Roethisberger will start, finish season

[JAR]

By Bob Smizik | Tuesday, 1 a.m.

Nobody asked me, but . . .

* I can’t think of any local story that got so out of control as the one involving the sexual assualt charge in George against Ben Roethlisberger. Granted, Roethlisberger is probably Pittsburgh’s No. 1 celebrity. But that was no excuse for the excesses. The media -- print and electronic -- the talk shows, the talk-show callers, the bloggers, the posters and, well, just about everyone had an opinion that was not based on facts because so few facts were known. The guess here, and it's strictly that, is Roethlisberger will start and finish the season as Steelers quarterback.

[url="http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/bobsmizik/default.aspx"]http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs ... fault.aspx[/url]

[papillon]

And, that's the same knee jerk reaction to the lack of facts except in the other direction than those of us who believe Ben made a huge mistake whether he's innocent or not. I believe that is Smizik's hope for the season, nothing more, nothing less.

Pappy

[feltdizz]

Smizik needs to realize Paul Tagliabu is no longer the NFL commissioner.

Goodell is trigger happy and I would be very surprised if he didn't suspend Ben for conduct unbecoming a football player... or whatever the definition is that he uses to suspend players even when they aren't found guilty or charged.

[Shawn]

Yeah...I'm not sure where he gets that. I am trying to be optimistic but I have no idea if he will throw another football as a Steeler.

[Jom112]

Granted, Roethlisberger is probably Pittsburgh’s No. 1 celebrity.

He's not just the #1 celebrity, he's the $100 Mil QB. When you sign a contract that large, you have more responsibility than just throwing the football and handing it off. You are the face of the franchise and you have to help promote the team positively.

If you're Elvis Dumervil and you miss voluntary workouts, you can get a pass. But when you're Jamarcus Russell and you miss voluntary workouts, everyone knows about it and they will criticize you relentlessly (I use those two because both of them didn't show up to voluntary workouts this week). When you're the franchise QB, every thing you do will be scrutinized more, if you don't like it, then don't take the money...

[papillon]

Granted, Roethlisberger is probably Pittsburgh’s No. 1 celebrity.

He's not just the #1 celebrity, he's the $100 Mil QB. When you sign a contract that large, you have more responsibility than just throwing the football and handing it off. You are the face of the franchise and you have to help promote the team positively.

If you're Elvis Dumervil and you miss voluntary workouts, you can get a pass. But when you're Jamarcus Russell and you miss voluntary workouts, everyone knows about it and they will criticize you relentlessly (I use those two because both of them didn't show up to voluntary workouts this week). When you're the franchise QB, every thing you do will be scrutinized more, if you don't like it, then don't take the money...

No way JOM, don't you know, you only have to play football and collect the $100 million you don't have any greater responsibility to the organization than the guy making the league minimum (or a kicker... :P )

Pappy

[feltdizz]

I agree Pap... Ben only has to do Ben, he has no responsibility to the Steelers off the field. It's not like they own him... hell, he could play for the Browns if he wanted to, who do those Steeler owners think they are?

[frankthetank1]

if any other steeler was in bens position they would be off the team. im not so sure what they will decide to do with ben, but i would guess he plays out his contract and then they will make a decision. ben is an elite qb and living through the 80's and 90's i dont think it would be wise to get rid of an elite qb. at the same time if the steelers parted ways with ben i wouldnt be too upset at all, i would actually respect the decision a lot. a lot of the reason i am a steeler fan is because they dont tolerate poor morality

[feltdizz]

if any other steeler was in bens position they would be off the team. im not so sure what they will decide to do with ben, but i would guess he plays out his contract and then they will make a decision. ben is an elite qb and living through the 80's and 90's i dont think it would be wise to get rid of an elite qb. at the same time if the steelers parted ways with ben i wouldnt be too upset at all, i would actually respect the decision a lot. a lot of the reason i am a steeler fan is because they dont tolerate poor morality

Nah... other stars on our team have the extra rope as well. We make examples with guys we don't need or were already on the chopping block.

The Steelers are good at acting swiftly to punish a player before the NFL steps in... Bam Morris was the last good Steeler I remember being let go for off field problems...

Plax wasn't a "criminal" when we let him go in FA... he was expensive and didn't want to be here. If Plax did want to be here he would have been resigned and shot himself in the leg while getting cheese fries at the O.

Ben isn't going anywhere... unless if he does 3 to 5 or we find out he is indeed a very bad man in the company of women..

[frankthetank1]

if any other steeler was in bens position they would be off the team. im not so sure what they will decide to do with ben, but i would guess he plays out his contract and then they will make a decision. ben is an elite qb and living through the 80's and 90's i dont think it would be wise to get rid of an elite qb. at the same time if the steelers parted ways with ben i wouldnt be too upset at all, i would actually respect the decision a lot. a lot of the reason i am a steeler fan is because they dont tolerate poor morality

Nah... other stars on our team have the extra rope as well. We make examples with guys we don't need or were already on the chopping block.

The Steelers are good at acting swiftly to punish a player before the NFL steps in... Bam Morris was the last good Steeler I remember being let go for off field problems...

Plax wasn't a "criminal" when we let him go in FA... he was expensive and didn't want to be here. If Plax did want to be here he would have been resigned and shot himself in the leg while getting cheese fries at the O.

Ben isn't going anywhere... unless if he does 3 to 5 or we find out he is indeed a very bad man in the company of women..

james harrison is the only player i can think of who has the extra rope with crap like this. imo this is much worse than harrison though. it is true that what ever ben does is much bigger headlines than james harrison, but i think of harrison different than any other player. jimmy hate isnt all there and is definetly the last person i would ever want to meet in a dark alley. ben on the other hand i thought was one of the smarter players on the team. i guess i was way off on that one.

plax was different. the guy didnt care about winning much when he was in the burgh. he had a poor work ethic and was a jerk. he was a huge under achiver when he was a steeler. i dont think ben is going any where mostly because qb's are so hard to find these days especially elite qb's. ben is probably the best qb in steeler history and it was 20 something years the steelers went without a great qb