I Guess It's About Time We Covered This Ben Roethlisberger Thing

Sixty Feet, Six Inches Jul 23, 2009

You know the story by now. Ben Roethlisberger has been accused of rape.

I'm not going to re-hash the basic stories. Everyone knows that the accuser filed a civil suit with no criminal charges, which means there won't be an actual police investigation. Most media outlets have already touched on the "Ben always has a traumatic event following a Super Bowl" story. (Honestly, is two times really enough to denote a pattern?)

What I'm going to say is very simple:

This is a shame.

Obviously, if the charges are true, it's a shame. Any time a rape occurs, it's a shame. Ben Roethlisberger's status as a famous athlete makes it no better and no worse. And if it's true, the fact that he's the QB for my favorite team won't do a thing to help me forgive him.

But it's also a shame if the charges are false. If they're false, it proves that people will do anything for money. It shows that innocent people make prime targets. Just like with Kobe, even if Roethlisberger is found innocent, people are going to look at him like a rapist for the rest of his life. Some will say he only got an innocent verdict because he's famous.

I think it's fishy that there are no criminal charges. If myself or someone I love were sexually assaulted, the first thing I would want is justice, not money. I can't speak for this woman, but that's my point of view.

Hopefully the legal process will bring a correct verdict out of this—even if that verdict is a guilty one. For the sake of everyone involved, I hope that's not the case.

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