It is not uncommon when people get arrested and are about to be sentenced by the judge to utter the words:

“I’m sorry”

I am sure some of them mean it, but what most of them are really saying is:

“I’m sorry I got caught.”

Which brings us to the curious case of Ben Roethlisberger, who did an in depth interview trying to explain his actions over the past few years.  Here are some of the quotes from ESPN.com:

“I got caught up being Big Ben the whole time. I lost track of who Ben Roethlisberger was. It’s not something I’m proud of,”

“Big Ben just kept building up. It ended up coming off the field. It kept taking over. Superman kept taking over Clark Kent and you just never saw who Ben Roethlisberger was any more. At the time, I didn’t see it. I was gaining everything but I was losing a lot of who I was raised to be.”

“I’ve wanted to apologize to them [fans] for so many things. For being immature, for being dumb, for being young, for not knowing any better, For getting caught up in everything that was thrown my way.”

In general, I see what he is saying; when you are famous, sometimes you do believe you are Superman and you can’t be touched.

I see that everyday covering sports.  Fame is like a drug, no different than crack or heroin.

Roethlisberger was an addict, and if he truly recognizes that, then he can get better.

The part that concerns me is how he blames his actions on immaturity, being young and dumb and not knowing any better.

Roethlisberger is 28 years old.

He isn’t a kid, that is a flimsy excuse.  I don’t care if you are 17 or 77 — when you are being accused of “strong arming” women, that has nothing to do with your maturity level.

At worst, you are a sexual predator, and at best, you have social issues in how you deal with women.

He has been accused four times in the last two years, and it didn’t seem to bother him in the least.  But then when he gets suspended, now all of a sudden he blames it on being “young and dumb.”

You know what I say to that?

SMARTEN UP NAS

Be a man, Ben, and just admit you have serious behavioral problems that have nothing to do with age, but with you as a person.  You aren’t 15, you aren’t sneaking into donut shops, you aren’t showing up on Girls Gone Wild videos — you are being accused of raping women.

The young and dumb excuse doesn’t fly, try again.