Just because someone is a great player, doesn’t make him a great person.
The line sometimes get blurred especially with fans as they aren’t able to disconnect the player from the person. On the field the Pittsburgh Steelers know what they have in Ben Roethlisberger, but that doesn’t mean off the field they have to like him or the decisions he makes, so I am not surprised by this quote from Roger Goodell.
Peter King of Sports Illustrated writes in today’s Monday Morning Quarterback column that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told him he talked to two dozen Steelers while he was deciding how to punish Roethlisberger at the beginning of this season, and to a man, Roethlisberger’s teammates declined to say anything supportive of their quarterback.
“Not one, not a single player, went to his defense,” Goodell told King. “It wasn’t personal in a sense, but all kinds of stories like, ‘He won’t sign my jersey.’ ”
People ask me all the time, do I think players with off the field issues can change.
The word I like to use is “adjust”. At your core you are who you are. If you have been a jerk all your life, you can’t turn into Tim Tebow overnight, but you can adjust some things to be a better person and adjust some of the decisions you make.
I don’t think Roethlisberger is that much different than when he was in the girl’s bathroom, I think he just realizes now when you have a high profile, you can’t be so reckless with your actions.
As long as he remembers that he will be fine and won’t have to worry about his teammates having his back.
