I realize I'm in the minority here, but I really hope this isn't true.

Of course, let's all realize that it was reported by Yahoo! Sports.

Last time I checked, they weren't exactly the highest profile source on sports in general, let alone the Steelers.

Regardless, let's talk about this whole "shaken" thing.

I hear people saying "we'd rather lose with dignity than win with Big Ben."

Ok.

I wonder if you'll be saying the same thing in a year when the Steelers have gone 5-11 with nothing but 35 year-old Chuck Batch and Dennis Dixon at QB.

The team only went 9-7 this past season, but because they didn't make the playoffs, everybody was acting like someone shit in their cereal.

Dignity.

Ben has nothing to do with us as people.

The only reason you feel he's making you look bad is because you're embracing that notion.

When you accept the idea that Ben reflects you as a person, of course you're going to be offended by his actions.

But Ben doesn't represent me.

He just plays for my favorite football team.

I don't have to think he's a nice guy or even a good guy.

All I have to do is root for the STEELERS.

I've heard some of you say that other fan bases are now making fun of you because of Ben.

Tell them you don't accept his behavior, he disgusts you, but he's your team's QB and you support your team.

There's no rule that says you have to like him as a person.

Besides, this false presumption of guilt has to stop.

They've proven nothing except that he put himself in a couple of bad situations.

The Georgia DA's preacher impression got you thinking Ben got away with something?

He's a prosecutor. That's what he's paid to do. Make people look bad so he can convict them.

He's an elected official. If he stood up there and discussed this thing objectively, he'd be out of a job quicker than you can say Mike Nifong.

You want some real facts?

When the police first interviewed Ben's accuser, right after the incident, when she had a BAC of .20, they asked her if Ben raped her. She said no. Then, only 12-13 hours later, after she had been to the police station and the hospital, and had presumably been asked several more times if Ben raped her, only then did she say that he had sex with her against her will.

Now, I don't know about you, but the day after I've had a BAC of .20, I don't suddenly remember everything that happened the night before like the clouds of inebriation have parted and I've found some divine clarity on my drunken escapades.

Is it possible that these accusations along with the ones made by Andrea McNulty aren't true?

Hell, like Ape pointed out at KSK yesterday, even Jerome Bettis was accused of sexual assault once. You think he did it too?

But I'm not trying to make this girl look bad.

I don't know anything about what happened beyond what I've heard and read.

The bottom line is - We're all human. We all make mistakes.

But this isn't the Boy Scouts of America league, this is the National FOOTBALL League.

You're talking about a QB who has the most wins among any QB in NFL through his first five seasons. A QB who has already won two Super Bowls at 28. The first Steelers QB to throw for more than 500 yards in a game and 4,000 yards in a season. A guy that it takes a yacht anchor of a human being to bring down.

On the field, Ben is among the top players in the NFL.

I just hope you all understand that unlike some other blogs, I refuse to conform to the mob mentality just because it brings me more page views.

I have my own mind, and mine says trading Ben Roethlisberger would be a terrible football decision.

Perhaps you disagree.

There's always going to be two sides to every issue.

And this is mine.

I hope you can respect that.

Thanks in advance.

Go Steelers.

UPDATE: Mike Florio is a tool. Still...


Here we go.....

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