The Hall of Shame

Courtesy of UPI.com

Pittsburgh is buzzing with Ben Roethlisberger trade rumors.  I don't know if I can blame them.  The details of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations' case have come out.  They are embarrassing for the City of Pittsburgh, the Steelers' organization, and, even more so, for
Roethlisberger.


The problem with a trade is this:  what team would want TMZ at their training camp?  The Steelers don't want it, and any trade partner would understand and exploit that fact.  Roethlisberger is a Superbowl winning quarterback, but the Steelers would have to pay dearly to move this ugliness to another team.

Keeping Roethlisberger is the logical move.  It will be distracting and painful.  From a football operations stand point, it is the only thing that makes sense.


Art Rooney II left open the possibility of a trade in his press conference today.  Instead of a resounding, "We are not trading Ben Roethlisberger," Rooney stated, "At this point, we have not discussed a trade with any club."  The Rooneys are intelligent and are sending a direct message to Big Ben.  They are also intelligent enough to understand that openly disagreeing with your fan-base's current sentiment could make this an even bigger P.R. disaster. Roethlisberger is going nowhere.

Roethlisberger was not charged with a crime, but he will never escape this incident. Many people have accused the young woman in this case of being a "gold digger", but the fact remains that Roethlisberger did this to himself.  Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Tom Brady, and Philip Rivers have all signed huge contracts similar to Roethlisberger.  They have somehow avoided "being targets" and have avoided getting involved in similar legal entanglements. 

The biggest question remains:  where are the friends and supporters of Ben Roethlisberger?  They are ominously silent.


 


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