This is a first, just watched sports center and no one has ever been suspended unless they were at least charged with a crime. They just want to make an example of him but I think it sets a dangerous precedent. Where do you draw the line? Is there a line or are they just making it up as they go along?
Fuck it, its draft day.
Your Ben Roethlisberger trade news update - Shutdown Corner - NFL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
Your Ben Roethlisberger trade news update
By MJD
Oh, it's a wonderful day for trade rumors. It's the day of the draft, which means there'll be more player movement today than on any other day of the year. On the other hand, it's also the day of the year when NFL teams are most likely to disseminate blatant lies and disinformation.
Adam Schefter named seven teams yesterday who the Steelers had called in regards to trading Roethlisberger: the St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks and -- wait for it -- the Cleveland Browns.
Jason La Canfora's information was a little bit different. He said the Raiders are very much in play and they're still talking to the Steelers, but that the Rams had already turned down Pittsburgh. The Steelers would have liked to grab the first overall pick and taken Sam Bradford.
With regard to the Raiders, La Canfora says the Steelers "are open to packaging Roethlisberger and the No. 18 pick to move up in the draft."
Trading a franchise quarterback, just to move up ten spots? Geez. And I thought they gave away Santonio Holmes.
He also notes that the Bills aren't interested.
As for Roethlisberger, we finally got word from his camp this morning, when his lawyer appeared on Mike and Mike in the Morning. In addition to noting "poor judgment" for his client and that he's disappointed in the suspension, he said that Roethlisberger did not want to be traded.
Which brings me to this point: Could all of this be a ruse by the Steelers? Are they leaking information about potentially trading Roethlisberger, in order to scare him straight, or to see how much he actually values being a Steeler?
Because if the Steelers are going to trade someone, why would they be so cavalier about letting the information get out there? Rumors this specific and this freely leaked to the press don't often come from the Steelers. It's a bit unusual.
One more note: The NFL Network's Jim Mora Jr. opined that there's "no way Ben gets moved today," because the whole thing "came down to [sic] late for teams to have time to think it out rationally."
He may have a good point, but I'd ask two questions: 1) Were the Steelers perhaps working on a trade for longer than anyone knew about?, and 2) If the Raiders are involved, then "rational thinking" absolutely has no place here.
Obviously, we'll be following this one throughout the day. Stick with us. It's draft day, and it feels like it could be a good one.