August 16, 2011

Ben Roethlisberger & the Bad Attitude: Part IV

When I last left off in this series, there were no Roman numeral "V" yet in the title and Ben Roethlisberger just got done with a subpar season as quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Oh yeah...

...and THIS!

In March 2010, Roethlisberger once again was in the middle of sexual assault allegations. This time, it was from a 20-year old college student from Milledgeville, GA, where Roethlisberger would vacation during the offseason. The story is hazy, but it basically goes like this:

Roethlisberger arrived with his posse at a bar, where there was a group of sorority girls from nearby Georgia College & State University (actually a real school, yeah surprised me too). At one point Roethlisberger yelled: "All my bitches, take some shots!" and proceeded to get these underage girls even more drunk. Then Roethlisberger brought one of the girls into the bathroom, where no one is quite sure what went on. While the two were in there, the girl's friends tried to get in to help her out, but Roethlisberger's bodyguard would not let them enter.

Very hazy now, bro.

While leaving the bar, the woman slipped and hit her head, so she went to the emergency room. While at the hospital, during evaluation, doctors discovered she had some "internal" injuries, but could not tell if it was from sexual assault. When a rape kit was collected, none of Roethlisberger's "DNA" was found and the woman had said, "A boy kind of raped me."

After a few weeks of investigation Georgia district attorney, Fred Bright, announced that he did not have enough evidence to prove Roethlisberger guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. During that time the woman had her attorney write a letter to the district attorney saying that she did not want to move forward with the case because she did not want to go through such an intrusive and public trial.

No comment.

Even though Roethlisberger was not even put on trial, stories began to emerge about him being a bad person and constantly having a bad attitude in public situations. Because of Roethlisberger's strong Christian and nice guy background, rumors began swirling that this personality change might be attributed to concussions and possible brain damage suffered in the motorcycle accident and on the field.

A Sports Illustrated article came out in May 2010 titled "The Hangover," in which Pittsburgh business owners came out and told stories about Roethlisberger coming in to their restaurants/establishments and as being rude as can be. He made inappropriate comments toward a pregnant waitress, he refused to pay his bill and he saw himself as "God" of Pittsburgh when out on the town. 

Teammate Hines Ward came out and claimed Roethlisberger had been a bad influence in the locker room, head coach Mike Tomlin said he was worried for the quarterback and team president Art Rooney was just absolutely confused.

What repercussions will Roethlisberger face and will he ever change? Find out next time in Part V!

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