No Conviction Does Not Equal Inocence

Kudos for a well-written article that expresses my feelings exactly. It is refreshing to see an article with good, concise points that actually makes sense. Good Job! GO STEELERS!

For all the opinions of extreme, one way or another, most of us sit somewhere in the middle. And I think it’s a safe statement to say, that most of us aren’t really sure what to think, and our gut and emotions are guiding us in one direction.

both sides of the argument make sense, i want ben on the team, but he sure is attracting a lot of unwanted attention. im not sure i would be convinced by further accusations, as i dont find it unlikely that more sleazy women would take advantage of bens negative reputation. i do tend to disagree with the ‘choir boys’ argument, though. being immoral is one thing, but i do expect the players to not get into trouble with the law.

It doesn’t indicate guilt either. Sometimes there is smoke and NO fire.

“We had a lot of fun pointing to the Bengals and guffawing”

You realize they won the division and beat us twice last season with their team of “criminals”. Maybe we should just get MORE guys with questionable character flaws so that Ben won’t be the center of attention.

I find it coincidental that punishment will be handed a week after the draft. If that doesn’t say Ben is getting traded, I don’t know what does.

it ways the league would rather have more media attention on the draft than on BB for the next couple of weeks or so

Wyo, I agree that no conviction doesn’t = innocent. On the other hand, no charges after a month of investigation and a “victim” who can’t keep her story straight points towards innocent a lot more than it does towards guilty. I think most believe something happened but also that it wasn’t illegal. Should our QB be having sex( or whatever) in a bathroom with a drunk college girl, certainly not. That makes him self absorbed and not very bright but not a criminal. It is the one sided coverage of this that is turning the tide from pissed off to support for Ben. Even the NFL network coverage seems to take all the negative comments from the police report as fact but rarely mentions the inconsistencies in the story. As long as this continues, you will see support for Ben increase as people just get sick of hearing about it. I personally believe the trade rumor was leaked intentionally to gauge how Steeler Nation feels. That too is starting to bring more support to Ben’s corner. The longer the one sided coverage goes on the greater his support will grow because people are just plain sick of it. By the time his suspension ends, most will be more than ready for his return. Just MHO

because in fact, no conviction does equal innocence. ever heard of the term “innocent until proven guilty” ??

i really try not to be confrontational on these blogs and stuff but this sort of talk really pisses me off. get off your high horse its not like you havent ever done something dumb. the only facts of the situation we know are that he was drunk at a bar and had sex with a woman. neither of which are illegal

Again; this is all conjectered bullshit!! I dont care two shits about someones morallity; if you arent charged, proven guilty,and punished, then you must be innocent. Now I dont give a damn about levels of innocence or issues of morality, the bottom line goes back to the fact that Ben Rothelisberger has never been convicted of a crime.All I care about is what he does on the field,and thats it, nothing more.I have never in 43 years of absolute fealty to all things Steeler looked for moral guidance from football players.

I just want it to be over. It’s been talked about to death. I think he’s pretty much a cad when it comes to women (and not a Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind kind of cad, more like a Quagmire kind of cad), but he is one hell of a QB. I think I’d be fine either way with keeping him or trading him as long as they get major value.

Everyone gets ‘gut’ feelings about events like this, one way or another. My gut feeling is that he probably took advantage of a drunk woman, which is pathetic and wrong. But the basic fact is that none of us will ever know the truth. So why assume he is guilty of rape? Would I leave him in a room alone with my 19 year old neice? Hell no. Do I think they should dump him? Nope on that one either.

But I’ll restate what I posted once earlier when this all first broke. Ben is not an ordinary 29 year old man. You guys can claim that he has a right to go out and party and hook up all he wants. Unfortunately, you are grossly mistaken. Ben is not an ordinary guy. He’s a guy who’s worth 100+ million dollars, and as such needs to act accordingly. That’s not my opinion coming out, that’s the League’s and the Rooneys’. And that’s where all of Ben’s backers on this page seem to miss the point.

Ben is a huge investment for the Rooneys and if they feel that he has damaged their reputation, and I challenge anyone on here to prove otherwise, they have every right to terminate his employment with them. The League clearly states that conduct unbecoming the image they want put forth is a suspendable offense. He will be suspended, my guess is 6 games with the ability to whittle that down with counseling, service, whatever a la Michael Vick’s case.

Ben here’s the situation, it’s 3rd and 25, there’s 53 seconds to go in the fourth, you’re down by 5 points, and have no timeouts left. You’re on their 43 yard line, there are 3 defensive players who have broken through the line, and the coverage is so tight that air molecules cannot get through. Punting will just cause the other team to grind it out on the ground. And Hines Ward is out with a groin pull (ouch!). Sounds pretty hopeless, but, you’ve pulled some Houdinis in the past few years that have led everyone to belive you can still pull this off. Funny thing though, on first down, Wallace was wide open down the right sideline and you threw it at Willie in the flat with 3 guys hanging on him, on second down, Sweed got open in the seam and had a possible touchdown, and you hung on to the ball, just to get to third down and the situation described above. That’s nonsense, right? You wouldn’t do that, taking your team to the edge of loosing a game just to look like a hero would you? I don’t think you would do that intentionally, sometimes that 3rd down situation does happen, and that’s the nature of the beast with this game we all love. And you wouldn’t put your team at risk buy doing something like that to stroke your ego. WE ALL KNOW BETTER THAN THAT! So, the question is, why do this to yourself, your family, and your team, and your friends, and your fans by putting yourself in THAT situation outside football? I know that your personal life should be kept private, but your under a microscope, ALL THE TIME. Don’t make the Rooneys have to punt, it’s third down bub.

Ben screwed up (and down and in and out and all around by some points of veiw here), he knows it. Did you see how he acted during his press statement? That’s a kid who knows he made the mistake of being in the WRONG place at the WRONG time. You would think that he had learned a lesson about being around women and alcohol is not a good place for him to be, just like riding a motorcyle without a helmet. So, maybe he’s a little dense and needs hit with a 2×4 to the face to learn (see head through windshield). I guess now Ben will take a vow of celibacy, and start going to church instead of the bar, and maybe someday get married and stop being a 20 someting guy, who is after all just human like the rest of us." Let he who is without sin cast the first stone".