A limited edition Ben Roethlisberger QB can now be yours. He has low mileage and plenty more years left to play, assuming he doesn't end his career in a horrible motorcycle accident. He's been to the Pro Bowl multiple times and has a career QB rating of 91.7. A suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy is likely, but he'd be yours to use as needed afterwards. Cities with colleges and bars close by are preferable for keeping your new QB happy and in good spirits come game day. Future lawsuits are a possibility, but deep pocket lawyers should be able to keep QB out of jail and available for use. So what's the price for such a rare and valuable item? Four first round draft picks? Three first round draft picks? No. All this could be yours for the incredibly low price of just two first round draft picks. That's less than the Bears paid for Jay Cutler, even though Cutler has yet to win anything in college or the NFL. But this offer won't last forever, so hurry and order your limited edition Ben Roethlisberger QB today!
When the case against Roethlisberger was dropped, he must have felt that the worst was behind him. But this story is like the Energizer Bunny. It just keeps going and going. First the officer who took the accusers initial report, and the only one to interview Roethlisberger, was forced to resign for making derogatory comments about the alleged victim to other officers. Then it came out that the police came across information that there may have been another victim. Unfortunately the woman, who's in her early 20's, refused to talk with them about it. Finaly, reports surfaced that two of Ben's friends that were with him that night work in law enforcement, including Pennsylvania state trooper Ed Joyner, who was the bodygaurd that blocked the door to the bathroom. Of course both men claim to "have no memory" of the accuser that night.
The closing of the case also means that the press now has access to the alleged victims statement to the police. She told police that after being encouraged to have multiple shots, remember she's under aged, she was led to a hallway where Ben then came and exposed himself to her. "I told him it wasn't ok, no, we don't need to do this," she said in her statement. "I went to the first door I saw, which happened to be a bathroom." Ben followed her in, and Pennsylvania state trooper Ed Joyner then blocked the door and even turned away one of the girl's friends. I don't know if it was consensual or not, but at least he didn't kill a dog. Plying a 20 year old with booze so you can take advantage of them is one thing, but killing a dog is just plain wrong.
The Rooney's are reportedly furious and have announced they will suspend Roethlisberger but are waiting to see what the league will due first. And it looks like the league will do something. Dan Patrick asked Rodger Goodell on his show if Roethlisberger violated the leagues personal conduct policy and Goodell replied, "Yes, there has been a violation of that." He even released a statement earlier where he said, "The policy makes it clear that NFL and club personnel must do more than simply avoid criminal behavior." The Steelers may want to think long and hard about cutting bait while Roethlisberger still has some trade value. Otherwise they may end up feeling like all those people who held onto their Enron stock too long while waiting for it to bounce back.
But Ben's not the only one struggling with the law of late. Brown's RB, Chris Jennings, was arrested for punching a bouncer in the face because he wouldn't let his friend in without proper attire. Maybe he thought he'd get preferential treatment since he's a professional football player. Unfortunately for him, being a 3rd string RB doesn't get you that much respect, especially when it's with the Browns. On that note, if you were undrafted out of college and have a grand total of 1 year of NFL experience, you probably shouldn't be following the Pacman Jones plan for NFL success. If the Steelers had no problem trading a former first round pick who just had over 1,000 yards receiving, I doubt the Browns would loss any sleep without Jennings on their team.
The Browns have also been in the news over rumors they may trade with the Rams for the first overall pick. The reason for the rumors is because their current QB tandem of Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace isn't inspiring a lot of confidence, so they're looking to upgrade with Sam Bradford. They could always stay where they're at and just take Jimmy Clausen, but Mike Holmgren isn't sold on Clausen's abilities. "I wish I liked him more," he told reporters. "You know how you have a type of player that you like? It's not scientific. People like him a lot. He'll go high. But it would be hard for me [to take him]." And Holmgren may not be the only one that feels that way. If Clausen falls out of the top 10, and I think he will based on the scientific formula that is my gut, he'll be in for a Quinn/Rodgers free fall. Too bad he didn't accepted the invitation to attend the draft. That could have been a great drinking game. Every time the camera shows Clausen looking nervous and sweating as he falls down the board, you take a shot.
But while Clausen, Tim Tebow, and Colt McCoy all turned down invitations to attend the draft, 16 players have accepted. They are: Sam Bradford, Ndamukong Suh, Gerald McCoy, C.J. Spiller, Jahvid Best, Joe Haden, Brandon Ghee, Russell Okung, Bryan Bulaga, Trent Williams, Lamarr Houston, Jared Odrick, Dan Williams, Derrick Morgan, Demaryius Thomas, and Eric Berry. By my count, 11 of those guys should be gone in the first half of the 1st round. That leaves 5 guys to sweat it out. More than likely, a few will still be there when the first round comes to an end. So why is the NFL inviting players that will still be there on day 2, and why are those players accepting? Is it so the cameras aren't focused on just one guy, nervously texting, trying to look busy, and generally trying to act like it isn't a big deal they're being rejected over and over again? Or is it to try to hype up the draft even more than it is by still having guys walk up to the podium to accept their jersey's on day 2? In a few years are draft prospects going to have to walk down a red carpet while press on both sides shout out questions and ask them who they're wearing? I'm as excited about the draft as anyone, but it is possible to over do a good thing.