Steelers coach
Mike Tomlin says that Steelers football is 60 minutes.
It took Ben Roethlisberger exactly 60 seconds today to make
a statement denying allegations of sexual assault in a civil suit filed last week by a 31-year-old woman.
The suit
stems from an alleged incident that took place July 11, 2008 in a Harrah's hotel suite in Lake Tahoe, Nev.
Roethlisberger's
statement was vehement and emotional. It began with the words "I did not," which immediately brings to mind Bill
Clinton's denial of sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky about a decade ago. At one point during the address he even used
a Clintonian hand gesture, putting his left hand forward in a semi-fist with the thumb pointing upward.
When I
saw Roethlisberger's statement for the third time this afternoon, I couldn't help but think of the "Buckwheat is Dead"
skit on Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s. I'm not saying that to make light of this situation, I'm saying it to make
the point that the brevity of his address will allow it to be played over and over again in its entirety.
For me,
this story has put a damper on my anticipation of training camp and the upcoming season. Whether this incident happened or
not, I've been reflecting on the priority I've placed on football. The NFL is full of people who have had scrapes with the
law in various degrees.
But this afternoon, when ESPN showed highlights of Roethlisberger from last season, those
fan juices started flowing. It was sort of a Pavlovian reaction to seeing No. 7 in that black and gold uniform with the shiny
helmet.
This is a civil case and not a criminal case. So it's not a matter of whether Roethlisberger is innocent
or guilty but whether he's responsible. It's not jail he's facing, it's a lighter wallet, and it doesn't seem like Roethlisberger
is going to write a check to make this thing go away. He appears ready to dig in and fight.
I've read much
of the complaint filed by the woman. It's very detailed in terms of the chain of events. So either this really happened
or the woman has used the past year to concoct one hell of a story in order to get a big payday.
Well,
I was hoping to write a nice, light-hearted piece to announce that I was back up and blogging again after taking a couple
of months off.
Instead, a very serious situation has jolted
me out of my 77-day hibernation.
Last week, a woman filed
a civil lawsuit against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, claiming he sexually assaulted her in his room at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe on July 11, 2008. There has been no criminal complaint.
You can read more details about the story in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and ProFootballTalk.com.
The lack of a criminal complaint, and the fact that a
year has passed between the alleged incident and the filing of the suit, create the appearance that the woman is just looking for money from Roethlisberger.
This does not mean that sexual assault should be taken lightly. It's an act so heinous that I don't think a lighter
wallet is enough of a punishment. I would think that a victim of such
a crime would want to see the attacker in jail right away.
I'm
going to go with innocent until proven guilty here.
However,
this and the murder of former Titans and Ravens quarterback Steve McNair reminds us that we don't really know these guys who
we cheer for so wildly every Sunday. There are probably several Steelers
players who we wouldn't want to spend five minutes with.
It's just the latest lesson that sports should be kept in perspective, and these guys aren't automatically role models just because they're
athletes.
