Ben Roethlisberger: Why Georgia, Why?

Charlie Klein

John Mayer has a song off of his first record titled "Why Georgia." In it, Mayer asks himself if he is living it right. One might think that by now, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger might be asking himself the same question. That fateful night in Georgia in which Big Ben had ________ relations with that girl at the club could have a major effect on the direction of the rest of his life.

This is not the first time that Roethlisberger has acted recklessly. On June 12, 2006, the Steelers quarterback was involved in a motorcycle accident in which he was not wearing a helmet. Now I understand his desire to let those golden locks of his flow in the wind, but there is a time and a place. And that certainly is not near downtown Pittsburgh. Reports made after the accident noted that the injuries Roethlisberger suffered in the accident made him almost entirely unrecognizable to witnesses at the scene. He was able to recover from the injury and played in the following season.

While Roethlisberger certainly cannot be blamed entirely for the accident occurring, his lack of judgment in not wearing a helmet is indicative of how he must have felt invincible. That nothing could touch him. Preceding the accident, Roethlisberger had led the Steelers to their first Super Bowl championship since 1979. Certainly he must have felt a sense of entitlement after that.

On July 17, 2009, a civil suit was filed against Roethlisberger by Andrea McNulty in Washoe County, Nevada. McNulty accused the Steelers quarterback of having sexually assaulted her in 2008 in his hotel room while he was in Lake Tahoe for a celebrity golf tournament. She claimed that she and Roethlisberger had had a friendly conversation earlier in the day, and that he called her up to his hotel room to fix a malfunctioning television sound system. After diagnosing that everything was working, she claimed that Roethlisberger blocked her from leaving the room and started kissing her. Roethlisberger's name was cleared following a statement made by McNulty's coworker in which it became known that McNulty had bragged about having consensual sex with Roethlisberger.

And then there is the incident at a Georgia night club in which Roethlisberger may or may not have actually sexually assaulted another woman. The local district attorney came to the conclusion that the evidence collected did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Roethlisberger was at fault.

Two reports surfaced today about Big Ben's future. The first of which made by ESPN's Adam Schefter, in which he suggested that Roethlisberger has been put on the block for a top ten draft pick. The second report was from the Commissioner's Office as Roger Goodell suspended Roethlisberger for the first six games of the 2010 season for conduct detrimental to the shield. I had originally thought that the suspension would be four games, and if Roethlisberger is a good boy for the rest of the build up to the regular season, his suspension could be reduced.

I do not think that the Steelers will end up trading Roethlisberger, mainly because I cannot see a team giving up a top ten for a player with Roethlisberger's track record. Considering how a player's character has affected the compensation received for him this offseason, it would be a steal for the Steelers to get a top ten pick out of all of this.

Most importantly, Ben Roethlisberger needs to stop saying your body is a wonderland to all of these girls he meets and instead needs to realize there's no such thing as invincibility. If his most recent transgressions prove to be the end of his career in Pittsburgh. All of the Steeler faithful are surely asking themselves, why georgia, why?