11/05/24
July 13, 2006
Rescuers told Roethlisberger he was close to dying: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said Wednesday night that he was told he was "seconds, maybe a minute away from dying" immediately after his motorcycle accident last month.
posted by wingnut4life to football at 09:08 AM - 28 comments
"Seconds" from dying on June 12, golfing (possibly) on July 15. The miracles of modern medicine! I'm glad he's coming around.
posted by dyams at 09:35 AM on July 13, 2006
I didn't see that interview (I can't watch Jim Rome; to my ears he talks like every desperate coke addict on the Lower East Side), but ... putting aside for a moment the fact that we're all a minute away from dying, it's good that that message got through to Ben, no matter how it happened or who he finally heard it from. People like Ben grow up being the man. To get to where he is right now, his life has had to have always been, well, I hate to use words like blessed, but when you're one of the taller kids in the class and you can throw a football better than anyone on your pee-wee team, then no matter what your upbringing, you get to a point where truly bad things don't happen as often anymore. You tend to think of yourself as a little bit bulletproof, a little bit better than everyone else (not necessarily in an egotistical sense, though it often comes out that way). If this was the great attitude adjustment that showed him that for all his skills and fame and success, he's still human, then it's good that this has happened while he's still young enough to change his path a little bit.
posted by chicobangs at 09:44 AM on July 13, 2006
Looks like he's lost aliitle weight-but looks good-Cowher is quoted to saying-"We'll see how he is after he takes a couple of hits on the field" Didnt he just prove he could take a hit?
posted by oh2rooper at 09:46 AM on July 13, 2006
I think the comments of players on NFL Total Access has been interesting. While most of the world is trying not to appear crass for criticizing Ben, most players are in the "He's stupid, he's let his teammates and his city down" camp. Personally, I thought his comments about riding lidless at the time of the Winslow accident to be immature and totally irresponsable. So, hopefully, those 100 guys in Pittsburgh who had to ride without a helmet like their Idol are safer now too.
posted by LostInDaJungle at 09:50 AM on July 13, 2006
Well, I have to admit that if were giving props out to people who have done something stupid, gotten away with it and managed to learn a lesson that probably didn't have to be taught, then I for one am happy to see Eddie Griffen back on the court and ready to contribute to some winning basketball.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 11:13 AM on July 13, 2006
Ben is lucky to be alive today...he could have seriously been killed out there...I just heard this today on ESPN before I left for research and I was just a little shocked...we always never get the full story till later... Just look at the Zidane incident...we keep getting more and more info and its been almost 5 days since it happened...
posted by chemwizBsquared at 11:27 AM on July 13, 2006
Chicobangs, I think that when Ben lost his mother when he was eight, he might have learned that bad things do happen. I don't think we should speculate on why he, or anyone else for that matter, makes the choices that he does.
posted by cmbrennan915 at 11:30 AM on July 13, 2006
what chico said.
posted by steelergirl at 02:14 PM on July 13, 2006
he could have seriously been killed out there as opposed to being killed in a non-serious manner?
posted by steelcityguy at 03:28 PM on July 13, 2006
Didnt he just prove he could take a hit? Not really.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 03:29 PM on July 13, 2006
People make their own decisons, and who are we to judge them.
posted by felgoode at 04:47 PM on July 13, 2006
Gotta question Rothlisberger's intelligence or lack there of. In the interview he compared riding without a helmet to occaisionally driving a car without fastening the seatbelt. As if that is acceptable. He may be able to play football but a deep thinker, he's not. His claim that he forgot his helmet demonstrates it. I ride a motorcycle and drive a car as do many of my friends, and I have yet to meet anybody that "forgets to buckle up let alone forgets their helmet. Gotta say one thing though, he's got a thick skull as the fact that he survived no dumber than he started clearly demonstrates.
posted by Atheist at 05:06 PM on July 13, 2006
...we're all a minute away from dying... We're all dying -- one day at a time... I'm still not drafting him to my fantasy team. I can hear the road game loudspeakers now. All they have to do is play motorcycle sounds and crashing sounds, simple as that.
posted by wingnut4life at 05:48 PM on July 13, 2006
posted by geekyguy at 08:37 PM on July 13, 2006
Better off dead? That has to be the bumbest fucking thing I have ever read. This man talks about motorcycles as if they are loaded guns with no safety. To call all motorcycle riders morons is in its self mornic. It would seem that the fact that he was not at fault in this accident does not matter. How is it the woman who hit him gets no blame. He points out how many bikers were killed in that state. What he does not tell is how many motorcycles there are or how many riders. What percent of the total number of riders does that 87 deaths represent? Three men were killed last weekend in a crash in my area. All had seatbelts on. So I guess their deathes should stop the rest of us morons from getting in cars. Ben Rothlisberger's death would only have been one thing, sad.
posted by CB900 at 10:55 PM on July 13, 2006
How is it the woman who hit him gets no blame. Here's a column on what she's gone through.
posted by SummersEve at 09:37 AM on July 14, 2006
Thanks for the link, SummersEve. I hate to say it, but I knew that this would happen. People want to paint a picture of some crotchety old lady who didn't give a rats ass what happened to the guy on the bike, but it isn't the case.
posted by wingnut4life at 10:37 AM on July 14, 2006
Thank you Eve, I stand corrected. Some people really ned to take their meds and lay down.
posted by CB900 at 10:49 AM on July 14, 2006
If you're looking to outsource that work, I'd be willing to pick some up.
posted by yerfatma at 12:00 PM on July 14, 2006
Thank you Eve, I stand corrected. Some people really ned to take their meds and lay down. I'm really quite surprised that you concluded that "the woman who hits him gets no blame" in the first place. Where did that come from, anyway?
posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:27 PM on July 14, 2006
Listen, it was an accident. Plain & Simple. The lady that hit Ben DID NOT do it intentionally even though Big Ben had the right of way. Regardless, he did not have the requirement to be out riding in the first place, with or without a helmet. I give Roethlisberger all the props in the world for what he has done in his football career but that doesn't mean anything in the 'real world.' We are all human and we all make mistakes.
posted by BornIcon at 12:33 PM on July 14, 2006
lil, what I mean by that is that people are ripping Ben as if he was doing something wreckless with the bike and the accident was all his fault. Yes I know she did not do this intentionally.And I had not herd about the dumb shit she has had to put up with. But she did turn in front of him, and that was her fault. My only point is that this has turned into a one sided bashing of Ben for an accident he was not at fault in. I still say the link geek posted was the dumbist fucking thing I have ever read. As a rider myself I see far more morons behind the wheel of cars then on bikes. People talking on phones, reading the paper, drinking coffee and putting on makeup. I get sick of dodgeing dumb shits behind the wheel who are to busy to drive. Bikers should not have to give up their rights to people who are to dumb to watch what they are doing.
posted by CB900 at 01:08 PM on July 14, 2006
what I mean by that is that people are ripping Ben as if he was doing something wreckless with the bike and the accident was all his fault. Riding without a helmet is dumb. Riding without a helmet knowing that there are tons of morons behind the wheel is even more dumb.
posted by bperk at 03:11 PM on July 14, 2006
people are ripping Ben as if he was doing something wreckless with the bike and the accident was all his fault. From the article linked above: Fleishman had the misfortune of pulling in front of someone who had not completed the state-mandated motorcycle safety course. And in case you hadn't heard, Roethlisberger wasn't wearing a helmet, which he was required to do. Accident: not Ben's fault. Not completing the state-madated motorcycle safety course: reckless and stupid. Not wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle in an urban environment: reckless and stupid. So, while you're right that the accident wasn't his fault, I'm not giving him a pass on the whole "reckless" thing.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 04:07 PM on July 14, 2006
That has to be the bumbest fucking thing I have ever read. I still say the link geek posted was the dumbist fucking thing I have ever read.Hahaha. You kill me with your wry irony. I posted the link, I didn't write it. It is something to be considered. A conversation point. James Dean's death shortly preceeded the introduction of safety belts and padded dashes in the automotive industry. When will athletes learn? As a King's fan I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the Bobby Hurley accident. Every few years it is a different athlete in a different sport and it seems to be happening with alarming frequency. It is fantastic that you are a safe motorcyclist and hope to see you posting here for a long long time but just as bicyclists exist on the periphery of most motorists vision so do motorcyclists. It doesn't make it right but it is a pretty strong argument for motorcyclists taking every safety precaution available. It isn't always cars that are a danger to motorcycles. I live in China. Very few people drive, those that do have a view of the road and the rules for driving that would get you quickly arrested in a non-developing country. I own and ride a motorcycle here. I can be found to be riding without a helmet but not if I am in town, only out in the countryside where cars, trucks and pedestrians aren't an issue.
posted by geekyguy at 01:55 AM on July 15, 2006
geek, I know you did not write that and if you thought I was putting you down I am sorry. I just think the writer of this shit was way round the bend. To call anyone who rides a bike a moron,well, what ever.
posted by CB900 at 12:24 PM on July 15, 2006
Big Ben looks so intelligent with his baseball hat on backwards. I wonder if he even knows how to wear a bike helment. Listening to what he says, I wonder if he has learned anything. After all he can't even extract his own foot from his own mouth.
posted by saintlw at 09:21 PM on July 15, 2006
I saw a clip of his interview with Jim Rome, and he looked really good. He did his best to avoid the "Are you going to ride again?" question. Holy cow!!! Boy did I miss SpoFi...