent. Given the way this complaint reads, there’s no chance there was a “misunderstanding” between the two parties. So what we do know at this point, is that one of them is lying.
So here’s my non-expert advice:
If Ben is guilty, then he should obviously settle (among other things).
If he’s not guilty, then the charges are bogus. Settling in this case would only cause more bogus charges to be filed against high profile people.
Vick, Favre, Plax – “unwittingly”
Isn’t that how these Three Stooges have gone through most of their lives so far? Ben’s kind of dumb, too. He can be Shemp during the times Brett Favre decides to be retired from the trio.
You keep talking about these clowns so much and you’ll have to change the name of your site to The Tool Shed.
Maybe he should have kept his “eggs” in his “basket” instead of associating with fugly women in the first place. A settlement still could possibly end up in a two or four game suspension. The Union could grieve it but I truly think if he pays and no suspension materializes, Rodger Goodell comes of as a racist. Only suspending and throwing the book at African American ballplayers and franchises other than Pittsburgh and New England. Do you honestly think that Santonio Holmes, even though he is one of my favorite players, would have only served one game for a drug charge if he played for team other than the Pats or Steelers? I know the charges were dropped but come on man, I live in Pittsburgh, we all know how that goes.
Sadly, I read the entire complaint.
Something happened! I’m not saying her version is correct but, something went on there. Either in her head or for real.
I could see Ben thinking, hey, who wouldn’t want to do me? I just won the SuperBowl! Ben, there alot of whacko’s out there and some of them are female!
Maybe all he heard was don’t stop! Look this is a classic he said, she said and Florio is probably right that the painless thing to do would be to settle. Move forward.
Some people will always have this in the back of thier mind, even if nothing happened, some damage has been done already!
Trust me on this, fans still are after BB like he stole Christmas. He wasn’t accused of Rape! Since “Spygate”, the Patriots record is still one of the best in the league. Furthar proving that the “video tapping was a joke,” had little to no effect… Everytime a story comes up about the Patriots, Cheatriots as some love to call them. So, don’t expect this to just go away, it won’t!
If he settles, wouldn’t everyone assume that means he’s guilty? If I were wrongly accused of sexual assault, (assuming I had a 100+ million dollar contract) I would be willing to pay whatever it took to clear my name.
Following Ben’s career since he came into the league in 2004, these accusations don’t sound like something he would do. (Not to mention, seeing how ugly she is, I don’t know why he would force himself on to that) Yes, I am biased being a Steeler fan and season ticket holder, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. I’m glad to see he’s fighting this, even though in the long run it may cause more lingering distractions.
P.S. Ray Lewis is a murderer.
If he settles, wouldn’t everyone assume that means he’s guilty? If I were wrongly accused of sexual assault, (assuming I had a 100+ million dollar contract) I would be willing to pay whatever it took to clear my name.
Following Ben’s career since he came into the league in 2004, these accusations don’t sound like something he would do. (Not to mention, seeing how ugly she is, I don’t know why he would force himself on to that) Yes, I am biased being a Steeler fan and season ticket holder, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. I’m glad to see he’s fighting this, even though in the long run it may cause more lingering distractions.
P.S. Ray Lewis is a murderer.
Next step should be filing of an answer, which may or may not contain specifics, depending on NV court rules. That should happen within 30 days of filing. The interesting part will be to see if Ben and/or Harrah’s files any counterclaims attacking her character, asserting defamation, abuse of process or something like that.
As to when they dismiss if they settle, if I’m Ben’s lawyer, I tell them to simply do nothing for as long as it takes for the court to dismiss for lack of prosecution. Let it die on the vine (or the docket sheet)
Sorry to go all professional here.
Soooo… you wrote a whole article (didn’t read it, really) to say there is no news? Wow, thats some amazing investigative journalism there…
ooohhh, the poor blacks…
yer free. get over it. get a job. get off my nickel. stay out of trouble. then u can bitch.
cant stay out of trouble?
You’tre an idiot Florio. How does someone, with any journalistic integrity, post an article that amounts to ‘nothing’.
Great insight, “no news”. Very profound and thought provoking.
Race has nothing, nothing to do with a possible suspension. If he settles out of court, why should he be suspended? He has no criminal charges filed against him and settling out of court isn’t necessarily an admission of guilt. It could cost Roethlisberger less to settle, with Harrahs chipping in some of the settlement, than going through with the case and paying high power lawyers to defend him. Unless this case ends up with criminal charges, there will be no suspension. Had this happened to a repeat offender, black or white, the commish might look into it. But with a he said/it said case such as this and with Roethlisberger not having anything close to any other legal trouble, there will not be a suspension, nor is one due.
# fellasheowed says: July 31, 2009 8:12 AM
first, let me offer my condolences. i am sorry for your loss of a chest thumping story that has given you the opportunity to berate other media outlets.
now, as much as you acknowledge that this story might not have legs, i think you are still in denial as to the reasons why. of course, i don’t know that the law suit is without merit, the lawyer’s motives are ulterior or that his targets are unnamed, that the plaintiff is bat-poop insane, or if the case will not see the light of day.
but since this is your speculation at this time, i feel its important to note, the largest reason the case may fade and die on you is that it wasn’t what you hoped it was. i realize in a kubler-ross sense you have several more stages of grief to go through, maybe when the case is dismissed, and you have healed, you will be able to acknowledge, this story was never what you thought it was anyway.
mr. florio, tip a 40 to the great story that never materialized.
—————————
Dear Steelers Fan,
Please kindly put a sock in it and take off your mustard colored sunglasses.
Sounds like a few Steeler fans are unhappy this will not go away.
As for those that think that he must only settle if he is “guilty” (because it is a civil case and not a criminal case it all focuses on liability, not guilt) think of it this way. It is pretty clear Ben and this lady had sex. It is also quite possible that she absolutely believes she was raped and that he doesn’t. So what it will all come down to is whether 12 people he does not even know think that it is more likely than not that he raped her. In the great state of Pennsylvania, you can actually be liable if only 10 of the 12 jurors think you are liable. So ask yourself this. Would you be willing to risk it all, regardless of whether you are guilty or not, with those odds or would you pay the woman something to go away when you have more money than you can ever spend?
With that said, I would be surprised if she took the money and ran. She obviously feels that she was raped and I would be surprised if she did not want her day in court. Of course if the Steeler fans find out where she lives, who knows what they’ll do considering all the crap they gave that old woman that Ben rode his bike into a few years ago.
And don’t blame it on the lawyers. The lawyer did not dream up the case. She came to him. And if someone came in your office and told you the facts as she laid them out, you would be crazy not to take the case.
Just like the Kobe case the truth of the matter is that no one other than the two in the room truly know what happened which is what makes these cases so difficult.
Bernard Pollard Fan Club
You reap what you sow, Steeler fans.
Florio,
Your continual negative bias towards Rothlesberger amazes me. What did he ever do to you? Did he allegedly rape you too? You need to turn up the professionalism a bit and move on. If this is good journalism, I should switch careers so I could win the Pulitzer prize!
This is the EASIEST pot in the NFL to stir!!! Great posts Archie Bunker!!!
Rapistburger!!!!!! Where is frank burns when you need him
“Following Ben’s career since he came into the league in 2004, these accusations don’t sound like something he would do. (Not to mention, seeing how ugly she is, I don’t know why he would force himself on to that)”
Um have you looked at Frankenberger lately?
distraction or not, if you’re innocent you should never settle out of court. thats just going to open the floodgates for a bunch of hos to start falsely accusing professional athletes in the future.
empty13 says:
July 31, 2009 9:39 AM
ooohhh, the poor blacks…
yer free. get over it. get a job. get off my nickel. stay out of trouble. then u can bitch.
cant stay out of trouble?
Aww, poor whites.
can’t satisfy your women or anybody’s women. have to lust for little girls and tottlers because they are more your speed.
whine about how life is unfair and how minorities are taking your job while ignoring the fact that you’re just not good enough.
you can commit crimes and rapes and it goes unoticed by the media.
Oh, and Ben Rapistburger is a rapist.
He could be suspended really easily. This is one of the big sticking points going into the next CBA. Rodger is the top cop, sheriff, judge ,and jury and the players union hates it, as they should. Anything that impacts the league in a negative manner from a PR standpoint can be deemed by him as conduct detrimental to the league. Plain and simple.If he settles out of court on a cival or criminal charge of RAPE for God’s sake I think that is a little worse than running a dog fight and killing animals. Plain and simple. Everyone outside of Steeler Nation understands this.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2832098
Read the article. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE CONVICTED OF A CRIME.
empty13 ,
your a pussy like Jay Cutler. Can you express yourself without being racist, you piece of shit. Talk football, cause clearly you wouln’t say that sterotypical comment you just made to a Black person’s face. I can’t stand you bloggers with “cyber courage”. And if you wanna talk race, Big Ben clearly isn’t getting the Kobe Bryant treatment, but thats not the point. Just stick to the damn topic, coward. I’m black and I’m 24 and I gurantee I have more degrees and am making more money than you, ignorant bastard. No one is on “your nickel”.
It will be quiet on the Roethlisberger for a very long time.
There is nothing there.
There won’t be anything there in the future either.
Trolling for Steeler fan mouse clicks like you trolled for Favre and Vick mouse clicks shouldn’t work.
Florio,
Would rather have you discuss more on why ESPN has been dodging this story. Your boys “The Sports Junkies”- on 106.7 The Fan in D.C.- discussed this a day or two ago. Their thoughts included an idea that because ESPN has a deal with Harrahs for the WSOP, it may be affecting how they (or why they won’t) discuss the situtation between Harrahs and Roethlisberger.
This story is all the Steelers and Ben needs to play the “us against the world” card again. No one is picking the Steelers to win it all, and this story is overshadowing the fact that the Steelers are defending Super Bowl Champs.
You can point to the year the Steelers had after winning Super Bowl XL, but Ben had physical injures from the motorcycle crash, appendectomy, and concussion. This year he is healthy and his lawyers can deal with this issue. Ben is one of the leaders on this team and his teammates will rally around him.
as the BIGBEN SEXGATE continues to roll…………
@ Devils Advocate
I thought her name was Andrea, not Gate. Just as I know Watergate had nothing to do with water, but apparently you DID NOT! Come up with something remotely original in the future, unless it requires more than you’re capable of, of course!
If this were me and I had done nothing inappropriate I would spend any amount of money necessary to defend myself and countersue for slander and malicious use of the courts system or something to that effect. I would go after her with guns blazing.
Her attorney is likely counting on them doing exactly as Florio has suggested they might. Pay her off and hope this goes away, then deal with the ramifications of unanswered questions about sexual assault being left out there later.
I hope he fights this “vigorously”.
A few people above mentioned that Roethlisberger should fight the suit, if he is innocent, partially to stave off future attempts by random people filing bogus charges against atheletes, partially to save his reputation.
First: Why should Roethlisberger necessarily be motivated by what could happen to future atheletes in similar situations? He’s a football player, not a social activist or an advocate for atheletes against whom trumped-up charges have been filed. If I’m him, and I’m innocent, then my focus is on me, not on other professional atheletes. Perhaps I’m not the idealist I once was in my youth.
Second: If you actually are innocent, prior situations haven’t shown that fighting the case is the best way out. Bryant went the long haul in an attempt to demonstrate his innocence. The result: endorsements were still dropped AND, five years later, he’s still ranked as one of the most disliked atheletes in professional sports (wasn’t there some poll about this within the past week or so?). If anything, the Bryant situation shows that having to endure a long, drawn-out case in an attempt to demonstrate your innocence will not leave your reputation unscathed by any means.
This isn’t to say that Roethlisberger might not have other motives for fighting (e.g., avoiding the potential for a suspension in the future). But if it were me, I would be thinking thrice before fighting the charges in a public forum.
One last point – there are reasons other than race that could explain why people are reacting differently to the Roethlisberger case than to previous similar cases (i.e., Bryant). The Bryant situation came first, in 2003. While there had been previous instances of false accusations against atheletes regarding sexual conduct, it didn’t seem as commonplace as it now does. Thus, people were inclined to believe that Bryant was more likely to be guilty than they might about Roethislisberger, simply because we weren’t as accustomed to hearing about potentially-bogus charges as we now are. If this is true to some extent, race then has that much of less of a role in people’s perceptions, unlike what other people have said above. If it were an African-American athelete in Roethlisberger’s shoes now, and it’s 2009, I’m just as inclined to hold the opinion that I would about Roethlisberger.
Why is he not suspended already? Goodell, Rooney’s, anybody?
for what??? TOOL!!!