Comments on: League lays foundation for suspending player without arrest or charges

By: Bious

Bious — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:33:26 +0000

So basically we are suspending players based purely on accusations….even when the DA’s say they found NO EVIDENCE of the accusation?
Interesting….I should start accusing my rival teams players of crimes since that is the new “line” that needs to be crossed for a suspension

By: funi

funi — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:22:07 +0000

So does Jerry Jones get fined $500,000 and out in substance abuse program? Video proves he was drunk! Did he drive afterwards? Ronnie Brown got a DUI, what is his punishment? I guess now any “accusations” will be at leasta 2 game suspension. Does Shawn Merriman get suspended for what Tila said he did??

By: HughJohnson

HughJohnson — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:09:20 +0000

Suspend a proven molester for 8 games?
How shocking.

By: bluestree

bluestree — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:35:57 +0000

@Sting Ray; Good analysis.
To all of you who keep posting things like “he wasn’t charged”… “nothing was proven”… “Goodell is Stalin”… “our forefathers would be rolling in their graves (interestingly, if Thomas Jefferson were alive today he’d probably be in jail for raping Sally Hemmings)”…or my personal favorite ….”gheez this is like law school 101 here. No one can even collaborate this drunk out of her mind girl’s story.”
(Norm Crosby Lives!)
Try to get this…this is about image…the Steeler brand…public opinion…knowing how to behave in public…showing a sense of decency and recognizing your place in the grand scheme of American celebrity…undersatanding your responsibilty to conduct yourself in a proper manner as you are a goowill ambassador for an employer that operates under public scrutiny because heightened public interest in what you do is how you make your money and promote your sport! The private lives of sports figures are of interest to the fans and thereby increase the revenue of the sport. Celebrity is a benefit! It comes with behavioral requirements.
In the 1920′s one of the most famous, most popular celebrities was the comedian Fatty Arbuckle. Many of you probably haven’t heard of him. Because he got caught up in a sleazy sex scandal that made the papers, his career was ruined.
How hard is that to understand?

By: BigDiceBuddha

BigDiceBuddha — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:25:22 +0000

Maybe we could have read Ben’s statements if he had actually cooperated with the authorities and given them one like they asked him to do.

By: The Real Shuxion

The Real Shuxion — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:17:19 +0000

# Big Stretch says: April 15, 2010 11:11 PM
Ohh yeah i was sexually molested last week by Tom Brady so he should be suspended right?
—————————————————————
You should be honored that Tom would molest you. He has the hands of the football gods themselves. Glow in his greatness and be in awe over his anus chin.

By: MSWRavens

MSWRavens — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:11:13 +0000

Yeah – BR gave a statement…IN WHICH HE LIED AND FABRICATED A STORY ABOUT THE VICTIM FALLING & STRIKING HER HEAD. She was examined in an emergency room & there was NO evidence of her striking her head…but she did have vaginal bruising and bleeding. Gee, why do you think BR made up a tale to try and explain marks on the woman’s body?
…and for all you jackasses trying to defend BR, even IF the sex was consensual, it was with a highly intoxiacted 20 yo whom he plied with shots of alcohol. He’s 28yo and hanging in a college bar and feeding shots to underage girls and then has his bodyguard “feed” one of them to him. Are you not in the least bit offended by this creep. Can you really ever root for him again?
I love all the calls to trade the guy…what team in its right mind would take him on their roster? He is pure scum whether you believe he raped her or not. I can’t even believe that you Steeler fans defend this conduct, would want this creature on your team, or will ever cheer for him again. Y’all should be ashamed of yourselves…compromising your own morality for the love of a freakin sports team! Sheesh!

By: The Real Shuxion

The Real Shuxion — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:06:54 +0000

silverback says: April 15, 2010 10:46 PM
So everyone reads the drunk girl and her drunk sorrority sisters statements, and nobody gets to read Ben or his body guards statements, and from this Ben gets punished and convicted in public opinion????
Is this really justice in AMERICA in 2010???? Not enough to take a case to court, but just disregard any defense or testimony on the side of the defense and convict solely on plantiff testimony.
Would any of YOU want to be held to this standard if ever accused of anything????
————————————————————
If I were in Ben’s place they would have prosecuted and I would lose my job. That is why I don’t put myself in dumb situations. (Outside the PFT SITE)

By: Just JTO

Just JTO — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:01:29 +0000

I said before and I’ll say it again … if any of the info released by the Georgia DA is, indeed, fact, then the victim’s father is just as big of a scumbag as Roethlisberger is. I don’t see anyone talking about the dad.
I don’t care how much money may have been offered, if my daughter was raped my No. 1 priority would be to make sure the SOB responsible would go to jail and not see the light of day for a long time. But, apparently – again if the info is true – the father saw dollar sgns and, like Big Ben, told his daughter “It’s ok.”

By: Drat

Drat — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:55:51 +0000

Bravo Florio. I spend enough posts complaining about Florio’s lack of football smarts, but this item pertains to where he excels. Very interesting, informative, insightful. Nice job.

By: Danwhitmer

Danwhitmer — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:51:12 +0000

This article stinks! Read the transcripts of the case and the “Witness statements” Ben was wrong. The ONLY reason the DA did not proceed was because he knew it was not a winnable case against a well known public figure. The so called “Letter” that was recieved by the DA to not proceed with charges is a bunch of bs!!! She was paid off and we all know it. Since there was a change in words from “I told him this is not ok” to I told him I am not comfortable with this” and “I am not sure we should be doing this” between her 2 statements that was enough for reasonable doubt. The fact he had 2 PA officers with him keep her friends from trying to get back to her until he was done with her is SICK…. All 3 of them should be procecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But that will not happen because of a simple change of words. Anyone who can read those statements and tell me that Ben was not wrong for taking a 20 year old girl, get her drunk and then have his flunkies grab her and lead her to a hall way so he could have sex with her without invitation is just a homer.

By: wryly1

wryly1 — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:39:04 +0000

HandsofSweed – produce that statement? Is it exculpatory of BR? Ya think the NFL and Steelers haven’t investigated, too – and don’t have a darn good idea what happened? Ya think Ben wanted everything made public? Don’t be so naive – get a grip and come out of denial.

By: BigDiceBuddha

BigDiceBuddha — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:37:51 +0000

I think this is all too PC. Can your place of employment suspend you for conduct detrimental to your job? Most of them can. I don’t see why we have to tip toe around this so much.

By: HandsofSweed

HandsofSweed — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:16:11 +0000

Speaking of being factually wrong, wryly1, Ben did give a statement to the authorities the night of the alleged incident. You missed that part, not surprisingly.

By: BleedGreen

BleedGreen — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:10:35 +0000

kbaby604 says:
April 16, 2010 12:05 AM
Holmes just got suspended after he got traded to the Jets.
__________________________________
Holmes was suspended by the league. There are charges against him. I thought I read that the league was not going to punish Ben, that they would defer to the Steelers.

By: 4-time-ace

4-time-ace — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:06:42 +0000

@sassers420
The NFLPA is not going to do anything. They are in the midst of trying to leverage more money out of the owners in the next CBA. De Smith is trying hard to put a white hat on the players in the court of public opinion. Standing up to defend Roethlisberger given the facts published yesterday in the investigation reports would seriously damage that effort. Remember, perception IS reality. The public doesn’t have a standard of “reasonable doubt” and can choose to believe what they want no matter what the “law” says about his culpability.

By: UckTheFeagles

UckTheFeagles — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:04:45 +0000

Rothlisburger screwed up so bad they now have to create new rules to deal with him…can this situation get any worse?

By: BigBear123

BigBear123 — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:04:10 +0000

“Top tier companies
—————
Bill Clinton.
—————
Government is an entity of it’s own and far from running smoothly. Nothing else has annual deficits in the trillions and climbing.

By: hairball

hairball — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 07:53:28 +0000

Richard says:
April 15, 2010 10:55 PM
Suppose Roger Goodell were a woman?
—————————————-
Then Ben’s DNA would be all over his office.

By: wryly1

wryly1 — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 07:37:46 +0000

Silverback – you are just plain factually WRONG!!! Roethlisberger didn’t give any statement to authorities. He refused to cooperate with the investigation and give his side of the story because it would only further incrimate him. All we have is an admission from his lawyers that he had sexual contact with her in a public restroom stall.

By: rondevous

rondevous — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 07:12:43 +0000

I think the likely suspension will only be based on what Ben has admitted to league and their investigators. He has admitted to being drunk. He admits he had sex with this young girl he just met. He had sex with her in a bathroom. He lasted all of 180 seconds and then he left. Plus if answered favorably to the question of whether or not he bought her silence then for sure this is conduct unbecoming a NFL player and subject to suspension. The witness accounts won’t even be considered.

By: Rev. Dr. HollywoodWags

Rev. Dr. HollywoodWags — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 06:16:48 +0000

“Top tier companies don’t put up with that kind of BS, regardless of how talented the employees are. ”
Bill Clinton.

By: awfflpete

awfflpete — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:42:53 +0000

Out of all the people defending Roethlisberger, I’d like to know what percentage of them are Steelers fans and/or have him on their fantasy football teams.

By: Pantherfan10

Pantherfan10 — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:39:57 +0000

Wasn’t this precident already set with Pac-man? He was never convicted

By: BigBear123

BigBear123 — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 03:20:17 +0000

If Warden Goodell wishes to see his NFL continue to expand he needs to start kicking some of these idiots out indefinitely. If Rapistburger was the brand or face of any other company or enterprise he would have been handed his walking papers already. You can only use the "athletes are different" for so long. No other top tier company allows a convicted felon to rehab their image while working a few months after leaving federal prison. Goodell wants QB's to be the face of the NFL. Those faces are currently of Vick and Rapistburger, not Brady, Manning or Romo. You will not reach growth of $25 billion per year by 2027 with those guys being your product image.

By: p911

p911 — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:36:53 +0000

As is normal we make things much harder than it should be. Most of us, fans, who have employement or have an employment contract or are at will employees and at acceptance of employment are given the company rules for the job. Included in this packet from the employer are the rules and regulations of the company and included with them are the accepted rules relating to a persons conduct. Criminal activitys are covered in all of these policys. Non criminal conduct is also covered in most and I would believe a simple line worker, could after two episodes of like conduct could get released not just suspended from work for up to 4 games. We should let this work though the proccess.
It would be wrong for both the league and team to both penalize the employee.

By: TheBottomLine

TheBottomLine — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:17:39 +0000

Enough is enough, I am a life long Steelers fan, and I have heard enough. TRADE HIM NOW!!!
I would rather have Kordell Stewart or Bubby Brister than Ben at this point in time.
Give Dixon a chance, and pick up Tebow with the first rounder at worst. Best case scenario trade with the Rams.

By: Sting Ray

Sting Ray — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:16:04 +0000

Florio writes: “Frankly, the more we think about the contents of those witness statements, the less surprised we’d be by a suspension of eight games, or more.”
I think this comment is noteworthy because Florio has been talking consistently that he saw this as a two game suspension. When you read the statements of the witnesses, it has an affect on you. I think that if these statements are reported widely, the league will see a strong backlash of sentiment about this whole situation that will be interpreted as threatening the NFL brand.
It really doesn’t matter what city you live in or team you cheer, this behaviour is predatory and who wants to watch a person who intentionally schemes to do this stuff.
I was wondering why the Steelers and the NFL didn’t dole out the discipline this week, now it’s clear. They want to gauage the backlash from the released criminal investigation.
I’m live in Cincinnati, a Bengals fan, but honestly, this just is really disappointing and sucks. I could care less about the football part of it. Heck, give the Steelers another Super Bowl season and dominate my Bengals, just get this guy out of the League.

By: spliffbunker

spliffbunker — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:08:52 +0000

now that the Georgia investigation is over with no charges filed…wouldnt the NFL instigate a pretty through investigation of Roethlisberger?
dont know what NFL security is like now but there used to be some serious LE types there & I have no reason to think its changed
there is no doubt that he is & will be considered a rapist in the court of public opinion…doubt any amount of PR spin will ever change that
the NFL or the Steelers may announce some type of discipline quickly to appease the media/public & hope they can put it behind them
but the NFL needs to find out if Ben is simply the misogynist moron he appears to be ( at best )
or worse

By: Neoplatonist Bolthead

Neoplatonist Bolthead — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:07:52 +0000

Ya know… this isn’t a first offense.
I mean, not necessarily, in League terms. Reno isn’t punishable by suspension, okay. But this is #2.