Lets just imagine for a minute that you never heard of the sport football. You just come off a boat, and someone tells you about this sport. You have 22 men on the field. 11 of them are trying to move a ball 100 yards, the other 11 are trying to stop them. By the conclusion of each play, at least 8 of the 22 are going to the ground. There are at least a handful of players each year that have their career end due to injury. There are people injured every game.
What would you say? What are those guys stupid?
The answer to that question is yes. Anyone that would participate in an athletic competition such as football has to have a few screws loose. How else could a wide receiver go over the middle, how could a running back jump over the pile at the goal line?
Every single time Ben Roethlisberger straps his helmet on, he is taking the chance that his career is going to end. He could drop back to pass at practice and BAM, knee blown out. He could drop back to pass and CRACK, get his leg broken like Joe Theisman. He could run a boot leg during a game and WHAM, get hit like Troy Aikman when Lavar Arrington ended his career.
Every football player knows that he is always one hit away from retirement. Players know this, but they learned how to not be afraid. That same toughness that gets them to play the game is the same toughness that makes these guys want to ride a motorcycle.
I just did a search on Yahoo.com. I searched for 'Roethlisberger Helmet'. There were 8,420 articles about Big Ben wearing a helmet and riding a bike. Don't we think this is a little ridiculous?
 So, you don't want another Kellen Winslow, Jr.? First off, Ben has his motorcycle license. This shows me that he at least realizes the power of the machine he has. Second, from what I have read, Ben owns a Harley, not a speed bike (I call it a tree-dart).
Now you say, "But it's still dangerous!". Yes it's dangerous, but what isn't these days? The fact of life is that we only live once. A very wise man once told me that no one ever lays on there death bed and wishes they would have worked harder. Life is the little joys you have while you are not working. Ben is a smart young man. I don't think that you'll see Ben driving his Harley at 2 in the morning while it's raining. Give the kid some credit and give him a chance.
Ben, regardless of what anyone else thinks, you are living a dream, enjoy it while you can. Like myself, Ben is a Christian, and he believes that God has great things in store for him. If he's not playing football, he will have another meaning in life.
Hopefully, Ben will have a long, fantastic career. However, if his career is cut short due to injury, whether it be by a hard hit on the field, or on his bike, is it really going to matter 25 years from now? None of the people that wrote those articles will be spending any time with Ben. When Ben looks back at his career, as long as he can live with his decision, then more power to him. |
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