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We've all seen a lot of these interviews lately (from Tiger Woods to Alex Rodriguez) in which these athletes address their wrong-doings and it's interesting for me to hear people's reactions. Here are mine...
1) Polish. Some athletes are naturally very skilled when it comes to communicating with the media and people in general. They have a natural politician type quality in which they seem to know just what to say and how to say it to make it sound right. Tom Brady is one of these people. He's just really good at it. Ben Roethlisberger is not. But that's ok with me. I almost like it more because although he doesn't know exactly how to manipulate his comments the way many people would like him to, I get the sense that he is for the most part being 'real'. I didn't get the sense that his attorney overly-prepared all of his answers. And I didn't get the sense he was bald face lying (like A-rod saying he only used steroids with the Rangers and never used anything with the Yankees or Mariners... Please.).
2) Sincerity. Look at the part from about 18:30 on. I really felt his sincerity here. This is a guy who has messed up, he realizes it, he realizes that he has hurt a lot of other people, and he legitimately feels bad not only for himself but for those people. And he wants to make it right going forward. That right there is enough for me. I don't care if he's from my favorite or least favorite team. When I see and hear something like that. In my mind, it's done, and it's time to move on.
3) Details. The world we live in is no longer private. The advancements in media give us access to the private lives of famous people and we've become so accustomed to it, a lot of us feel like it's our right. There are a lot of people out there who I'm sure wanted Ben to address exactly what happened that fateful night in order to make his peace and receive forgiveness. I'm just not one of them. Plus i don't think it's going to change anyone's minds. With the details out there right now i think most everyone has made up their minds as to what they believe happened and his play-by-play description doesn't mean much. The alleged crimes were addressed by the law. The authorities had access to all the details and they acted accordingly. As did the commissioner.
4) Remorse. Here's the interesting one for me. I stand by what i said in (2) that Ben feels sorry but I just don't see him as the type that gets overly emotional about these types of things or beats himself up. He seems very thick skinned which I believe is the same quality that makes him such a great quarterback in pressure situations. I also believe there is a part of him that feels "entitled" as we saw in the Tiger Woods video, so I don't know what he actually feels he did wrong and what he feels was ok in his own mind. In his world he probably has gotten a lot of women "offering" themselves to him where everything has turned out fine. To him and Tiger that may seem normal. Again I'm not judging, I'm just saying in some ways I don't think "Ben" sees anything wrong with a quick bathroom escapade. And I don't think in "his" mind he forced he to do anything. She offered.
5) Moving forward. Only time will tell, but I think the suspension is/will be a major deterrent. I could see how bad it hurts him not to be out there with his team and i think by his reaction it will have a significant effect in his future off field behavior.
We've all seen a lot of these interviews lately (from Tiger Woods to Alex Rodriguez) in which these athletes address their wrong-doings and it's interesting for me to hear people's reactions. Here are mine...
1) Polish. Some athletes are naturally very skilled when it comes to communicating with the media and people in general. They have a natural politician type quality in which they seem to know just what to say and how to say it to make it sound right. Tom Brady is one of these people. He's just really good at it. Ben Roethlisberger is not. But that's ok with me. I almost like it more because although he doesn't know exactly how to manipulate his comments the way many people would like him to, I get the sense that he is for the most part being 'real'. I didn't get the sense that his attorney overly-prepared all of his answers. And I didn't get the sense he was bald face lying (like A-rod saying he only used steroids with the Rangers and never used anything with the Yankees or Mariners... Please.).
2) Sincerity. Look at the part from about 18:30 on. I really felt his sincerity here. This is a guy who has messed up, he realizes it, he realizes that he has hurt a lot of other people, and he legitimately feels bad not only for himself but for those people. And he wants to make it right going forward. That right there is enough for me. I don't care if he's from my favorite or least favorite team. When I see and hear something like that. In my mind, it's done, and it's time to move on.
3) Details. The world we live in is no longer private. The advancements in media give us access to the private lives of famous people and we've become so accustomed to it, a lot of us feel like it's our right. There are a lot of people out there who I'm sure wanted Ben to address exactly what happened that fateful night in order to make his peace and receive forgiveness. I'm just not one of them. Plus i don't think it's going to change anyone's minds. With the details out there right now i think most everyone has made up their minds as to what they believe happened and his play-by-play description doesn't mean much. The alleged crimes were addressed by the law. The authorities had access to all the details and they acted accordingly. As did the commissioner.
4) Remorse. Here's the interesting one for me. I stand by what i said in (2) that Ben feels sorry but I just don't see him as the type that gets overly emotional about these types of things or beats himself up. He seems very thick skinned which I believe is the same quality that makes him such a great quarterback in pressure situations. I also believe there is a part of him that feels "entitled" as we saw in the Tiger Woods video, so I don't know what he actually feels he did wrong and what he feels was ok in his own mind. In his world he probably has gotten a lot of women "offering" themselves to him where everything has turned out fine. To him and Tiger that may seem normal. Again I'm not judging, I'm just saying in some ways I don't think "Ben" sees anything wrong with a quick bathroom escapade. And I don't think in "his" mind he forced he to do anything. She offered.
5) Moving forward. Only time will tell, but I think the suspension is/will be a major deterrent. I could see how bad it hurts him not to be out there with his team and i think by his reaction it will have a significant effect in his future off field behavior.
Bravo! 
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