Big Ben has had a propensity to buck authority

[Steel Life]

Again with the reporting rumor & innuendo as fact & treating Ben as though he's some sort of out-of-control beast who needs to be put-down or neutered in order to get back into everyone's good graces. Tell me...is this standard applied to everyone uniformly? I don't think so & wait for the inevitable hypocritical moment when Goodell says "Well, Ben's case was different..." when one of the someone else screws up. The only thing Goodell accomplished is making Ben look like a psychopath that needs "treatment" & sow seeds of doubt with anyone covering him...how does that help anything?

They want him to be like Peyton & Brady, but he isn't & he knows it...& maybe that's what we need to look at. He's not a pretty boy doing men's fashion ads or a brown-noser who always says what everyone wants to hear. He doesn't seem to like doing commercials or having "big" endorsements, he likes drinking, chasing women, riding motorcycles & playing football - & what's wrong with that? He doesn't need to become a saint - maybe what he needs to do is go the opposite direction...go all "Johnny Cash" on everyone & wear black all the time & be seen as the guy standing up to corporate football instead of the guy broken by it.

[Sugar]

Again with the reporting rumor & innuendo as fact & treating Ben as though he's some sort of out-of-control beast who needs to be put-down or neutered in order to get back into everyone's good graces. Tell me...is this standard applied to everyone uniformly? I don't think so & wait for the inevitable hypocritical moment when Goodell says "Well, Ben's case was different..." when one of the someone else screws up. The only thing Goodell accomplished is making Ben look like a psychopath that needs "treatment" & sow seeds of doubt with anyone covering him...how does that help anything?

They want him to be like Peyton & Brady, but he isn't & he knows it...& maybe that's what we need to look at. He's not a pretty boy doing men's fashion ads or a brown-noser who always says what everyone wants to hear. He doesn't seem to like doing commercials or having "big" endorsements, he likes drinking, chasing women, riding motorcycles & playing football - & what's wrong with that? He doesn't need to become a saint - maybe what he needs to do is go the opposite direction...go all "Johnny Cash" on everyone & wear black all the time & be seen as the guy standing up to corporate football instead of the guy broken by it.

x2

Ben doesn't need to be watered down. People that have greatness in them often don't follow the same path as others. Ben hasn't done anything that many other celebrities haven't done, but somehow it's supposed to be different for him. Whatever. My hope is that he is able to play at the top of his considerable game this year even if there are only 10 games left in the season by the times he gets back.

[feltdizz]

Ben likes bikes, chasing women and drinking...

He almost died without a helmet on a bike...

He was accused of rape and almost charged with sexual assault in the last year...

It's also obvious he lost a lot of beer/drinking weight since the punishment was handed down...

Just sayin'