11/05/24
April 12, 2010
DA Says Roethlisberger Won't Be Charged: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will not be charged with a crime in connection to an alleged incident at a Milledgeville, Ga., nightclub, district attorney Fred Bright said in a Monday press conference.
If the league suspends him a few games, he may be out the door with Santonio.
posted by Debo270 at 02:57 PM on April 12, 2010
Not with the contract Ben has. Holmes had one foot out the door. The Steelers aren't happy with him for the off-the-field stuff, but they apparently aren't happy with his Twitter content as well. Partner that with being part of this recent law suit in March, a pot bust in 2008, and his legal, etc issues from when he was still at OSU, and he was going to be gone soon anyway.
Holmes' (first) contract is up at the end of this season, and as a Super Bowl MVP he was likely to cost more than the Steelers would have wanted to invest in him with or without the character issues. He is also now going to be suspended for 4 weeks by the league, which means the Steelers would be paying for him for 16 games and only getting him for 12, at most. The Jets now get him for 1 year (err, 12 games +playoffs) and his contract. The Steelers get a 5th round pick.
Ben is in the first few years of a longer (second) contract at a MUCH higher amount of investment. The Steelers may decide to suspend him themselves and see if it appeases the league. The NFL may decided that it isn't enough and extend it.
Personally, I am looking forward to seeing what Dennis Dixon can do on the field with more reps with the first team offense in practice. I've had it with Ben's bonehead decision making of the field.
posted by scully at 03:51 PM on April 12, 2010
I would be surprised if the Steelers were allowed to suspend Roethlisberger ahead of a decision by the commish. Clearly this brouhaha has reached the point where a come-to-Jesus moment with Roger Goodell is coming.
posted by rcade at 04:04 PM on April 12, 2010
I think it is a little bit harder for Goodell to do anything to Roethlisberger, because even though he has put himself in bad positions, there is no actual evidence that he has done anything wrong. For all anyone other than Roethlisberger and the accuser know, he may be completely innocent. In all of the other cases of Goodell suspending a player that I can recall (Tank Johnson, Pacman, Vick post-prison, Stallworth), their transgressions were quite clear.
I suspect that the Steelers will still suspend him for a week or two for "conduct detrimental to the team", and that will be the end of it. Hopefully, Ben will stop putting himself in these positions.
posted by TheQatarian at 05:06 PM on April 12, 2010
Goodell can suspend him for any number of reasons. Including the fact that alcohol has played a role in these two (known) incidents. Can also make him attend counseling.
posted by scully at 05:48 PM on April 12, 2010
So NFL players can be suspended for consuming alcohol?
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 06:33 PM on April 12, 2010
I feel the Rooney's have informed Ben that he has two strikes against him, one more and he is out!!! I personally met his exgirlfriend (she's from Pittsburgh) and she said that he is an overgrown a-hole. It's time for him to grow up and act like a professional.
posted by Doehead at 06:36 PM on April 12, 2010
I believe they can suspend him for anything that is detrimental to the league, and if they decide that repeat situations of accusation of forced sex, where both situations involved alcohol, they can suspend him for the actions detrimental to the league, and they can order him to undergo counseling. So, correct, not alcohol by itself. Sorry, if I am unclear. Busy day (lambs dropping!) and I haven't much time to digest the league part of things.
I think Ben is an overgrown a-hole and I don't know anyone who knows him. He wears his stupidity on his sleeve like some badge of honour. Riding his motorcycle without a helmet; fooling around with staff at hotels in Tahoe; Being in "VIP" areas drinking with girls who are not of age to be in the establishment.
posted by scully at 07:39 PM on April 12, 2010
And he gets away with it again. One of these days the NFL will start doing something about guys who seem to keep making the same mistakes. But I guess there is no law against being stupid
posted by otbagain at 07:54 PM on April 12, 2010
Being in "VIP" areas drinking with girls who are not of age to be in the establishment.
I'm the #1 fan on the "Ben Roethlisberger is a douche" bandwagon, but the girl in GA was legal to be in the club. Down in the Peach State, 18 year-olds can enter clubs, they just have to wear wristbands showing that they aren't of age to drink. He was, of course, drinking with a girl who was not legal to drink. So...by all means carry on with the pitchforks and torches, this Bengal fan is loving every minute of it.
posted by tahoemoj at 08:30 PM on April 12, 2010
Ditto tahoemoj's comment in full, except substitute "Raven" for "Bengal" there at the end.
posted by boredom_08 at 08:32 PM on April 12, 2010
I understand your reasoning terrapin, but I feel that Goodell would be hard pressed to find justification for a suspension that wouldn't face significant opposition from the player's union. I can't argue with you regarding Ben's decision making though.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 08:45 PM on April 12, 2010
The personal conduct policy was written in a way that Goodell has a lot of power to suspend players. The player's union new rep would like to change it, but it stands for now. Certainly having a high-profile player promoting underage drinking and being accused of two sexual assaults is not good for the league. And, this would be a powerful message to all the other players wanting to get drunk and act the fool. If Goodell doesn't suspend him, the Steelers should.
posted by bperk at 07:08 AM on April 13, 2010
Certainly having a high-profile player promoting underage drinking and being accused of two sexual assaults is not good for the league.
I certainly missed the part where he was promoting underage drinking.... but yeah, the other deal(s) don't reflect so well on either the Steelers or the league.
posted by mjkredliner at 02:33 PM on April 13, 2010
The piling on continues with this concerning Big Ben. One line about Roethlisberger in attorney Harry Manion's statement, "Unless he's totally brain-dead--and we don't know--he would be scared.", would seem to indicate that maybe Benny Boy has taken a few too many to the helmet.
On edit, the link is to a story similar to the one tahoemoj linked.
posted by Howard_T at 04:03 PM on April 13, 2010
I suggest that every time Ben plays outside of Pittsburgh, they should play this song when he comes out on the field. Of course, I also thought this song should great Michael Vick when he played outside of Philly, but nobody listened to my reasonable and well thought out suggestion that time either.
posted by Joey Michaels at 05:47 PM on April 13, 2010
Tagline for this story should have been "BIG BEN GETS OFF"
posted by cixelsyd at 06:34 PM on April 13, 2010
Or "BIG BEN GETS OFF AGAIN".
posted by BoKnows at 08:59 PM on April 13, 2010
One would think he might "clean up" a little before he went before the public. How about washing your hair and shaving? He looked like he just rolled in from an all nighter. And the "God bless," very sincere!
posted by gfinsf at 02:32 AM on April 14, 2010
What the league does and whether there will be a (second) civil suit is still to be determined.