Welcome to Week Three of The Young and the Roethlisberger, the riveting soap opera set in a small backwoods town somewhere in Georgia.  The leading roles belong to a world famous quarterback and an anonymous 20-year-old female.  Ratings are going through the roof.

It was just over three weeks ago that Pittsburgh Steelers all-world quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and his large entourage descended on a small hamlet called Milledgeville and turned it upside down faster than General Sherman.  Roethlisberger and his crew had innocent intentions: It was Big Ben’s 28th birthday, and his buddies were making the annual trip to his vacation house to celebrate with him, in an event that was apparently dubbed “Ben-o-Palooza.”  Word is next year’s trip is on ice, for now.

Roethlisberger, ever the entertainer, hammed it up with everyone and anyone he could find, including, naturally, the college-age girls who frequent some of the establishments in—what was it called again—right…Milledgeville.  Rolls right off the tongue.  At some point in the wee hours of March 5, Big Ben found himself alone in a women’s bathroom with one of the young (and underage) barflies.

This is what we know.

The aftermath of that evening has been explosive, sparing no one in particular.  Hours after he posed for pictures with No. 7, a member of the local police department suddenly found himself calling that same star in for questioning.  A few days later, the girl who shouldn’t have been admitted to the bar in the first place became a newly minted college dropout.

Milledgeville, Georgia has been transformed from a sleepy, unknown village into a powder keg.  It’s been a byline in everything from USA Today to Gawker.  Seventeen days ago, it wasn’t much different from Loretto, Pennsylvania—just a nondescript town in the middle of the map, surrounded by nothingness, with a random small college situated nearby.  Other than perhaps hardcore fans of Flannery O’Connor, not many people had ever heard of it before.  In related news, did you hear that Milledgeville is the hometown of 20th Century writer Flannery O’Connor?

So it goes in the spinning world of Ben Roethlisberger, who has quarterbacked a Super Bowl winner twice but has now twice been on the wrong end of a sexual misconduct case.  Unbelievably, his future in Pittsburgh could be on shaky ground, if not altogether in jeopardy.

He held the town of Pittsburgh in the palm of his hand before he pulled the hand out from under us.  He was our guy, universally worshipped by the rabid fan base, the best QB in town since Bradshaw, maybe even the best ever to wear black and gold, a favorite of every mother and grandmother from Ambridge to Altoona, the most popular player on the most popular team in the most popular sport in the country.

He had it all after just five seasons in the pros and 27 years on planet earth: fame, riches, championship, and respect.

Now?  Who knows.

Big Ben has proved to be as elusive off the field as he is on it.  Somehow his lawyer—also known as The Guy Who Defended Ray Lewis In His Murder Case—convinced the police in Georgia that no, his client would not be available for questioning.  Fans, players and the media have been left to draw their own conclusions.  And Big Ben morphs into something new: a divisive figure.

Soon after the incident, stories began trickling out: Bartenders who were stiffed on a tip, kids who were turned away from an autograph request, waitresses who were belittled.  Local sports reporter turned blogger John Steigerwald ripped Ben on his new blog, and some others haven’t been kind in their initial assessment of the situation.

Here’s the other side of the coin: Big Ben has never been called a bad teammate, the guys in his locker room seem to truly respect him, and he’s close with good guys like Heath Miller and Troy Polamalu.  He’s also still close with his hometown and college friends, and many people swear he’s a good guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Although there might never be a good time to poke around in a women’s restroom.

Last August, when reports emerged of an incident way across the map in Lake Tahoe, the response was almost overwhelmingly in favor of No. 7.  Big Ben would never do that.  The girl is just out for money.  Nine months later, he’s being lampooned on South Park alongside Tiger Woods and Bill Clinton.  How times change.

The pass rush is on, and it’s relentless.  Commish Godell wants a face-to-face sit down.  So do the cops in Milledgeville.  Coach Mike Tomlin is “highly concerned.”  General manager Kevin Colbert must suddenly answer questions about whether or not the team will take a quarterback in next month’s draft (he has said repeatedly that they would not).  The only thing keeping this story from spiraling into a complete circus is that we are still smack in the middle of the offseason.

What will become of Big Ben in these next few months?  Will he ever talk to the cops?  Will this incident be the beginning of the end for him in Pittsburgh?  Is he a big jerk or a genuinely misunderstood guy who got too much too fast?  Will he retire as a Steeler?  And what ever happened to Missy Peregrym?

Roethlisberger now faces the daunting task of earning back the trust of the organization that has given him so much.  Not to mention the fan base that has lionized him and stuck up for him in every national debate that leaves him out of the "Great Quarterback Discussion."  Come August, the best he can hope for is that the discussions about him center only around football.   With the way this story is going, it seems more unlikely every day.