It looks as from the sounds of it the Steelers will not decide if they are going to do anything to their franchise or not till after the investigation is complete:
Steelers President Art Rooney said he will allow the investigation of sexual assault charges against quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to finish before the team decides what direction it might take on the matter. While Rooney declined to discuss the situation, he did say the team has time on its side before it looks at making any personnel moves to bring in a quarterback. “I mean, look that’s one of the things, we do have a little bit of luxury of time,” Rooney said this afternoon during an interview at Steelers offices, his first public comments since he issued a statement last week. “If we were at a different point in the year we may have to be thinking and doing something different. But at the moment, I think we’re in a situation we’re going to let this investigation play out and then go from there.” Police in Milledgeville, Ga., are investigating an accusation brought by a 20-year-old woman who said Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her in the bathroom of a club in the early morning hours of March 5.
6 Comments
Leave a Reply
Show Your Team Spirit
Get Your Steelers Tickets
Steelers Gab Newsletter
Sign up to receive our Steelers Gab newsletter, and keep up to date with all the latest Pittsburgh Steelers news.
Mike
March 20, 2010 at 4:04 pm
I agree that the Steeler front office should not be hasty. However, the NFL or the Steeler Organization does not need a conviction of any sort to penalize Ben. They are not the court of law. Instead there is a code of conduct that is in question. No one will truely know all of the facts and hat exactly occured that night in a Georgia nightclub. However, if you believe his conduct was unbecoming of the NFL or the Steelers then he should be suspended for a significnt amount of time. I realize that in determining these kind of things you shouldn’t go back to past behavior. However, this is the third off season where his actions have impacted the team in an extremely negative manner. Not to add that this is the secong time that these such allegations were brought against him. He should be suspended for his stupidity and arrogance for putting himself in a situation where this could happen again. If Derrick Jeter, the captain of the New York Yankees, who parties in the city that never sleeps, can avoid such drama, so can Ben. Bottom line, he is in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Incidents like Ben finds himself in now can easily happen under these same circumstances.
The military as well as other agencies have a code of conduct that all employees must adhere to. If the employee does not, he/she must face the consequences even with the absence of any criminal conviction.
jay
March 20, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Yeah, as a Steelers fan it sucks but, more importantly, as someone who tries to conduct himself (me) with integrity, I have to agree with Mike. I would not be opposed to a quarter to half season suspension without pay if he’s not convicted and a three quarter to full season suspension if he is.
George H
March 20, 2010 at 8:01 pm
A little too hasty for my taste. Then again if the Steelers miss out on the playoffs again and its gonna be due to not having Ben, then a bunch of fans are going to be extremely upset with the organization. With Ben I feel the Steelers can win every game; without Ben Im not so sure the Steelers make the playoffs. Even for half a season, i dont know if Dixon can carry the load. If Ben does get a suspension I would think its no mare than 4 games. If convicted, I could see a season. But in reality, if Ben is convicted he isnt the only one losing,the organization is losing and all the fans with be losing
jay
March 21, 2010 at 5:25 am
Actually, George, I’m the type of fan who is more concerned with character than wins losses! Okay, if Ben is a scumbag, (and I’m not saying he is, notice the word, “if” in there), then I don’t want him playing for a team I root for even if it means less Super Bowls!
Mike
March 21, 2010 at 10:38 am
Jay,
You obviously sum things up better than I do. I couldn’t have said it any better myself. Character and accountability are forgotten ideals in this world. We as Steeler fans are the luckiest fans on this planet to cheer for the classiest organizations in all of sports. Its because of that class that we employ the right people to do the job. That standard cannot be compromised.
mark
March 22, 2010 at 11:39 am
If or when Ben is exonerated, Steeler fans like myself will still be forced to defend him against those who will still believe him to be guilty. Ben has put himself and his fan base in a bad situation. Because I root for a class organization, I will put myself in this argument because we are passionate fans who place their loyalty as if we are a part of the organization itself. I will say this, if Ben is guilty of this crime, I will turn my back on him just as fast as I embraced him as my QB. I cant imagine the organization keeping him around if he is convicted of any crime, so it wont be hard to root for our “new” QB. What a shame it will be if this all comes to a bad ending. He will kiss his career, as well as any Hall Of Fame induction good-bye. I hope I dont sound to superficial, but I am a Steeler fan and I am concerned about the football aspect of this situation.