Dennis Dixon = Aaron Rodgers

[TallyStiller]

Actually, it was in response to the whole post. I can't believe that some people are ready to run Ben out of town when he has never even been charged with any crime of any sort. Cutting or trading Ben to "allow" Dixon to become our franchise QB is insane. We are short two Lombardi's without Ben.

Very correct. No doubt Ben makes really stupid decisions but as pointed out he has not been charged or convicted of ANYTHING.

I have to wonder if the folks willing to run Ben out of town would like there bosses to fire them if they did nothing wrong and were just accused of something? Would you be so willing to see your own lives and careers ruined if you never had anything proven that you did something wrong other than make bad choices?

I think too many people are more worried abouth the grief they get or read on message boards than letting justice run its course.

This is just it, though... people who live in the real world ARE held responsible for their bad choices - all the time. Ben is insulated from his because of his fame, and because people enjoy watching him do what he's very good at professionally, he has a legion of enablers.

Regardless of whether there was "consent", I'm comfortably certain that if it was known in my community that I had treated a twenty year old college student from a small town in Georgia like a porn star in a women's bathroom at a club while I was on my last vacation, I'd find myself jobless very shortly thereafter... and it wouldn't be a straight out "you're fired". In the real world, there's the awkward, uncomfortable process in which you KNOW your employer wants you gone, but can't fire you yet, so they're working on building the case to fire you for "cause" that really has nothing to do with why they're firing you.

[stlrz d]

The world of professional sports is not the real world and it never will be.

[TallyStiller]

I suppose it's like being president and getting a ******* from your intern... or like being Governor of South Carolina and "hiking the Appalachian Trail"... or like my local Congressman - I taught his kids, so I hear the dirt all the time. Dude had an affair in his first term, back in the late '90's, gave it up, his wife forgave him and came back. Got caught AGAIN with ANOTHER aide last year, this time she filed for divorce.

Or it's like Tiger Woods and all 14 of his girlfriends if we want to talk athletes... all of it privilege going to guys' heads. The question, though is this: when do Ben's bad choices in his personal life become a problem that takes him away from the team and sinks the franchise? In all the other cases, guys are only ruining their own lives. In Ben's case, he's liable to drag the entire franchise down with him, both in terms of it's competitive future AND in terms of it's reputation.

Who knows, maybe this one scares him straight... Ray Ray has been a model citizen since he nearly went down for helping kill two people. Michael Vick's time at Club Fed seems to have changed him as well... maybe Ben grows up this time. I'm definitely rooting for this outcome, but I'm beginning to believe it'll never happen.

Thing is, I'll about guarantee that this conversation, or some variation thereof, has been had in the Steelers' FO, in terms of Ben's general lack of maturity, Dixon's readiness and capability to run the show, and the cap ramifications, or lack of same, regarding Ben's release despite the enormous and very scary future financial commitment to the Man - Child.