Big Ben Shoots Guns, Doesn’t Assault Women

Last night, the ESPN E:60 television program presented a fantastic piece on Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. It was easily the best story done on Big Ben to date. At a little under 10 minutes, I strongly encourage you to give it a watch. It’s definitely worth your time.

Of course, people will probably key on the fact this interview is the first time Ben has answered questions about the allegation he sexually assaulted Andrea McNulty in 2008. I try not to be a shallow person and take the high road on this case but when I see pictures of her in that stupid cowboy hat I still can’t help but wonder what the hell Ben was thinking.  Anyway, that will probably be the segment which gets the most press.  However, what I found most interesting was the revelation that he was a dick until 2007.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always liked Ben and thought was going to be a star about 3 games into his rookie season. But you could tell there were always some underlying issues between him and his teammates. For example, when Alan Faneca left via free agency, I recall numerous offensive players saying their “leader” was gone.  In 2007 Ben made his first Pro Bowl, yet his teammates voted James Harrison the team MVP. Most glaring was the fact that  up until a couple years ago, Ben wasn’t even one of the team captains. That’s almost unheard of for a quarterback.

Anyway, I’m glad that Ben finally learned his lesson (with a lot of help from Charlie Batch). If we’ve learned anything about the NFL, we’ve learned good team chemistry goes a long way to winning on the field. There really is no other game where a united effort is absolutely necessary in order to succeed. And, hey, if taking his O-Line to a few wrasslin’ matches takes us to another Super Bowl, get Vince McMahon on the phone pronto.