Big Ben Roethlisberger has become our hometown hero as one of the best Quarterbacks in football. He helped the Steelers win games when it was so close, they may not have had that win in their column. We have held him up high as he himself raised the bar in football and raised the Lombardi Trophy over our city.  Pittsburgh loves its heroes and Ben has been one who helped a city which is re-inventing itself, to promote that positive image. We stand by our own, even when many others give up. Now, however, he has once again brought questions about his character and may have lowered the bar in his personal lifestyle.

In 2006 he nearly lost his life due to not wearing a helmet while riding and crashing his motorcycle. We chalked it up to his youth and rallied for his recovery. Then a hostess in Nevada accused Ben of sexually assaulting her. She had failed to file a police report and Ben denied the accusations. They settled out of court and many chalked this one up to a wanton woman wanting money from a Super (and rich) hero. The latest of Ben’s escapades, however,  has us shaking our heads, talking in coffee shops and wondering whether Big Ben has been off-sides in personal life, thereby casting aspersions not only on himself, but on football, the Rooneys and this city of Pittsburgh.

As a woman I ask myself why a woman would go to the police and file a report of sexual assault, when we know that in courts, many women are re-victimized as every aspect of their personal life is examined and dissected in the search for her as being complicit. It is a humiliating process for women, and one does not take this step lightly. The twenty year old college student who happened to be in the same bar in Milledgeville, Georgia last week as Ben Roethlisberger, has taken the steps of filing a complaint of sexual assault against him with the police, hiring an attorney and thereby subjecting herself to scrutiny which will be denigrating and up-heaving. Ben has hired one of the top attorneys in Atlanta. Another high-profile case has begun, and this time it is not Tiger Woods or one of the Washington politicians. It is Big Ben, hometown hero.

The investigation continues and Ben is innocent until proven guilty. That is the law. What the law does not cover is that this 28 year old man should have better judgment. Whether he likes it or not, with the victories come the spoils and that should not include rotten behavior which denotes lack of character.  Certainly he is no newcomer to fame. Whether on the field or off the field, he has a responsibility to conduct himself properly. He may be innocent. She may be seeking money. But this time, this time, Ben has us all wondering whether he deserves the status he has attained.

—cher