Big Ben out 4-6

[MichiganPackerFan]

I've always thought he was overrated. Sure, he breaks out of some sacks, but I've never been impressed. He was the beneficiary of being on some solid all-around teams. But he's averaged 3200 yards and 21 td's per season. His first year, he threw for 4328 yds and 26 tds. One season since he threw 32 td's. Other 4 seasons he averaged 17 td's and has averaged less than 3000 yards since his rookie year.

[Guiness]

This situation, and the precedent it is setting is screwed up beyond belief. Grey Doyel wrote a piece on it

http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/13243927/goodells-conduct-policy-veering-from-mostly-right-to-all-wrong

He essentially says that he was ok with the NFL handing down suspensions based on arrests or charges, but to base them on allegations is wrong. If you step back from this case a bit, and look at what that sort of a policy could mean in general, it's pretty scary.

Goodell's conduct policy veering from mostly right to all wrong
April 18, 2010
By Gregg Doyel
CBSSports.com National Columnist

I don't want to live in a world where an accusation is tantamount to a conviction. That's what happened in Salem, Mass., a few centuries ago. People were accused of witchcraft. Proof? There was no proof, just accusations. But accusations were enough. And so innocent people died.

I don't want to live there.

Roger Goodell lives there.

Roger Goodell scares the hell out of me.

And it wasn't always this way. When Goodell as NFL commissioner unveiled his personal conduct policy in 2007, it was new, needed, even noble. The policy read, and I quote, "It will be considered conduct detrimental [for league personnel] to engage in ... violent and/or criminal activity." The policy went on to describe the line in the sand that could not be crossed, and that line was this: an arrest or a legal charge. A player didn't have to be convicted of a crime to be suspended; he had to be "arrested or charged," a phrase that appeared three times in the conduct policy.

And I loved it. The court system can take forever, and legal finagling often reduces charges to unrecognizable, even negligible levels. For example, domestic battery is often reduced to disturbing the peace, and a DUI arrest can be pleaded down to reckless driving. Goodell can't suspend a guy for disturbing the peace or for reckless friggin' driving, so he goes after the original charge. And we should understand. Tank Johnson and Pacman Jones were charged with all sorts of heinous crimes, and Goodell hammered them. Before all the lawyer wrangling, there was plenty of legal smoke, so Goodell brought the fire. Good for him, and good for his cynical but smart line in the sand.

But in recent weeks, Goodell has moved that line. Where did he move it? He moved it toward Salem, Mass. He moved it somewhere scary:

It's no longer necessary that there be enough evidence of "violent and/or criminal activity" for police to make an arrest or file charges. Nope. Now, an accusation is enough.

Goodell's new line in the sand was outlined in a memo leaked last week, a memo that reads, and I quote: "Every investigation, arrest, or other allegation of improper conduct ... threatens the continued success of our brand."

See that? An arrest is no longer needed. Forget about a conviction. Now, an "allegation" will do.

It makes me wonder ...

I live in Cincinnati. I see the occasional Cincinnati Bengal out at a bar. If I accused any of them of punching me in the face, could I get them suspended?

Hey, Commissioner. Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco decked me -- get 'em!

The news peg for my column, obviously, is Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He has been accused of sexual assault by two different women, most recently last month in Georgia. In both instances, police looked into the woman's accusations. In both instances, the district attorney reviewed the evidence and declined to take the case to trial. Roethlisberger wasn't convicted. He wasn't even charged.

But Goodell wants him suspended anyway. In hindsight, it seems obvious to me that Roethlisberger was the reason for that memo last week, and for the new line in the sand. In that memo, Goodell went all revisionist history when he wrote, and I quote, "Unfortunately, in recent weeks there have been several negative incidents ... that we have previously identified as particularly troublesome [such as] allegations of violence against women."

See what Goodell did there? We have previously identified ... allegations of violence against women.

Liar.

"Allegations" were never previously identified. That was never the line in the sand. Arrests and charges were identified. That was the line in sand: Arrests. Charges.

But now, "allegations" are enough. And let's be honest: They are rather horrific allegations. Sexual assault on a woman by anyone, much less by a 240-pound professional football player, is evil if true. Allegations like that must be taken seriously -- deathly seriously. And they were. Cops in Nevada investigated one accusation and found that the alleged victim had told friends she was hoping for "a little Roethlisberger" after the encounter, which sounds nothing like sexual assault to me. Cops in Georgia investigated the other charge, which sounded much more serious. In any event, neither state found enough evidence to go forward.

No matter to Goodell. He has been talking with the Steelers about how to deal with Roethlisberger, with Steelers president Art Rooney II saying it's a matter of time before Roethlisberger is disciplined. Said Rooney on Thursday: "When we get to the point where we have agreed with the commissioner on what that action will be, that's when it will be imposed."

In other words, this won't be an NFL suspension -- yet it'll be a Roger Goodell production anyway. If the Steelers, on their own, want to suspend Roethlisberger for a pattern of immaturity that makes the team look bad, that would be their right. He's their employee. If the Steelers want to suspend Roethlisberger, do it.

But Goodell is involved, redrawing his line in the sand to a location that should curdle the blood of every player in the league. Because if Roethlisberger goes down for this, anybody could be next. No charges? No problem. All the NFL needs is an allegation.

To understand how strongly I feel about this position, you have to understand how strongly I dislike Ben Roethlisberger. He's a serial idiot -- a stupid, cocky caricature of the modern-day athlete. Teammates don't like him. I can't stand him. I tolerate his existence by ignoring him whenever possible, but I can't ignore what Goodell is about to do -- not merely to Roethlisberger, but to my idea of justice. Suspending a player for one or two incidents that didn't merit a single criminal charge is an injustice. Once upon a time, Goodell had the right idea when it came to policing his league. But that time has gone. The NFL has become a police state. Enough is enough.

Never thought I would say this, but I'm saying it:

Roger Goodell must be stopped.

[swede]

www.rotoworld.com

The Steelers have begun contacting teams to trade Ben Roethlisberger for a top-10 pick, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

This confirms yesterday's report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and takes it a step further. Schefter says the Steelers are the ones being proactive, and there is at least one team considering a deal. It's starting to look like a real possibility that Roethlisberger will be serving his 4-6 game suspension somewhere other than Pittsburgh.

Source: Adam Schefter on Twitter

What are the Vegas odds on Bengals, Raiders, or Vikings to be Big Ben's new boss?

[Patler]

I think he is a D bag for sure, if I am related to the girl in question I want blood.

What I dont like about this is that a girl made an accusation that she cannot back up and this guy almost loses his job. I have no problem with what he did in the abstract...DH thing to do YES, Creepy as all H YES...slimy H YES...HOWEVER how did his conduct at the bar violate the NFLs oh so stringent code of conduct? Making it rain at a club, the countless things we have heard about the love boat and the arctic blast, just two examples of the Vikes (sorry Rastak), and how many weeks were guys suspended? NONE all that happened was a one game check fine to Smoot and Mckinnie!

Sorry I think this guy should be beat no doubt but the facts do not support the punishment all it turned out to be is an accusation.

Having sex in a bar with a consenting partner could easily be considered by the NFL to violate their code of conduct. I don't think the code of conduct is determined by legal/illegal.

The girl's version of the story seems to be pretty well supported, just not sufficient for prosecution of a CRIME. In a "more likely than not" analysis, it seems clear she wins, but a prosecutor won't prosecute on that.

Roethlisberger isn't being punished for this one incident alone. You can bet it is based on the series of incidents that show a pattern of behavior detrimental to the NFL.

This wasn't a guy picking up a girl and going home with her. From the report it seems to have been a guy with a team singling out a target for him to "conquer" on the spot. If he had taken her back to his apartment alone, it might have been looked at very differently.

The "love boat" incident was a little less public and involved professionals hired for the evening, did it not? A little less impact than coercing a young, drunken girl, wouldn't you agree?

[Tarlam!]

Great article and I agree with it wholeheartedly. I think Goodell is a despot. However, the Rooneys were always going to punish BR.

From the beginning I've stated the allegations should go to court. Ben should have been aressted. From what I can gather, the first cop on the scene really didn't do the legal system any favours.

[Patler]

The only problem with the article is that it ignores what the individual players may have admitted to Goodell when they met.

There is a difference between a player being accused, and the player denying that anything at all happened; and a player acknowledging an occurrence but disputing the criminal significance of it. The league could very easily determine that, crime or no crime, the activity itself was detrimental to the league.

In the business world, employees at will can get suspended for lots of things that are not criminal. In an image conscious business like the NFL I would expect an even higher standard to be applied.

Should the league really be OK with any conduct what so ever as long as the DA doesn't file charges? That's a pretty low standard of conduct.

[Guiness]

Very good point wrt what the player may have admitted to the commissioner.

[Bossman641]

I think Goodell is starting down a slippery slope. If Big Ben's case is an isolated interest based on his pattern of behavior and other information Goodll may have learned from meeting with him, then I am all for the suspension. I would hate to see this become the norm though where players are suspended purely based on allegations.

[swede]

I think Goodell is starting down a slippery slope. If Big Ben's case is an isolated interest based on his pattern of behavior and other information Goodll may have learned from meeting with him, then I am all for the suspension. I would hate to see this become the norm though where players are suspended purely based on allegations.

Well, it's not such a slippery slope if he adheres to your latter point.

He has consistently indicated he'd make his own decisions regarding player discipline with his own information to protect the reputation of the league. He has granted himself a lot of power and the only check and balance is public perception and the support of the owners.

The suspension was minimal considering the allegation.

[Guiness]

That was exactly my point Bossman.

If the allegations are enough, when I'm in Houston next week, I'm going to drive up to Dallas, punch myself in the face a few times, and head on down to the police station and claim, um, Miles Austin did it.

Guess I better check and make sure he's in town first.

[Tony Oday]

This suspension and the facts are in a smokey back room...this is how Hockey does it and NOBODY likes their suspension system

[Guiness]

I'm never sure Oday, if things are better or worse now than when Brian Burke was in charge of discipline. Getting inside that guy's mind to try and determine why he made some of those decisions would pretty much drive you nuts!

[mngolf19]

Only problem with your post, Tarlam, is that you don't know that he ruined their lives or if they put themselves there and then were mad at him for being such a jerk.

True, and the cop was supposedly a jerk, so he brought it upon himself. As to the girl - actions speak louder than words and her actions after the event speak volumes to me. BR is a sexual predater and I wouldn't want him in the NFL let alone in Green Bay.

If Chilli takes Tony Oday's advice and does indeed trade for him, I will have a reason to want them to fail miserably.

Will never happen now. They go for character people now as well. If they could reasonably get rid of McKinnie right now they would.

[red]

www.rotoworld.com

The Steelers have begun contacting teams to trade Ben Roethlisberger for a top-10 pick, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

This confirms yesterday's report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and takes it a step further. Schefter says the Steelers are the ones being proactive, and there is at least one team considering a deal. It's starting to look like a real possibility that Roethlisberger will be serving his 4-6 game suspension somewhere other than Pittsburgh.

Source: Adam Schefter on Twitter

this just screams cleveland browns

they have #7 and are desperate to get rid of it, plus they don't have a qb

maybe a swap of 1st round picks and the rappist

[Brandon494]

How is this BS? This is the second time, not the first he has been accused. I stand behind Goodell decision 100%. The NFL is a billion dollar business and they have a image to protect.