Hmmm...interesting reading...

**LouSteel** · 04-15-2010, 08:55 AM

Originally Posted by Oviedo

If Ben had Troy's morals we would not be dealing with this crap. Maybe ben should be hanging out with Troy versus Willie Colon and the OL.

I personally don't want to trade Ben... but I understand the Steelers see and understand much more than I do. If the organization believes keeping Ben will only lead to more problems, I'm going to support whatever decision they make.

**Oviedo** · 04-15-2010, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by LouSteel

Originally Posted by Oviedo

If Ben had Troy's morals we would not be dealing with this crap. Maybe ben should be hanging out with Troy versus Willie Colon and the OL.

I personally don't want to trade Ben... but I understand the Steelers see and understand much more than I do. If the organization believes keeping Ben will only lead to more problems, I'm going to support whatever decision they make.

I don't want to trade Ben either and I support the organization no mater what decision they make. My view has always been the uniform is more importnat than the person wearing it. That will always be my view.

The Rooney's have been good owners of this franchise for a long period of time. This means more to them on a lot more levels than the emotional attachments we have as fans so I trust their decisions.

**papillon** · 04-15-2010, 09:03 AM

Originally Posted by stlrz d

Let's trade Troy while his value is high. He had rest all last season so he'll be back and ready to go.

I say we should do it...who's with me?

No, Troy manages to keep himself out of trouble in the off season and, hopefully, there will be no kick blocking team action for him this year and he remains healthy. The Steelers will have preeminent safety in the game playing for them. Trading him would be a bad idea.

Pappy

**Steel Life** · 04-15-2010, 09:17 AM

Guys - I believe that D was being sarcastic...at least I hope so.

**SteelAbility** · 04-15-2010, 09:46 AM

strlz_d was being sarcastic and he has a good point. The analogy isn't 100% because Troy and Ben are in very different ballparks as far as off-field behavior. But the point is valid, being that these are "once every 20-25 years" types of players. That being said, even with Troy there is a point at which a trade is worth it ... believe it or not.

**Chadman** · 04-15-2010, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by SteelAbility

strlz_d was being sarcastic and he has a good point. The analogy isn't 100% because Troy and Ben are in very different ballparks as far as off-field behavior. But the point is valid, being that these are "once every 20-25 years" types of players. That being said, even with Troy there is a point at which a trade is worth it ... believe it or not.

So are you saying that Ben's athletic ability reduces his need to be held accountable for his actions outside of football, because he knows that great players are treated differently?

Doesn't sound like something Dan Rooney would agree with...

**ROLROC** · 04-15-2010, 10:19 AM

he!! no to trading Ben.

**SteelAbility** · 04-15-2010, 10:47 AM

Originally Posted by Chadman

Originally Posted by SteelAbility

strlz_d was being sarcastic and he has a good point. The analogy isn't 100% because Troy and Ben are in very different ballparks as far as off-field behavior. But the point is valid, being that these are "once every 20-25 years" types of players. That being said, even with Troy there is a point at which a trade is worth it ... believe it or not.

So are you saying that Ben's athletic ability reduces his need to be held accountable for his actions outside of football, because he knows that great players are treated differently?

Doesn't sound like something Dan Rooney would agree with...

I'm saying that trading Ben has to have a balance between off-field accountability and on-field abilities. Right now it isn't clear how close Ben is to the allegations made. It is clear that the standards of criminal prosecution can't be met. The GA DAs comments seemed to point to "I would prosecute if the girl was on-board." That, and the constant referral to the girl as "the victim" has created very high concern about his off-field behavior. We can argue all day about whether or not that was fair. It is what it is and we have to live with it. But there is also merit to claims that his judgment is poor NOW, but can be corrected with some smarts, guidance, and strategy.

His on-field performance is obviously very high and, yes, he is a once-every-twenty-years type of a player. Therefore, trading him merits putting MUCH thought into it and, IMO, establishing an absolute non-negotiable minimum in what you'll take for him. There is a point at which he's worth it. That's a $1M debate.

But if you trade him away on the strength of allegations for well under what he's really worth, assuming the off-field stuff to be true or close to true or non-correctable in order to "send a message" and it comes out that it was all a "series of unfortunate events" you're going to feel like a total dunce.

Like it or not, there is uncertainty in the air until either further information comes out or Ben shows consistency, consistency, and then some more consistency.

**aggiebones** · 04-16-2010, 05:39 PM

Even my church doesn't throw out sinners. Why would the Steelers?

He hasn't been in any trouble until this Summer (aside from a ticket for not wearing a helmet). So he had a bad run. He can start over to a degree and fix himself. He's not been in 5 types of trouble like Holmes on an expiring contract.
He deserves disciplined, not excommunicated. If he doesn't/can't or won't repair himself, we'll trade him to the Bengals.

**aggiebones** · 04-16-2010, 05:40 PM

And, the difference between us and the Bengals is we have to deal with players from time to time. They went and gathered them all up from other teams because their organization is so devoid of talent evaluators that they had to take other people talent no mantte how tainted they were.