First off, I am very relieved. It looks like Roethlisberger will recover from his bike accident. It is nothing short of a miracle that he wasn't killed. I have lost friends to vehicle accidents. Life is very fragile and precious, and it can end at anytime for any reason. Ben Roethlisberger is one lucky man, and I am very, very happy he will recover.
That said, Ben Roethlisberger is also a big f--king idiot, and if I were the Steelers I'd look to cut lose from this fool ASAP.
Just like Randy Moss and Terrell Owens, Ben Roethlisberger has now fallen into the category of "unreliable." Injury-prone is a term people use to describe someone who can't keep themselves on the field. It's a term that questions their toughness, desire, or their brains. It is now a term we will apply to Ben Roethlisberger.
He is an injury-prone fool who simply cannot be trusted.
I do not make this statement simply because Roethlisberger plays for the Steelers. If Peyton Manning pulled this kind of crap, I'd want him shipped out as well. When a team decides to invest in a player, to build their entire club around that player, the player has a responsibility to his team and the fans. He must prepare hard, perform well, and always make himself ready to lead his team.
Driving a motorcycle with no helmet is both reckless and irresponsible. Ben Roethlisberger was completely and utterly selfish to do this, and this is a pattern for Roethlisberger, who takes the label "dumb jock" to new lows. Remember, he does not wear things like knee braces because it seems to encroach upon his manhood. Last season, Roethlisberger suffered a knee injury mid-season, a knee injury that would have been avoided had he worn a brace.
Yes, Ben Roethlisberger will recover from his accident. However, if you think he will play football the same this year, you are sadly mistaken. Roethlisberger has multiple fractures to his upper and lower jaw. Injuries like this take a long time to heal, and even when they do they will affect how Roethlisberger throws the ball. Peyton Manning received a hairline fracture to his jaw in 2001. He missed one snap as a result of it.
That's right, a broken jaw, and he missed one snap.
That injured jaw affected him the entire season. During the bye-week, he had the jaw wired shut and drank his meals through a straw. He dropped weight, and his stamina was affected. Roethlisberger will have to go through this, but for a longer period of time. Manning had a hairline fracture to the lower jaw. Roethlisberger's entire face is fractured.
This injury will affect his performance. It will affect the Steelers team, which is already minus key players like Jerome Bettis and Antwain Randle-El this season.
Bottom line: Roethlisberger's recklace attitude towards keeping himself healthy makes him a liability. How can Pittsburgh build their team around a guy that can't stay on the field, and takes recklace changes like this? The answer is they shouldn't. They should not invest in this guy. Guys like Manning and Brady do not engage in crap like helmetless motorcycling. They wear knee braces during practice and in games. They ensure they will be there for their respective teams. There's nothing "manly" about riding a bike with your noggin exposed. It's not rebellious, attractive, or cool. It's stupid, pure and simple.
It's Roethlisberger's life, and he can do what he pleases. However, if I rooted for the Steelers, I'd want Rooney to package this nut job out of town ASAP. At the very least, when his rookie contract is up they should NOT re-sign him to a Manning-like deal, or even a Brady-like deal. The Steelers were a championship caliber team before Roethlisberger showed up, when morons like Kordell Stewart ran the show. If they signed someone like Kerry Collins this season, they'd still be championship caliber. How can fans trust someone like Roethlisberger, who takes dumb chances with his life that jepardize his team's chances of winning football games?
The answer is they shouldn't, and Art Rooney would be wise to weigh this incident when it comes to deciding Roethlisberger's future with the Steelers.