The Football Fan Spot

There has been a lot of talk about NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell possibly suspending Ben Roethlisberger indefinitely in the wake of the recent sexual assault charges that has been accused of. That would be ridiculous. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty. Roger Goddell should not go out and suspend Ben Roethlisberger just because some girl cried rape. Granted, I do not know anymore about the case than anyone reading this does, but I know he has not been convicted and in this country that makes him a free man.

Roger Goddell could want to suspend him for hurting the league’s image, but imagine how hurtful to the league’s image would it be if Goddell were to suspend Big Ben, the Steelers were to miss the playoffs because of it, and then he were to be proven innocent. Roger Goddell would look like one of the biggest idiots in the world. David Stern didn’t suspend Kobe when he was going through his rape trial, and that process was even further along than Big Ben’s. Why? Imagine how stupid he would have looked for suspending Kobe, destroying the Lakers for at least a season, only to see Kobe be proven innocent. In addition to being wrong against the principles of this country, it would have made him look foolish.

Big Ben does not, as is commonly believed, have a history of questionable activity. The question activity normally mentioned, not wearing a helmet on his motorcycle and crashing (yes, stupid, but that doesn’t make him a bad person) and a previous rape allegation from last summer, an allegation that was proven false. Where exactly is the questionable activity?

Of course, there are going to be the people who bring up race in this issue. Roger Goddell suspended other black athletes when they were going through legal trouble, but not Big Ben who is white. This is definitely a case of someone shoving race issues into a place where it should not be. Let’s take a look at some of these previously suspended black athletes.

Pacman Jones

2005 arrested for assault and felony vandalism

2006 arrested for disorderly conduct and public intoxication

2006 misdemeanor for spitting in a woman’s face

2007 speeding in an unlicensed car

2007 caused a shooting at a Las Vegas night club

2007 suspended

Chris Henry

2005 speeding, marijuana possession, driving an uninsured car without a driver’s license

2006 illegal gun concealment and aggravated assault with a firearm

2007 supplying alcohol to minors

2007 DUI

2007 suspended

Tank Johnson

2005 illegal weapons possession

2006 aggravated assault, resisting arrest

2006 possession of unregistered firearms

2007 jailed for 10 counts for illegal weapons possession, 120 days in jail

2008 suspended

Michael Vick

2004 allowed his truck to be used by men who were selling marijuana

2005 had sexual relations with a woman without telling her he had genital herpes

2006 flipped off fans

2007 indicted on chargers of illegal dog fighting

2007 suspended

I really don’t think you can argue that Big Ben’s past “offenses” are anywhere near as bad as what these people did. Yes, they are all African-American, but they happen to also all be thugs. Ben Roethlisberger is not a thug. He has never proven himself to be a thug. He does not merit a suspension unless he is convicted, or at the very least, indicted of the charger.