04/19/24
March 05, 2010
Police in Georgia Investigating Ben Roethlisberger: Police in Milledgeville, Ga. said that they are investigating Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger after an alleged incident at a nightclub Friday morning. No charges of any kind have been filed, but police announced that a 20-year-old woman is accusing him of sexual assault.
No matter what the facts are here, Roethlisberger is a guy who should consider staying home more often.
posted by rcade at 08:10 PM on March 05, 2010
i couldn't agree more. The woman in Tahoe, I could give him the benefit of the doubt. But if this is for real then who the liar?
posted by steelergirl at 11:00 PM on March 05, 2010
Yeah, this is starting to become a pattern.
posted by dyams at 11:04 PM on March 05, 2010
I'll wait till all the facts are in to base my final opinion,but he has to be smarter and not put himself in these situations.
posted by Doehead at 08:20 AM on March 06, 2010
TMZ has pictures of Roethlisberger at the club where the alleged incident occurred. Nice Nike cap.
posted by rcade at 08:33 AM on March 06, 2010
I'll wait till all the facts are in to base my final opinion
I share those sentiments, though I honestly don't believe the public ever hears the true facts. Even if there is actually something to these allegations, multi-million dollar athletes can usually keep these issues from EVER seeing a court room. Females who actually are victims are often put in a position where they can't possibly pursue any potential charges, and money thrown at them generally makes the pursuit a bad move all around. This also, of course, makes it much more possible some females may make false allegations.
So, in conclusion: he has to be smarter and not put himself in these situations.
posted by dyams at 08:54 AM on March 06, 2010
Yeah, this is starting to become a pattern.
Unfortunately it has also been a pattern with people making false claims against rich people in order to get a check, so it's hard to decide which pattern is the real one.
This instance happened in a public women's restroom, so hopefully the real truth will come out as surely there were witnesses?
Agree with rcade though, that even if this is the case of a false allegations, he needs to quit putting himself in that position. Can't remember who it was, but some NFL player basically said he doesn't even ride up on an elevator alone with a woman...if it's just the 2 of them, he'll get off. That's a sad way to have to live, but that's the way it is nowadays unfortunately.
posted by bdaddy at 11:15 AM on March 06, 2010
But if it is, why don't these guys ever learn?
Like all "those people" statements, this demonstrates the classic fallacy of assuming that all people who fit a certain demographic -- in this case, presumably successful professional athletes -- share some kind of group mind, or at the very least, believe themselves as a group to be so much alike that anything that happens to one of them automatically acts as a cautionary tale for others. I'm sure that there are dangers that, say, 40something white male computer nerds are prone to, and yet I don't hear people saying, "Why don't those guys ever learn?" about them -- only about certain kinds of "those guys". Are "those guys" really any different from any other guys? Why would you expect them to be?
posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:00 PM on March 06, 2010
TMZ has pictures of Roethlisberger at the club where the alleged incident occurred. Nice Nike cap.
*holds up lighter* Dude! Nickelback!
posted by Ufez Jones at 09:06 PM on March 06, 2010
I'm sure that there are dangers that, say, 40something white male computer nerds are prone to, and yet I don't hear people saying, "Why don't those guys ever learn?" about them -- only about certain kinds of "those guys".
Read the papers. They lay generalizations on us every time we ram a plane into an IRS building, kill people at our gym because we can't get laid, send anthrax in the mail or shoot up our office after being fired. We can't even walk across Los Angeles shooting a golf cart with our TEC-9 without catching hell.
posted by rcade at 11:32 PM on March 06, 2010
Read the papers. They lay generalizations on us every time we ram a plane into an IRS building, kill people at our gym because we can't get laid, send anthrax in the mail or shoot up our office after being fired. We can't even walk across Los Angeles shooting a golf cart with our TEC-9 without catching hell.
I laughed so hard I sprayed my sip of 20 year old Scotch all over my monitor, damn you.
posted by irunfromclones at 03:59 AM on March 07, 2010
This instance happened in a public women's restroom, so hopefully the real truth will come out as surely there were witnesses?
I hear on Sportscenter this morning that the restroom is not open to the public, so chances are the truth will never come out.
If this did happen at least she came out and told someone rather that waiting two years. Even if this did happen, i doubt anything will come of it regarding criminal charges.
posted by sgtcookzane at 10:38 AM on March 07, 2010
Here's more details from a Georgia paper. Roethlisberger and several buddies were hopping from bar to bar in the small college town, beginning at 8 p.m. and extending to 2 a.m. They ended up with a crowd following them, and they all reached the "Capital City nightclub, where the favorite drink is Red Bull and flavored rum, a concoction known as the O-Bomb."
One woman told police at 2 a.m. that she was "sexually assaulted or sexually manipulated" by a white male she did not name at that club. From the story: "She did not identify Roethlisberger as the perpetrator, saying only that he was 6-foot-5 and 241 pounds. Several friends with her at the time said she was referring to Roethlisberger."
She told police her assailant was 6-foot-5 and 241 pounds? His exact height and weight on his NFL.Com page, one of the first results you'd see if you searched Google for his name on your phone's web browser?
posted by rcade at 11:13 AM on March 07, 2010
maybe she's just very exacting in how she sizes people up.
fishy, very fishy.
posted by dviking at 11:54 AM on March 07, 2010
His exact height and weight on his NFL.Com page, one of the first results you'd see if you searched Google for his name on your phone's web browser?
The iPhone: Google your attacker's description while talking to the cops. Can Verizon do that?
posted by cjets at 12:24 PM on March 07, 2010
Are "those guys" really any different from any other guys? Why would you expect them to be?
Well, Ms. _bat, I would like to think men who have been in the position that Ben has been in ("these guys" being men accused of a sexual misdeed) to learn something and maybe conduct themselves accordingly. But I guess that is idealistic thinking on my part.
By "any other guys" I take it you mean the "average joe"? From what I read in the newspapers and see on the evening news assaults on women (or even men) in public/nonpublic bathrooms is not normal activity.
posted by steelergirl at 07:20 PM on March 07, 2010
I laughed so hard I sprayed my sip of 20 year old Scotch all over my monitor, damn you.
I hope it was Cadenhead's.
posted by rcade at 07:24 PM on March 07, 2010
Well, Ms. _bat, I would like to think men who have been in the position that Ben has been in ("these guys" being men accused of a sexual misdeed) to learn something and maybe conduct themselves accordingly. But I guess that is idealistic thinking on my part.
Actually, it was imprecise terminology on your part. I doubt I was alone in thinking you meant something other than "men accused of a sexual misdeed" by your use of "these guys".
posted by lil_brown_bat at 07:50 PM on March 07, 2010
ok, no offense taken. I will word more carefully in the future. And I apologise for the improper use of the verb "is". It should have been ...bathrooms ARE not normal activity.
posted by steelergirl at 02:28 PM on March 08, 2010
*headsmack* the verb "to be". I think my misuse of the English language stems from a childhood nightmare where the teacher tried to tell me I spelled my last name wrong. (I had a doozie of a maiden name)
posted by steelergirl at 02:31 PM on March 08, 2010
Well I try to give a guy the benefit of the doubt. Of course when you start getting multiple sexual assault complaints against you, it starts to look bad. It is a fact that sexual offenders rarely are one time offenders. It is a known behavior problem that typically repeats itself. This guy probably needs an escort/witness when he goes out partying as I see a pattern developing.
posted by Atheist at 03:14 PM on March 08, 2010
I completely agree Atheist. The first accusation I was sure that the girl was lying. After this latest ordeal, kinda makes you wonder.
posted by sgtcookzane at 06:54 PM on March 08, 2010
Smoke and fire. That whole saying.
posted by igottheblues at 10:05 PM on March 08, 2010
After this latest ordeal, kinda makes you wonder.
It does make you wonder since it seems like a pattern is happening here with Roethlisberger but that doesn't make him guilty ...at least not yet.
I personally haven't heard all of the facts surrounding this case so I really cannot give my honest opinion until I know a little more.
posted by BornIcon at 09:04 AM on March 09, 2010
Here's more details on the club that night from a Pittsburgh paper. The accuser is a Zeta Tau Alpha sorority sister who reportedly is now dropping out of school to go home.
posted by rcade at 11:01 AM on March 09, 2010
One clubgoer says of Roethlisberger: "He wasn't looking for any trouble, and everywhere he went, he had these big bodyguards with him. Everywhere."
posted by rcade at 11:03 AM on March 09, 2010
"To us, he (Roethlisberger) comes off as a spoiled brat, not a nice guy," said Austin John Miller, 23, a waiter at the popular Mellow Mushroom restaurant in Lake Oconee.
Why? Because Roethlisberger didn't get an extra order of nachos or leave a healthy tip?
posted by BornIcon at 12:59 PM on March 09, 2010
Why? Because Roethlisberger didn't get an extra order of nachos or leave a healthy tip?
Not that it's particularly germane to the issue at hand, but I've spoken to a couple of bartenders in Oxford (home of Miami U) with similar stories. They said that, on a similar-sounding pub crawl around Oxford after the '05 Super Bowl Roethlisberger acted like a complete asshole. He and his posse refused to pay cover charges (fairly understandable), ran up huge tabs which he demanded discounts on, and when he didn't get them, stiffed the bartenders. That doesn't make him a rapist by any stretch of the imagination, but it sure indicates that he is a spoiled brat.
posted by tahoemoj at 01:20 PM on March 09, 2010
That doesn't make him a rapist by any stretch of the imagination, but it sure indicates that he is a spoiled brat.
Maybe or maybe it means that Roethlisberger is tight with his cash (it happens).
Not a comparision but this reminds me of my cousin that is a Trenton Fire Fighter and makes very decent money considering his ass only works 2 days a week but dude squeezes a quarter and makes the eagle scream. Spoiled brat? Nah. Cheap ass mo'fo? HELL YEA!!
posted by BornIcon at 01:31 PM on March 09, 2010
From one person at the bar that night:
Amber Hanley, a 21-year-old college student, said she and a few friends were also in the VIP area with Roethlisberger. She said she asked the quarterback to take a photo with her friend, whose boyfriend was a fan, but he seemed disappointed that's all she wanted. Hanley said she rolled her eyes, and Roethlisberger called her an expletive and walked away. Later, Roethlisberger was aggressively hitting on another girl, Hanley said.
Everyone is always saying how famous male athletes are always being targeted by females, but it's the stupid ones like Roethlisberger who seems to want to always be drunk around young college girls. If the above is at all how he acts when he's out drinking, then he gets what he deserves.
This always makes me wonder how Peyton Manning can manage to live and thrive as the most famous quarterback in football today without all these scandalous females trying to prey on him and lodge rape charges against him. Oh yeah, now I remember.....he's actually smart.
Seems like Big Ben was less of a menace when he was crashing popping wheelies on a motorcycle.
posted by dyams at 04:59 PM on March 09, 2010
BI, I can be tight with my money at times as well, but I don't stiff the bartenders just because they don't give me a break on my tab.
Hospitality workers earn a lower wage based on the expectation of tips. When a celebrity, and his posse, stiff them it really hurts. For someone that makes millions to do so for no valid reason is pretty shitty in my book. (for the record, a valid reason is poor service, not that Ben didn't get a discount).
Not sure that Spoiled Brat is harsh enough for me, asshole fits better.
posted by dviking at 05:13 PM on March 09, 2010
Two questions: Why would Ben hire such a high profile attorney, the same one who represented Ray Lewis. And also, why would Milledgeville police be requesting DNA samples? Is that protocol?
BTW I don't really care, but hopefully this doesn't drag on too long into the offseason because surely this will be a distraction to the conservative natured steelers. Tomlin and Mr. Rooney couldn't be too happy right now considering they didn't even make the playoffs last year.
posted by sgtcookzane at 06:49 PM on March 09, 2010
Spoiled brat? Nah. Cheap ass mo'fo? HELL YEA!!
Cheap ass mofo's don't tip. Little (or great big) pricks act like spoiled brat douchebags when they demand that hard working bartenders put their jobs at risk by comping them hundreds of dollars in drinks. When those bartenders who make minimum wage bend over backwards to make sure Johnny Footballhero is accommodated, are rewarded by getting stiffed by a man who makes $7.7 million* to play a game (because they expected him to pay for numerous rounds of drinks he bought for everyone in the bar), then the word asshole comes into play. Along with just about any other that comes to mind.
*2009 salary
posted by tahoemoj at 12:18 AM on March 10, 2010
I hope this isn't true. But if it is, why don't these guys ever learn? Or get some help for pete's sake! Sigh...