Ben Raided?

Photo by AP/Ben Margot

Before the smoke has cleared on the Ben Roethlisberger suspension and his league mandated check up from the neck up, the trade rumors surrounding the Steelers' quarterback are picking up steam. Extending the contract of recently acquired quarterback Byron Leftwich is only adding fuel to the fire.


Thanks to Mr. Adam Schefter, we have a "perfect ten" teams at the top of the draft to speculate on as possible future homes of Roethilisberger. Let's go through the possibilities, shall we.


1. St. Louis Rams - The Rams have said they don't want him. Why get a quarterback with a huge suspension hanging over his head and a ton of baggage when you can get a squeaky clean kid like Sam Bradford with the first pick.


2. Detroit Lions - Matt Stafford = $42 million dollars


3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Needs everything but a QB.


4. Washington Redskins- They could be thinking "what if" about the McNabb trade now that Roethlisberger is on the market, but they got a good quarterback and still have their first round pick.


5. Kansas City Chiefs - They have a ton of money invested in Matt Cassell for 2010 and are in dire need of other positions.


6. Seattle Seahawks - With the trade for Charlie Whitehurst and already having Hasselbeck, it seems highly unlikely.


7. Cleveland Browns - This would probably be the best location for Big Ben. He would go back home to Ohio. They have a decent offensive line and plenty of picks to move up and add talent. The problem is the Steelers would never trade Roethlisberger to a division opponent.


8. Oakland Raiders - Ding, Ding, Ding: we have a winner! Jamarcus Russell is terrible, every other team's cast-off  becomes Al Davis' treasure (see Javon Walker), and Roethlisberger can go to a team that doesn't seem to care about anything other than physical talent.  Roethlisberger's ability to extend plays is perfect for the deep passing game Oakland wants to run.


9. Buffalo Bills - Breaking News!- The Bills don't want Roethlisberger's services either. Guess they didn't have enough bell boys to carry the baggage.


10. Jacksonville Jaguars- Here's the sleeper team. They need a pass rusher badly, but Garrard's play at quarterback has been inconsistent. They have the type of talent where Ben could be a difference maker and possibly make them a Super Bowl contender. I've changed my mind. Jacksonville would be the best landing spot for Roethlisberger.


UPDATE: Jason LaCanfora has confirmed Ben Roethlisberger's biggest fears. The Raiders and Steelers are "talking" trade.





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Roger's Silver Hammer

Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network is reporting that Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is going to be suspended by the NFL League Office for 6 games with the possibility of it being reduced to 4 games. The reduction is conditional. The conditions have not yet been released.

The trade for Byron Leftwich made it apparent that the Steelers knew about the suspension and were preparing for a long haul.

The Steelers' organization can now move on to preparing to play football. When Roethlisberger returns, the media frenzy will be a distraction.

Until then, the Steelers are continuing to let the Roethlisberger trade rumors fill air time. I have a feeling that Roethlisberger could be wearing a Raiders uniform by the end of this weekend. Ben would fit in nicely there.

Then again, I "had a feeling" that Donovan McNabb wouldn't be traded. That's why I make the big money.




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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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You Make The Call

As I watch Georgia District Attorney Fred Bright tell the world that he "could not prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt".  I can respect the fact that he did not want to waste tax payers' money on a case he doubted he could get a conviction on.

I can not help but also think, that beyond a reasonable doubt, something went terribly wrong that evening in Milledgeville, GA.  The description of the victim having - and  I'm paraphrasing - lacerated bruised bleeding genitals still sends chills down my spine.

I have detailed the downfall of the Pittsburgh Steelers since winning Superbowl XLIII and hadn't really imagined the possibility of the team losing Roethlisberger and Holmes. But this is now a reality.

The prosecutor's office could not prosecute for "sexual assault" but repeating asked if the victim and her family wanted to pursue "assault" charges.  It sounds like they might have been able to go after the lesser charge.  If the victim decides to file a civil suit, expect that to cost Big Ben a pretty penny along with adding fuel to the case going on against him in Nevada.

What is clear to me is this:  Big Ben beat the tar out of a twenty year old college student in a night club bathroom.  Santonio Holmes was traded because the Steelers knew that this terrible Monday morning was coming.  Holmes' suspension and the lurid details of Roethlisberger's assault were too much for a proud organization to take in one afternoon.

Even though I don't believe that Roethlisberger will be traded or released, I do believe at least a four game suspension is coming for the Steelers' starting quarterback.

The possible suspension of Roethlisberger and the known suspension of Holmes would have been a media firestorm.  The question would have been: are the Steelers falling apart?  By trading Holmes, they only have one gigantic issue instead of what seems to be many.

The face of the Steelers' franchise and his now permanently tarnished reputation seem to be the biggest problem of them all.




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Weeding Out Problems

http://fitsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/santonio-holmes1.jpg

Superbowl XLIII MVP, Santonio Holmes, has been traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the New York Jets.

Holmes has had a rocky offseason to say the least, and the trade doesn't surprise me much considering his "the fans don't sign my checks" rant on Twitter.

That being said, his attitude is a perfect fit for the Jets' locker room.  His life with the New York press should be  even more interesting.

Reports have sprung up that Holmes will miss four games for either missing or failing a drug test. This is very risky move because Holmes has little or no regard for the drug testing program, as earlier this month he tweeted that he was going to "wake and bake".

The Steelers obviously don't want to continue to play Holmes' game. They shipped the former first round pick off to the Jets for just a fifth round pick. This gives them a hole in their receiving corps, but it is obvious that they were favoring locker room sanity over on the field talent.

This move signals that the Steelers aren't going to sit around and watch their organization's reputation be ruined. Ben Roethlisberger has heard this message loud and clear.

The Jets are obviously looking to win now as this is a move that is a high risk/high reward endeavor. Holmes has obviously gone rogue, and the Jets will have to reel him in.





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The Hangover (Steelers Superbowl Edition)

February 1, 2009 wasn't that long ago. Ben Roethlisberger throwing the game winning touchdown pass to MVP Santonio Holmes in the back of the end zone. The Steelers won their NFL record sixth Superbowl and all was perfect in the "Steel City". 


That day seems like ages ago for the organization now. 

In July 2009, Roethlisberger was sued for sexual assault and battery for an alleged incident that took place in 2008.

After a promising 6-2 start to the 2009 regular season, Pittsburgh enduring a tough 5 game losing streak that included losses to Kansas City, Oakland, and Cleveland. The Steelers couldn't seem to be able to put together 60 straight minutes of solid football. They finished the season on a high note by winning their final three games to finish 9-7 but had been left out of the playoffs.


The uninspiring play and disappointing season were bad enough, but things have gotten worse.

In the last month, Roethlisberger was again accused of sexual assault and now recently Santonio Holmes has been in the news for assault and battery. Holmes added to the controversy by telling a heckling fan to commit suicide, via his Twitter account.

Steelers' Head Coach, Mike Tomlin, said he was "concerned" about Big Ben's situation, and Steelers' President, Art Rooney II, said that the organization was "disappointed" with Holmes' lawsuit.

The Steelers are a team in trouble regardless of the outcome of these court cases. These incidents have called into question the character and integrity of their entire organization. It is hard to sell tickets when you don't make the playoffs. It's harder to sell tickets and jerseys when people look at the faces that represent your team and think: "rapist" or "thug".

The Steelers are one of the best franchises in sports. They just need their players to focus on football and not trying to live out a real life version of "The Hangover".







 


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Roger Dodger?

 The Ben Roethlisberger saga is probably just beginning but for some in the media, it is not moving fast enough. Jemele Hill, of ESPN, believes that Roger Goodell is being more reserved in his approach to the allegations against Big Ben than he has been with other black NFL players (Mike Vick, Adam Jones, Tank Johnson, and Chris Henry).


I have written previously about how I was shocked that victims rights groups had not stepped up and used the media coverage after the Roethlisberger incident to get their agenda across.

Jemele Hill is, in my opinion, the worst kind of sports writer. Goodell is not perfect and perhaps he should suspend Roethlisberger for "determental behavior", but her article seemed to defend those players action in a "backhanded" method. 


Each of the players I mentioned above had be charged, indicted, or jailed for a crime. Roethlisberger has yet to reach that category. 

If people want to be judged on a individual basis, then they shouldn't be so critical of a employer that seems to being trying to do just that.

 


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All Dogs Go To Heaven

While I was in bed the other night, my wife asked me, “Where is the outrage in the Ben Roethlisberger case, like there was in the Michael Vick case?”

Well I decided to do some my award winning journalism (Google searching) and find the venom being spewed in the direction of Mr. Roethlisberger. When typing in his name and “women's groups” along with “victims rights groups” into the search engine, I found............ a TMZ article on how all of the alleged victim's sorority sisters had taken down their Facebook and Twitter pages. Nasty stuff, huh?

Do we really live in a time when as a society when are quicker to react to the plight of dogs than we are to be distraught by the thought of 6' 5” 240 pound man “allegedly” throwing around a 20 year old girl?

I don't know if Big Ben is guilty or not.  But not one group or organization using this as an opportunity to teach and reach? Much more shocking and sad than another drunken night club incident.

Every Morning Quarterback by Aharon Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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