Big Ben's Night Out

I think my feelings on Steelermania are well documented around here and I can tell you this -- if you are a team with a top ten pick and need a quarterback, why in the hell would you NOT call the Steelers?

I mean seriously - do the Rams really think they are better off with Sam freaking Bradford than a guy who is in the prime of his career, who has two Super Bowl rings and, like him or now, has already proven that he is a franchise quarterback and one of the elite players at that position in the league?

Give me a damn break.

 

The Rams need at least a half-dozen NFL-caliber starters. That's not even getting into depth.

Quarterback is the very least of their issues. They'll suck for the next few years and can pick one up in a more QB-friendly draft without dirtying their hands with him.

 

Yes, and when they do they may have to wait another three or four seasons before he is ready to play and by that time the core of the team they built will have fallen apart again.

Are you really trying to argue they'd be better off with Sam Bradford than Ben Roethlisberger?

 

I am so torn on this right now.

In my lifetime, the Steelers have not just given up on QBs. From Bradshaw to Slash to Tommy Maddox, they give them every opportunity to succeed through the tough times and the good times. They have the same philosophy on coaches. Dan Rooney is also a big time Catholic, and those guys tend to forgive.

I am guessing that it just tears them apart to see all those #7 jerseys coming back.

It honestly makes me sick to think that Steeler fans should be enjoying this kid for another 6-8 seasons, but his shitty decisions off the field have compromised everything. Then again, It's almost like it will be a relief if he is traded.

I guess I am thankful that the Rooneys, who have put shitty teams on the field about five times in my 40 years on this planet, can be trusted to make the right decision - whatever it will be.

I am still morally opposed to how the league is handling this, but that ship has sailed. I'm just ready for this to be over.

 

Zag, you're assuming he's going to be the same guy when he gets out of rehab or wherever the fuck he's headed next, as his life is broken and he will no longer have his creature comforts (I am assuming his drinking days are over). Aside from that, who wants to WAIT for him to get his shit together. The Falcons didn't do any waiting.

 

;D ;D

Absolutely, I would love for him to be on the Raiders. They have long since passed into the realm of Sad Comedy for me, and for them to take on this deviant, hype him as a savior, and see Al Davis act like "We'ah one playah from da Supah Bowl!!!!" would be extremely entertaining.

 

Translation: Anybody who writes anything other than, "Roethlisberger is the antichrist and should be hung by his nuts for week before being drawn and quartered" is being a fandork and carrying his water."

Piotr, I'm disappointed. I expect better from you.

There are other things worth discussing here.

The commissioner is setting a precedent here. He is basically declaring his right to suspend whoever he damn well pleases. Sure, I can see his reasons here. I'm surprised he didn't nail Roethlisberger even worse. But where is the line now?

And yes, the over-the-top reaction by some fans is ridiculous. I get wanting him gone. I want him gone. I want to root for the Steelers and I don't want to have to root for Roethlisberger to do it. But sending the crap you bought to the team offices? Crying as if he somehow personally let them down? Sorry, some people need to stop idolizing athletes and grow the fuck up.

How exactly am I wrong to question the Steelers' approach to this? Did you even read my post? This is the same team that quietly swept it under the rug when James Harrison was facing charges for assaulting his girlfriend. According to the charges she first filed, she was afraid enough of him to lock herself in a room. He busted through the door and hit her with a phone. That's not disturbing, too?

Again, this is about PR, not morality. That's the point. It is exactly the same as the team deciding to protect Roethlisberger when he suffered a concussion in 2009, but not to do the same thing for Polamalu in 2008.

Do better, Piotr. I know you have it in you.

 

Why do you assume he is going be taking even a little time off to get rusty?

He has not missed any practice time. He will be at home (not in jail or some rehab) working out with his team all summer. He will go through training camp with his team and even play in preseason games.

This isn't Michael Vick or Plex going to the klink for two years, the guy isn't going anywhere.

 

The precedent was set before, with Pacman Jones and others. The NFL is a private organization, that has an image to protect. If the players don't like it, they can go play in that OTHER extremely lucrative professional football league.

 

The precedent was set by players who actually, you know, committed a crime.

This is the first time a guy who has not even been charged is being suspended.

 

Too bad for him.

He should have been smarter.

I like this precedent. Tagliabue let everything go. Goodell lets nothing slide.

Again, private organization that can do as it sees fit in the name of protecting its image.

 

He can't do dick until he submits to whatever battery of psychological eval they have set for him.

I do not know how anyone who read those documents can't conclude, as a reasonable human being, that a crime or at least some great wrongfulness was committed. Just because I drove the car home drunk when I was 19 and didn't get slam dunked for it doesn't mean I didn't commit a crime.