Big Ben Redemption? A Look at The Star Quarterback's Off-Season

Ben Roethlisberger, Rapensberger, Roethislinberger, which one is it?  Since this past April, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been criticized more than anybody since Michael Vick (and he was actually found guilty).  It started with his rape accusation in Georgia, then led to his court hearing where he was not found guilty, just accused.  In many people's opinion, the rich twenty year old just wanted a few more bucks to add to her collection her dad gave her.  

I compiled this story after Ben's second rape case.  The first rape accusation, the year before, he was in the same situation.  The woman thought she could get some fast cash out of a multi-millionaire athlete.  Ben was found innocent (surprise surprise) after about a two month period.  Now here we are in April, and we get a report from Georgia that Ben Roethlisinberger (thank you Georgia news) was charged of rape of a 20 year old girl in a bar.  Now, before I go on any further, just think about this for a second.  An athlete charged of rape a first time and was innocent, now how about a second time?  People will get a lot more skeptical won't they?  And even better, she was an under aged girl in a bar, DRUNK!  That gives the story a dramatic turn even the judge couldn't look away at.  

To be brutally honest, every piece of evidence showed Ben Roethlisberger was guilty.   I just have one question to all of you, why wasn't he even charged?  Did he secretly give the woman a few hundred thousand to keep her mouth shut?  Or did the fact that HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING not seem to compute with most of the people out there.  

What makes me mad, is the fact most of Pittsburgh just completely lost faith in him as our star quarterback.  People were calling in, saying trade him, or release him, or draft another quarterback in the draft.  Let's do the math:  In six years he won two super bowls, the youngest quarterback to ever win a super bowl, most consecutive wins as a rookie, led the Steelers to their best record in franchise history, shall I keep going?  You just can't do that to someone as or more important than Terry Bradshaw.  Here's a question, would you rather have Sam Bradford or Maurkice Pouncey?  If we were gonna trade Roethlisberger at the draft, I would've gone out and got an offensive linemen or a safety/cornerback, not another quarterback.  

Alright, now the big question is, how will the Steelers do this year due to the four game suspension?  Now keep in mind he cannot practice or even be at the practice facility during his time.  Seeing as in Leftwich is hurt, can Dixon or iron-man Charlie Batch carry the load?  In my opinion, Dixon is not a bad quarterback.  If you remember correctly, he had a great game against Baltimore in his first NFL appearance in the regular season.  Decision making comes with maturity which he seems to be improving every game.  The Denver interception was just one of those moments which he'll forget and move on.  

One thing is for sure, the Steelers cannot run Mendenhall more than 30 times a game.  Regardless if Dixon really isn't showing up, the Big Ten stand-out will start to wear down after about 6 to 8 weeks. You all saw what Mendenhall is truly capable of (ahem fumbilitis).  

Ben Roethlisberger will have a better year than expected.  My prediction is 25 TD's 9 INT's and 3,346 yards.  Is that too generous?  We will have to see....