Why Does Ben Need to be a Great Person?

[flippy]

Isn't it enough for Ben to be a great QB?

Why does he have to be a great person too?

I'll wear my Big Ben jersey either way.

I don't need him to be a role model.

I'd like him to steer clear of trouble so he doesn't get suspended in the future, but that's about all I expect from him.

I still think it's bs he's been suspended. Not that I personally condone anything he's allegedly done wrong. But at the same time, I don't really care what he does as long as he performs on the field.

I just want his best effort everytime he steps on the field. And I believe I've gotten that and I'll continue to get that.

I have a friend of a friend with a kid that's had cancer and has known Ben and the Rooneys. And I've heard from very reliable resources that Ben goes out of his way to make the kid feel special. And the only guy the kid thinks is nicer than Ben is Casey Hampton.

And even though I think that's great, who cares really? As long as he gives everything to bringing home more hardware for us, isn't that enough?

I'm wearing my Big Ben jersey on game 1 and I'm wearing it for SuperBowl Sunday when we bring home #7.

Don't get me wrong, if he produces for you and me and the rest of Steeler Nation, I wish him well. Heck I wish everyone well. But I could care less how Ben acts when he's not on the field. Not my concern. I don't need to even know about it really.

[Prok]

Apparently he needs to be a great person to satisfy his critics.

I'm with you. He's made me a happy Steelers fan and i always wear my Ben jersey too.

[proudpittsburgher]

Flippy, Ben doesn't have to be a great person, he just has to not be a deplorable one. I know there are two sides to every story, and there is no way that Ben is as bad a person as many are making him out to be right now, no one is. At least that is the way I am viewing it. So i am in full support mode for Ben.

But as many have pointed out, we take great pride in not being the bungles organization, that's part of what makes this team great to many of its fans. So yes, there are higher standards for character. You certainly don't have to be a choirboy, but nobody wants to root for a criminal either. Ben is no criminal, but if he goes through all of this, and thumbs his nose at the team by continuing down his path in life, i don't want him on this team anymore.

[siss]

Ben owes it to us to stay out of trouble in the off season. And He owes it to the Rooney's, who pay him a lot, to stay out of trouble. No one has ever complained about Ben when he is around children. I just want the guy I cheer for on the field to be a stand up guy off the field...

[California-Steel]

We should all try to be the best we can be. If not then you have chaos. Ben is in the public eye and if he does what he wants, no matter how small, then like it or not others will follow suit. People in Ben’s position have the power of influence, and left to act a fool will influence others on a grand scale that this is ok to do. Ben has a responsibility to be a good person, if not then for the sake of the society he has to be made an example of, good or bad.

Be good and people say, “boy I sure would like my son to be like him”. Be bad and suffer what comes with that and people will say, “Boy, he had it all and tossed it away, son, don’t be like him”.

Either way he sets an example for others to follow. He has been placed in a position of leadership. He needs to be good if not great.

[hawaiiansteel]

Ben just needs to grow up and win us our 7th Lombardi Trophy and all will be forgiven...

[flippy]

I hear what you're saying, but at the end of the day I'm a Steelers fan because I'm a fan of Pittsburgh and a fan of football.

And I love the nostalgia of simpler time in life when we were kids and care free.

I loved going to Kennywood, riding the incline, boating at the point, and going to TRS.

I love the people of Pittsburgh, the work ethic, the pierogis, the Carnegies, the Mellons, and the Rooneys.

I love the art, the architecture, the colleges, and the heritage.

As a young adult I grew to love the southside and strip districts, a primanti sammich after a night of too many beers, seeing Bruce Springsteen at Nick's Fat City, clogging some arteries Fat Heads, or even enjoying the best selection of Belgian beers on the East Coast @ the Sharp Edge.

We got to witness a Steel City turn into a city of culture, art, and technology. The entertainment around us is more influenced by Warhol than any other artist in American history. Pitt and Carnegie Mellon produce more technology for industry than all but a handful of schools. Some of the coolest medical research is happeneing at UPMC in the field of regenerative medicine.

The city is awesome and the people from Pittsburgh are some of the best people in the world I've ever met.

And nothing Ben does can detract from that collective experience and the collective experience we have watching the Steelers week in and week out.

Ben just needs to help us win. Because it's in those moments we realize and reflect on how we are all united together in common purpose.

Pittsburgh is the best town in America.

Heck it's the best town in the world.

And if I could do it all over again, you can darn well bet, I'd be a Pittsburgher all over.

Yinz are the best.

And Ben can only enhance that tradition.

But there's nothing he can do to detract from everything we are.

Who ride?

[cruzer8]

Again?

Really?

How many times must this be covered?

[SteelAbility]

Is this a standing invitation for HHM to start up with that incessant shtick again?

[flippy]

Again?

Really?

How many times must this be covered?

Until you come up with a better username :P