right on

As a Pittsburgh native and Steeler fan since 1972, I agree with the suspension. Grow up already Ben.

Another star struck fan

@FC22, you're either not a parent or an idiot or both. Charles Barkley is a cop out... Sports icons such and the Sir Charles (cough-cough) and Ben R, ARE role models, and so am I as a parent, and SO AM I as a responsible adult. ALL adults and ESPECIALLY those who are public figures are role models, and let's face it, professional athletes are public figures. On second thought FC22, you can't be a parent, because a responsible parent would never make such an egregious statement. I'll say it again... ALL ADULTS ARE ROLE MODELS, so be responsible and set the right example.

duplicate

The justice system failed to speak....that's the real problem in so many cases where money and influence are involved. He's lucky to be playing at all next season.

Jimin, so you are saying that people you don't EVEN know, who are on TV or on the field are Role Models?!? What are you smoking? Some powerful stuff, for sure. What kind of parent are you, to allow such nonsense in your home? They are Entertainers, that's all. If I buy my son a Ben R. Jersey it is to wear, not to imitate him. JiminSRQ, what an imbecile.

FC22, Big Ben violated personal conduct rules that he agreed to abide by. Given his history he probably should have been given a harsher penalty.

FC22: Ben cost the image of the NFL and that means money. This is a business and he should be banned for 6 games because it's good for the business. Role models and touchy feely aside, it's a business and Ben cost the business so Ben pays.

It just goes to show how common some players really are.

The justice system dismissed the case. OK. But I would imagine that the NFL had some information that led them to determine that the suspension was warranted. Ok, as well.

As for role models: Children do look up to their parents as role models. They also look up to public figures. Sorry, but that's the way it is. I'll bet if you looked back into your childhood, there were public figures that you looked up to. It's natural. If you cannot understand that, you don't have kids and must not be capable of remembering your own childhood.

The fact that children look up to public figures is not the parents fault, either. Like I said, it's natural. The parents may not even know who their children see as admirable people.

We, as adult, are cognizant of the fact that most "admirable" people are not perfect and should not be idolized as role models for ourselves. But children are not so worldly.

People who are public figures should recognize that. It is a by-product of being famous. It cannot be helped. Public figures may not care that they are role models. And that is OK too, I suppose. There is an old saying:

If you can't be a good example, you can serve as a horrible warning.

This is nothing but pure PR crap, backed by a misogynist lynch mob of old bags who have been dumped by some good-lookin guy. He either committed a crime or he didn't. If not, then the league has no right to interfere in his personal affairs. If whatever he did was not a crime, then the silly little bimbo who accused him needs to either grow up so she can take care of herself, or stay the heck out of bars. At the age of 20 what was she doing in a nightclub anyway? I hope he sues the heck out of that weak-kneed commisioner trying to pander to people who aren't even fans. He is certainly entitled to damages resulting from this public lynching.

*sigh*

This is from a true hard Bengals fan. I hate the Steelers. HATE them. But I just gotta say, I'm truly disappointed in Ben for their sake. No matter what my feelings for that team are, they do not deserve this. Ben is acting like a horny teenage high-school football player that has gotten too big for his britches.

Hey Ben, grow the hell up, man. Your teammates deserve to have a QB that is worthy. They work their asses off every day and they seem to stay out of trouble. I may hate your team's plays on the field (personally I think they get away with too much, but that's neither here nor there.....), but dammit, that doesn't take away from the fact that they're out there playing hard. YOU, on the otherhand, are detracting from their hard work. So zip it up, keep it in your pants, quit acting like your freaking 16 years old, and act your age for once! Personally I think they should trade you...they deserve a better team leader than you.

Sincerely, a Bengals fan who never thought she'd be defending the Steelers.

As much as I hate to admit it... You got what you deserved. Most of all you've let your team and fans down!

If not, then the league has no right to interfere in his personal affairs.

Bloggit, there is a morals clause in every NFL player's contract. Ben violated that clause.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, we (Pittsburgh fans) are ruthless. I 100% agree with the suspension. These players, like it or not are role models to many and they should be held accountable.

I agree that Big Ben needs to grow up; but remember he was NEVER charged; nor convicted of any crime.

yeah I agree

and without pay for the season as well. he is just plain a criminal as are several other of these idiots. take away real money so that it hurts their lifestyle and then maybe you get their attention.

Amen!! Money talks and a huge fine or at least a 6 game cut in his salary is in order. In addition, there was physical evidence that there was genital bodily harm to the underage young girl...Technicalities of the Georgia law prevented prosecution of him. Mr. R. lucked out with the law and the NFL. Hope we don't see his mug all over the place in a couple of years as these things tend to repeat themselves.

I agree - the entire season and minus pay. This is the 2nd time he did this!!

Wow looks like nobody here believes in "innocent until proven guilty"

Due process or innocent until proven guilty has nothing to do with this. The behavior policy of the NFL as spelled out in the uniform components of the player contract allows the NFL to take action for behavior that reflects on the league and the game. This moron made the personal decision to be fined 10's of millions in missed play to avoid what I am sure was the alternative and that was indefinite supension. He has been accused in multiple assaults all of which involved forceable contact and alcohol. That is more than enough and he is lucky that the penalty wasnt more.

Agreed. I was thinking eight minimum...what he's doing is worse than Michael Vick..and look what MV got (ruined).

What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Have you ever been falsely accused of anything and know that everyone else has already decided it was true? I don't know what rules you play by, but in this country we're supposed to get, and give the benefit of the doubt until convicted of a crime. Ben wasn't convicted in any court. Just the court of public opinion.

Just because the prosecution decided not to prosecute does not mean that he was innocent or found not guilty. The fact is that criminal courts have their own set of standards for the type of and amount of evidence needed to bring a case. The NFL has its own set of standards which is their perrogative. The fact that Ben has been accused of the same crime with two different women in two different cities makes him and therefore his team look bad regardless of whether or not there is any truth to the allegations. I think that taking a time out to at least evaluate what's going on is a step in the right direction.

Doesn't have to be a trial to convict him of being criminally stupid. Seriously...as a player in the NFL and a quasi-celebrity, he KNOWS there's a target on his back and yet still he takes a drunk girl down a dark hallway ALONE. Even if nothing else happened (though I am of the belief that something DID happen)...what an idiot.

But regardless, there is a code of conduct that he agreed to as a player and he violated that. Innocent until proven guilty may be the law of the land, but it has squat to do with the law of the NFL.

The Steelers are now looking to draft a QB.

I disagree. The player personal conduct policy does not stipulate that you'll only get suspended if you are convicted of a crime. It is there to ensure that players conduct themselves appropriately at all times. Walking down the hallway of a club toward a woman with your penis out is not good conduct for ANYONE. Bad conduct is bad conduct whether it is a crime or not is a differnt story.

He wasn't convicted in a court of law, so he doesn't deserve discipline from his employers for violating their policies, not just once, but twice? Have you ever held a job, Sono?

Ben R. is just plain stupid. For Pete's sake, man, if you couldn't learn how to behave after the first accusation, just stay in your hotel room and let your teammates bring you room service.

It doesn't matter if he was convicted or not, he violated the personal conduct rules and embarrassed the league. If I embarrassed my company in front of customers(the public in Ben's case) I wouldn't have a job the next day.

It is spelled P-I-T-T-S-B-U-R-G-H with a "H" jackass...

Who gives a sit Joe. I left an "H" out too...jackass.

Maybe he meant Pittsburg, KS.

Clever ;)

Long ago, it was spelled Pittsburg. Not that I'm old enough to remember that!

this wasn't question of "law" this was a violation of the contract he signed and got 102 million for. There is a clause about behavior.
I may do something at work this is not "illegal" but it might still violate the terms of my employment.

He is still entitled to "due process". Something that Roger Goodell knows nothing about. As for what he allegedly did, if true he should be spending the rest of his life in one of Georgia's fine penitentiaries, not worrying about the an NFL suspension. I am also sure that his sister who play basketball at OU would like to beat his brains out. Be all that as it may be, the NFL and most sports in general like proper "due process".

Putting aside the issues of his legal woes, Roethlisberger is a representitive of the NFL Inc. Does not matter if he is on field or off, he is a face of the company. Whatever he does reflects on his employer and creates repercussions. The NFL is entirely within it's rights to suspend him for his actions since he signed a contract with a morals clause. In my opinion he's getting off very easily since this is the *second* time accusations of this sort have been leveled at him.

You are not entitled to "due process" in your workplace. They could have fired him for this, so I'd say a six-game suspension is a pretty good deal.

There's nothing wrong with Europe. No need to be an ignoramous either.

You don't need to be proven beyond reasonable doubt at a trial to get fired by an employer. Respect capitalism, the employer has a right to do this. Why do you hate America (and Europe)?

THDKA hit it on the head....he violated the code of conduct agreement that he signed. Not once, but at least twice. I'm sure they don't simply hand out codes of conduct for the fun of it. There are penalties to be enforced for not living up to the agreement.

It's similar to being in the military. While in uniform, you are expected to conduct yourself in a professional manner. The same holds true when you are out of uniform and in the civilian population. You are also held to the same professionalism because you are representing the military and Uncle Sam. So if you are out on the town drinking beers, getting drunk, and start a fight, then the military can step in because you are a representative of them.

under the players agreement he has had his "due Process" He is lucky the Commish didnt give him the death penalty which will come next if he backs another college girl into a physical encounter under the influence of alcohol. You due process guys kill me. This isnt a court. Ben didnt want his due process. That would likely have ended up with years in jail. he is relieved that he didnt get charged and you wont see him challenge this suspension I would wager.

As much as I hate to admit it... You got what you deserved. Most of all you've let your team and fans down!

What is happening here is the rights of the company or team that hired you. they put a code of conduct in the contract he signed. That it like it or not. Due process is a legal term and it only applies to trials not to your employer. If you work for a living you should already know this. Your employer can hold you to certain conduct even if you don't like. If you break his rules you pay the price.

I get what you're saying, and in no way disagree. But I ultimately think this was a lose-lose for the NFL. Suspend him, and people start to wonder about a) punishment without an arrest and b) punishment not handed out in similar cases. Do nothing, and people start crying out about the NFL being racist. Given those choices and the accusations against Big Ben, I'd rather the NFL suspend him.

I only hope this is the beginning of the NFL holding players accountable, and in some consistent fashion.

I don't think the NFL will lose PR wise on this. It's a very well known fact from other incidents that the NFL has a personal conduct policy that is a part of the NFL's agreement with the players union. People understand that the NFL is a sport but also is an entertainment venue, and as such the player is a representative of that sport and the entertainment value it ensues. So long as the NFL distributes the punishment evenly across the board when these things happen, then people will understand it also.

It's one of those funny things - When the conversation first started about punishment to Big Ben, all I heard about was how unfair it was to punish someone that was never arrested/charged with the crime.

Now, the conversation is all about how the punishment's not enough.

Nah, give it time. I have a feeling that Big Ben's wave of stupidity is not over...maybe next time someone will slap the cuffs on him.

Kids in college aren't playing for big bucks like Ben Roethlisberger is. At least not yet anyway. Remember the Duke LaCrosse Team?? They would have been banned from the school, placed on a registered sex offender list (meaning no job, not able to live within x miles of a school or whatever public place deemed by law, etc), perhaps jail time as well. And it ALMOST happened because of the DA with the hard on to serve justice regardless of innocent or guilt. Would you like to be the parent on that side of justice?? I doubt it.

Jeez, you have a warped sense of justice. All you worry about is how many games he will miss; by your reckoning, Vick got off lighter than Roethlisberger. Vick lost millions of dollars in potential earnings, his career, his reputation and his livelihood......AND HE WENT TO JAIL. How can you even compare the two??

You can compare the two in that one of them was CONVICTED!

WTH are you talking about? Vick spent the better part of 2 years in jail....how many games was that? Not to mention all the fines and so forth. How do you even make a comparison?

Because, Maria, we're talking about the NFL's punishment, not the court's. If Ben had gone to jail, he wouldn't be able to play. Vick couldn't play because he was serving time. That is not a suspension (he was unavailable to play). Then he gets out, and all the NFL does is suspend him 2 games! Ben (no trial, no conviction, no jail) gets 6 games? I think the NFL is so scared of being accused of racism, that they overreated big time.

I think this sets a bad precedent; all you need to do is be accused of wrongdoing, and you get suspended, trial or not. In your heart you know that's not fair.

. . . and that reason was because she chose not to go forward with the filing of charges . . . btw his DNA was found on her in that magical spot . . . how do you suppose it got there ? ? ?

Yes, I initially said no on the suspension. But there more I read about it (which I really haven't), the more I agree with you the majority on this issue.

in a court of law, yes . . . in the real world of, 'actions have consequences' not so much . . .

Yes, as somebody else said, if any executive employee was involved in an incident like this one he'd be out on the street faster than you could say "presumed innocent".

Granted, if you're a star quarterback on an NFL team the spotlight is unfairly focused on you. But knowing that, you have to show some restraint. And Roethlisberger is not some young kid, just out of college. He should have known better.

Why don't you explain to your son about "innocent until proven guilty" ?? No proof, no crime, no charge. Hello?

There is no innocent til proven issue here to argue. under the players agreement he has had his "due Process" He is lucky the Commish didnt give him the death penalty which will come next if he backs another college girl into a physical encounter under the influence of alcohol. You due process guys kill me. This isnt a court. Ben didnt want his due process as he sure didnt want to go to court. That would likely have ended up with years in jail. he is relieved that he didnt get charged and you wont see him challenge this suspension I would wager.

Randy, I think you hit the nail on the head----end of career. Possibly then all the other kids who go from nobody to multi-millionaires overnight will think twice before being jerks. You don't need to be found guilty to be guilty and Big Ben forgot he is representing a business everyday he walks the street and when that business is seen in a bad light it affects all the members. Good for the commish to finally have the man stuff between his legs to take a stand, my only wish is that the other league commish would have the same man stuff.