Suspend Ben Roethlisberger 
The wrong QB got traded this month. Too bad the Steelers don't have McNabb on roster

By Gene Wojciechowski
ESPN.com

If not for an ethical district attorney, an angry but fatherly owner, and a depth chart that's chin strap-thin at quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger might not be a Pittsburgh Steeler today.

As it is, Ben Roethlisberger isn't going to be in the Steelers' starting lineup anytime soon. I'd be stunned -- and disappointed -- if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't bring the wood and suspend Boozin' Ben for at least three games and preferably four: two games for embarrassing his team and the league, another two for being dumber than a blocking sled.

Forget, if you can, that Roethlisberger has left a trail of police reports from Lake Tahoe to Milledgeville, Ga. Or that women seem to accuse him of sexual assault a lot. Or that he's lucky to be alive after a 2006 motorcycle accident. (Go figure: a guy who wears a helmet for a living, didn't wear one on a motorcycle.)

[img_r]http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2010/0416/pg2_a_rooney_sy_300.jpg[/img_r]What amazes you most is that Roethlisberger never seems to learn. He treats life with the same indifference he treats oncoming rushers. He just stands there, takes the hits, staggers up and does the same thing again and again.

Meanwhile, Donovan McNabb -- model citizen, model teammate, model representative of the league and the Philadelphia Eagles -- gets shipped to the Washington Redskins in a cardboard box. All he did was win games, conduct himself with dignity and never appear in a police mug shot.

The wrong Pennsylvania quarterback got traded. Roethlisberger ought to be in another uniform today, not McNabb. I'd say the Oakland Raiders and Roethlisberger deserve each other, but I'm not sure even Al Davis deserves what Ben has become. Anyway, hasn't Davis already suffered enough with the galactically apathetic JaMarcus Russell?

In Thursday afternoon's news conference, Steelers president Art Rooney II said "at this point" the team had not discussed a Roethlisberger trade with another franchise. At this point.

Intriguing, isn't it?

The Steelers, the fifth-oldest franchise in the NFL, are the ultimate mom-and-pop shop, a family-owned business that has roots as deep as the Monongahela River. The team is so serious about its history that Art Rooney's original office (the old man bought the team in 1933) is preserved in the Steelers' headquarters.

So when Rooney II says the franchise's good name has "taken a hit," he's talking about the legacy of the Rooneys. Maybe that's why he did little to hide his displeasure with a series of off-the-field incidents involving Roethlisberger, place-kicker Jeff Reed and now-former Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes.

Holmes was traded to the New York Jets for a fifth-round draft pick and some mouth guards. A little more than a year ago, Holmes was a Super Bowl MVP.

[img_r]http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2010/0416/pg2_ap_dmcnabb1_200.jpg[/img_r]If you attached Rooney II or owner Dan Rooney (who serves as U.S. ambassador to Ireland) to a lie detector, you wonder if you'd find they had kicked the tires on a McNabb trade. It's not like the Redskins gave up a lot for McNabb: a second-rounder in next week's draft and a fourth-rounder in 2011. McNabb is everything that Roethlisberger isn't, beginning with responsible.

I know, Roethlisberger is 28, McNabb is 33. Roethlisberger has two Super Bowl rings, McNabb has zero. But Roethlisberger also has issues that lean toward self-destruction. Why else would he keep putting himself and his career in such compromising situations?

Roethlisberger wasn't charged with a crime in the Georgia case, but he is guilty of stupidity. And who knows how the Tahoe case is going to play out.

Reading between the lines of Rooney's comments on Thursday, it sounds as if Roethlisberger is going to remain a Steeler. I'm not sure the team has much of a choice.

Charlie Batch is 35 years old and a dependable backup -- but that's all he is, a backup. The Steelers like the potential of Dennis Dixon, but Dixon has a grand total of 13 completions in two years. A trade to somehow move up to the No. 1 pick and take Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford is a possibility, I suppose.

And all because Roethlisberger keeps failing the only multiple-choice test that matters.

If I think there's a possibility I'm about to do something really dumb, do I ...
A. Walk away.
B. Order another round.

Roethlisberger is running out of B answers and chances. If he's lucky, he'll still be a Steeler at the end of next week and only get suspended for four games by Goodell. And if that happens, he needs to call someone for advice on how to be a pro's pro.

McNabb.

Gene Wojciechowski is the senior national columnist for ESPN.com. You can contact him at gene.wojciechowski@espn.com.

Originally Published: April 15, 2010
Big Ben on shaky ground with Rooneys 
Steelers willing to suspend QB for his off-field conduct, even if losses result

By John Clayton
ESPN.com

Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II, angry about recent off-field problems involving his players, made it clear Thursday afternoon that the organization is ready to discipline quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Reading between the lines, you can deduce that Roethlisberger is probably heading toward a suspension, possibly two to four games. Commissioner Roger Goodell is reviewing how Roethlisberger violated the league's player conduct policy with two incidents involving women. Although neither incident led to criminal charges, Roethlisberger clearly has put his Steelers career in jeopardy because of his off-field behavior.

Roethlisberger has two strikes against him in the eyes of Steelers ownership. The next off-field incident will be strike three, likely leading to a trade or release.

That point was made clear Sunday night when the Steelers dumped wide receiver Santonio Holmes, Roethlisberger's best young wide receiver. Once the Steelers found out Holmes violated the substance abuse policy, the Steelers considered that offense his third strike. Holmes also has a domestic violence incident and a marijuana charge in his past. According to sources, the Rooney family gathered a few front-office people and doled out the phone numbers for 28 teams -- every NFL team except those in the AFC North. Those involved were ordered to call those teams and ask if any were willing to give the Steelers a draft choice for Holmes.

Had the New York Jets not stepped up and offered a fifth-round choice, Holmes reportedly would have been cut.

If there's another negative Roethlisberger incident, expect the quarterback to be gone, too.

A former district attorney, Rooney was succinct in describing how the Steelers are handling their star quarterback. First, they are willing to suspend him for a number of games even if it means opening the season with a loss or two. The Steelers were willing to weaken the offense by getting rid of Holmes, making an example of him. They are equally willing to go without Roethlisberger for an unlimited number of games. But like a good attorney, Rooney is building a case against him.

Even though there is no salary cap, Roethlisberger has $12.8 million of signing bonus proration still attached to his contract. If he were to be released for cause, the Steelers would have the chance to recoup some of that money. Holmes had only $890,000 remaining, a number that wasn't large enough to affect the organization. Dumping Holmes -- though difficult from the personnel sense -- was easy. But the Roethlisberger situation goes beyond money. The Rooney family realizes the quarterback's value to the team, but is not willing to suffer another embarrassment.

Roethlisberger has been allowed to rejoin the team in offseason workouts. In past years, he attended the mandatory offseason sessions but skipped a lot of the voluntary work. The Rooneys are giving him a chance to win back his teammates. Later, they will see if he can win back some of the lost fans. That's why trading him now -- which according to sources was one many options discussed internally -- isn't an option.

For now, Roethlisberger has one more chance. How he handles it will determine whether or not he completes the final six years of a contract that runs through 2015.

John Clayton, a recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's McCann Award for distinguished reporting, is a senior writer for ESPN.com.