In one of the clearest signs yet of Ben Roethlisberger laboring to change his reputation, the Steelers quarterback has told a Pittsburgh newspaper that his religious beliefs preclude him from living with his fiancee.
Roethlisberger told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that his fiancee, Ashley Harlan, lives at home with her parents, and that the couple’s religious faith and beliefs are the reasons for not living together until marriage.
That’s quite a change for Roethlisberger, who developed a reputation as a womanizer over the first six seasons of his NFL career and who has twice been accused of sexual assault.
Now Roethlisberger says he’s a changed man, although he knows some people are skeptical of how much he has really changed.
“People will always have opinions of everybody and me, and that’s fine, they’re entitled,” Roethlisberger said. “But people who know her, know me, know us . . . people can say that it is whatever, but people who know and can see and are around us and know me, know that it’s something special when you find that person, and I’m extremely lucky.”
Roethlisberger’s wedding is scheduled for July 23. He says Harlan hopes the lockout will delay the start of training camp just long enough for a honeymoon.