NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has made his mark on the NFL in many ways, but his number one mark has been in discipline.
Goodell doesn’t play around.
He suspended Pacman Jones for a whole year for a combination of personal conduct violations involving alcohol, speeding, and spitting on women.
He suspended Chris Henry for 8 games for being arrested for punching a man, as well as being arrested multiple times in 14 months.
Tank Johnson felt Goodell’s wrath for illegally possessing a gun. He was punished to the tune of an 8 game suspension as well.
With that being said, the notion that Ben Roethlisberger could only be suspended 4 games, or maybe not even at all by the league, is ridiculous. Goodell needs to do the right thing, and suspend Ben Rothlisberger for the entire season.
If this was the first time Big Ben was involved in something like this, it would be worthy of a possible suspension.
But the fact is, this is not the first time. In 2007, Roethlisberger was accused of sexual assault of a 31 year old women in Nevada. The women accused Roethlisberger of trapping her in his room and forcing himself upon her.
Sounds a lot like what he is being accused of now. The college student, who according to her statement ran into the bathroom to escape him, had the door shut behind her by Roethlisberger and was trapped in the room with him, where he already had himself exposed.
Roethlisberger once again forced himself upon her. Her friends tried to get in, only to be blocked by his body guards.
Once again, Roethlisberger will not be charged. In the life of a professional athlete, women are going to try to take advantage of the situation. It is not far fetched to think a women would lie to try to get money out of Roethlisberger.
But that is not the case here. The stories are too similar. The details are too specific. And you could tell by watching the District Attorney speak, by stating he didn’t feel he could prove it “100%”, he also thought something happened in that bathroom.
Players in the NFL get suspended 4 games for smoking weed, for taking steroids. To lay down a similar punishment for allegedly raping and assaulting a college student is disrespectful.
When Goodell suspended Pacman for the season, he said it was for conduct that “brought embarrassment and ridicule upon yourself, your club, and the NFL”.¬†¬† Hearing the details come out about a 2-time Super Bowl winning¬† quarterback shout “More shots bi**hes” at college girls, before trapping her in a bathroom, seems to fall under that category.
If Goodell wants to send a message to the players of the NFL, send a message now. NFL players are in the same situation Roethlisberger found himself in all the time.¬† Roethlisberger clearly didn’t learn his lesson in 2007.
Goodell needs to make sure he does this time, as well as the rest of the league. What’s it going to take? Does Roethlisberger or another player have to finish the job next time to get a real punishment.
If Goodell feels enough has happened with Roethlisberger to warrant a punishment, then make it one worthy of the crime that he has been accused of twice and suspend him for the whole season.
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I don’t have a problem with him being suspended for a entire season but I think 8 games is enough. I know he wasn’t charged but I keep thinking if this was you or me we would be in jail awaiting trial this very moment.
At first I was of the opinion that if he wasn’t arrested, he shouldn’t be suspended because this is America, etc., etc., etc. And it is true he was NOT busted for a gun, or drug possession, or violence against another like your examples in the article.
However, it does appear that the guy is an uncaring deviant who gets drunk all the time and sexually assaults women under the influence. A suspension is in order!
RIDICULOUS!!! A whole season? Based on what? Accusations? OK, first of all, I am not a Ben Roethlisberger apologist, but what you are suggesting is absolutely ludicrous. His behavior has been stupid and irresponsible, no doubt, but he has not been charged with a crime. If Goodell suspends him for a year merely for questionable behavior, do you realize the precedent that creates? Do you realize how many more players will need to sit out for a year because of establishing a precedent like that? If he’s gives him more than 4 games, it will cause an outrage.
Let’s revisit this. First of all, get the facts straight and please don’t automatically file it under the same circumstances as the Georgia incident. It’s great how people’s memories have now been eroded. The Lake Tahoe incident happened in July 2008, not 2007. The lawsuit was not filed for over a year after the alleged incident. The alleged assault was not reported to the police and no evidence gathered by law enforcement officials. The woman involved had significant mental issues. Remember, she fell in love with an imaginary military man via emails prior to the alleged assault? She reportedly called Roethlisberger “hot”afterwards, and some say she bragged about having sex with him and even being being pregnant with his child. Let’s not just brush aside those details.
Did you hear what the Georgai DA said? No probable cause. They did not have any of the three elements needed to prove rape: 1. sexual intercourse 2. Force 3. Against her will. And contrary to early reports, he has never admitted to having sex with the girl. DA Bright said that Roethlisberger did not say he had sex with her. Everyone is forming opinions based on a 500+ report with the most damning statements coming from the girl’s sorority sisters. Because this won’t be hurt in law, not one word of those statements can be properly refuted with witnesses under oath. The girl didn’t even say she was initially. Her story changed.
All that being said, what Ben Roethlisberger did that night was stupid. Drinking with a bunch of college students, and apparently serving alcohol to girls that he may or may not have known were underage was moronic. However, the only thing he’s definitely guilty of is a misdemeanor charge of serving alcohol to minors. The rape kit came back with nothing. A miniscule amount of unidentifiable DNA is all the came up with. No pubic hair, no skin cells, no urine, no nothing. Let’s also not forget that there are accounts in the statements of those sorority sisters that the accuser was flirting with Roethlisberger all night, following him and his posse around from bar to bar, drinking heavily (not just with the Roethlisberger party) and wearing a “DTF” tag that she admitted to Roethlisberger that she was “Down To F***”. Granted, people in his party served her drinks, but lewd and drunken behavior by the girl needs to be considered. Her memory was cloudy. It went from no sex to “I think a boy raped me”.
For Goodell to act on unproven acts is indefensible. There have been no charges filed. Let’s not go by the grandstanding speech of a DA in Georgia. There is no day in court, but the court of public opinion seems to be railroading this guy, mostly based on heresay. That my friend, is wrong and not the American way of justice. No doubt, Roethlisberger has helped this along by creating situations, but he has not been charged or found guilty of one crime. If Goodell is going to act on “alleged sexual assault” that law enforcement have investigated and not proven, that’s a very slippery slope. You all better be ready to see a bunch of you favorite NHL players go down with alleged accusations from now on if that’s what he acts on. But if he suspends Roethlisberger for a year for serving alcohol to minors and having a private party with college kids, that’s outrageous. I’m OK with Goodell giving Roethlisberger a suspension for 4 games for his moronic behavior, but let’s not go overboard. And be careful for what you wish for. There will be a media frenzy every time a pro athlete sneezes in public.
Acquitted by the courts, in a country which prides itself on the rule of law. A sports commissioner is no more the law than public opinion. Transgressions toward people of color, past and present, can never be righted. For this reason, and in my opinion, people of color hold the moral high ground in this area. I feel it wrong to tarnish the memory of those who truly suffer injustice by encouraging others to adopt the very ways that enable it. Sorry, righteous indignation still doesn’t make it right.
I’ve got a mother, a wife and a two year old daughter. Yeah, I’ve had my man-whore moments. I’ve had alot of sexual fun with the ladies, along with my buddies. I’ve never had to impose myself on a woman to get what I needed. And Im a nobody. This guy has everything guys dream about. Wealth, status, celebrity. And yet he still insists on roughing up women and defiling them. That tells me he likes to do it. He gets off on the dominance. In short, he’s fucked up and should not be representing the NFL or the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pull the trigger Roger or be forever labeled a hypocrite.
I think it’s apparent with recent episodes of questionalble behavior that Big Ben has some issues whether it be as an abuser of women,alcohol or both… There is a pattern here with this fella..
I think the following sentence should occur by the NFL league office (Goodell)
#1) attend and complete a 30-45 Day Alcohol Abuse Program
#2) attend and complete a 15 Day Womens Abuse Program
#3) Contribute 100 hours of community service in both of these areas whether is raising $$ for these
causes, talking to young adults or kids in school about the trouble in dealing with these issues
#4) Suspende for the 1st 4 games of the regular Season of 2010 with the agreement that 1 more incident will result in a 1 year suspension minimum from playing in the NFL…
jimmy mac, you’re 100% on-point, in my opinion… and yea, goodell is gonna have a lot to answer to if he doesn’t come down pretty hard on big ben.. he’s set too much precedent for himself in the discipline category.. not to mention, i think this is def. the worst crime of all those mentioned above.. and for those who say that he needs to be convicted first, “what happened to innocent until proven guilty?” etc. etc., i’ve got two letters: O-J…. so yea, big ben can be convicted in the public eye and yes, it’s a bad look for the NFL
Listen everyone in here is just attacking Big Ben because of his past accusations but honestly, this type of scenario happens all over the country. He is rich, filthy rich, and i guarantee that that 20 yr old girl saw him and wanted nothing but money. Think about the Santonio Holmes case. All she wanted was money. Suspending Ben for a year is ridiculous because there was not any solid evidence to prove he raped this girl. SHE WAS DRUNK. SHE was most likely looking for a good time and when big ben showed her one and never called her back, she got pissed. A slap on the wrist or a very small fine is acceptable, but benching him for something he didn’t even do is ABSURD. Thats the truth, cause MerkWahlberg said so
hey Merk, please read the details of the case before you start talking nonsense… the police were notified when it happened… she was taken to the hospital that night.. i’m sure the scenario that you described (made up) happens all the time, but i don’t think that’s the case here