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No charges have been filed as of now and no one is even sure if charges will ever be filed, but it doesn't matter. Commissioner Goodell must step in and take care of Ben Roethlisberger in order to preserve the perception of the league as tough and, maybe most importantly, indiscriminate.After Pacman Jones was suspended for an entire year (after being convicted of nothing), Chris Henry was suspended half the season, Donte' Stallworth was suspended indefintely, as well as Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress, a lot of people starting claiming that it became a race issue.
Many said that a white quarterback would not receive the same sort of treatment as these guys, so Goodell should show that it's not a legitimate argument and suspend Roethlisberger.
Quick disclaimer: I'm not sure how many national guys said this, but I'm talking more about the fan's perception of Goodell and the league.
Roethlisberger might not be guilty of the crimes he's accused, but he is, at the very least, guilty of being a complete moron. To put himself in this position while he's got a civil lawsuit pending across the country is absolutely insane. He's now got to face the potential charges of this case, and the civil suit just became a whole lot easier for that woman in Nevada.
Big Ben has now established a pattern of behavior, and all that woman needs to win her case is the slightest inkling from the judge that Ben did it. In a tort lawsuit, the same "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard does not apply. The woman in Nevada just has to convince the judge that there's even a 51 percent chance Ben did it, and she wins.
That, in turn, would be a good base to pursue criminal charges in the most recent case. The prosecution can point to that case and say that he's a predator who should be put away.
It's a bad situation for Ben, and it's a very bad situation for a league that has pushed Roethlisberger to the forefront because they felt like he was a good, marketable guy who could be a good representative of a traditional franchise like the Steelers and the league as a whole.
It was a key factor in suspending Vick indefinitely, so now the same consideration has to be given to Roethlisberger.
I don't think he should be suspended for the entire year, but even simply citing the player conduct policy and suspending him for a month with the possibility of more pending the outcome of his potential trial should be enough to ease the talks and take some of the pressure off the league, for now.
