Ben Roethlisberger's Suspension Should Be Reduced To Two Games

By the end of the day Friday, the Pittsburgh Steelers will know how long Ben Roethlisberger will miss due to his suspension.

If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell handles the situation correctly, Roethlisberger will have his suspension reduced to a maximum of two games.

A lot has happened since Roethlisberger was accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year old college student in Georgia in March.  After the incident, he received a six game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy followed in April.

While the original suspension was probably warranted, it was also severely excessive.

Six games, nearly half a season, was too much, considering that Roethlisberger had never been charged for a crime.

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Meanwhile, players such as Vince Young and Cedric Benson were not suspended for their offseason incidents. A more glaring example is Shaun Rogers.

Rogers carried a loaded gun into an airport. Apparently this was a non-issue in the eyes of Goodell, who only fined Rogers one game check, worth approximately $400,000, for violating the personal conduct policy.

Santonio Holmes, who violated the league’s substance abuse policy, only received a four game suspension to Roethlisberger’s six games.

Roethlisberger and his representatives can use this and the other inconsistencies when discussing the length of the suspension with Goodell. 

According to ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio, Roethlisberger will also bring team president Art Rooney II to the meeting in New York.

The Steelers will be able to use the league’s inconsistencies in punishing its players as evidence as well as the fact that Roethlisberger has gone above and beyond in his rehabilitation. The suspension may have been the best thing that could have happened to him.

Roethlisberger has a new outlook on life, has improved as a teammate, interacts with the fans, and came into camp in the best shape of his career.

Not all players change their behavior following a punishment and this will bode well for a reduction in his suspension.

There are other theories floating around in Pittsburgh as well.

Last month, as Goodell’s visit to Latrobe approached, there was talk from inside of Steelers training camp that Roethlisberger’s suspension should be reduced to two games.

Then throughout the preseason, Roethlisberger got two starts over the first three games, including a most important third game. It was almost as Tomlin was preparing the team for an early return of the team’s franchise quarterback.

Back when Roethlisberger was suspended, it was said that the Rooney’s would have taken action if not for the NFL. It is possible that they had extensive discussions with Goodell over what Roethlisberger’s penalty should be.

If this was the case, given Roethlisberger’s improvement, Rooney could have a strong influence over reducing the suspension to two or three games.

Suppose it gets reduced to three games, it sets up the NFL to have a return of Pittsburgh’s quarterback against the rival Baltimore Ravens, which is surely to be a ratings hit.

Regardless of the reason, the suspension should be reduced, and when all is said and done, Roethlisberger should be permitted to return to action week three after serving a two game suspension.