SteelerSal
08-09-2010, 09:41 AM
Ben Roethlisberger’s Journey to Notoriety
By THAYER EVANS
Published: July 29, 2010
Before the two Super Bowl titles, the $102 million contract and the well-chronicled accusations of sexual assault, Ben Roethlisberger was a college quarterback in 2004, about to realize his dream of playing in the N.F.L.
Mike Iriti, a childhood friend and a teammate at Miami University in Ohio, was with Roethlisberger and others in the days before the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted him 11th over all. Roethlisberger slipped off to a room by himself, Iriti said, and cried.
“He knew that it was going to be completely different,” Iriti said. “It was one of those ultimate realizations that life ain’t the same. I think he kind of had that feeling of, Who do I look at as my true friends? He lost that vision somewhere.”
Indeed, as Roethlisberger prepares to report to the Steelers’ training camp Friday, life is not the same for the quarterback once affectionately known as Big Ben.
In the spring Roethlisberger, 28, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Georgia nightclub, then scolded by the district attorney in the case, although no charges were filed. He also faces a suit filed last July by a woman who contends he raped her in 2008 at a Lake Tahoe hotel and casino.
In April, N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Roethlisberger for six games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy and ordered him to get a behavioral evaluation. In discussing the penalty, Goodell cited not only the Georgia incident, but also a “pattern of behavior and bad judgments.”
To Roethlisberger’s many fans, the revelations of his conduct have come as a shock. But to many who knew him growing up in Findlay, Ohio, played with him in college or saw his personality change in Pittsburgh, the seeds of his problems were sown long ago.
“It took awhile,” Ryan Hawk, a backup to Roethlisberger at Miami, said in a telephone interview, “but it’s all coming out now.”
Roethlisberger did not respond to an interview request through his agent.
Those who knew the young Roethlisberger described him as a person who was intensely driven to succeed in athletics but who was allowed little time to develop socially. He had friends, they said, but few were close. He could be charming at times, they said, but usually when it served his self-interests.
Childhood Focus on Sports
Roethlisberger faced considerable loss early in life. His parents divorced when he was 2, and he lived with his father, Ken. When he was 8, his mother, Ida, died of injuries sustained in a car crash. She was on her way to visit him.
By then, his father had remarried, according to news accounts. The family later moved from Lima, Ohio, to Findlay, a quiet town of about 37,000 in northwestern Ohio. Roethlisberger immersed himself in sports, excelling in football, basketball and baseball.
Tara McCullough, who also grew up in northwestern Ohio and dated Roethlisberger briefly when they were freshmen at Miami, said she had childhood memories of seeing him shooting baskets for hours on end at a recreation center.
“He seemed really driven in terms of athletics,” she said.
Roethlisberger’s father, a former pitcher and quarterback at Georgia Tech, encouraged him.
Iriti said Roethlisberger could not spend the night at a friend’s house unless his father and stepmother had two days’ notice to check out the arrangement. Clayton Acheson, who played high school basketball with Roethlisberger, described him as sheltered.
Roethlisberger emerged as an intense competitor, even in recreational activities like table tennis and pool. Acheson described him as “Michael Jordan competitive.”
“He pretty much knew how good he was,” Acheson said. “He was a good kid. That’s why I think a lot of this is going down now, because he never lived like any of us in high school, having fun, doing this and that. He was completely focused.”
But as Roethlisberger began to succeed on the field, he also began to exhibit signs of privilege that later characterized his recent actions off the field, those who knew him said. Iriti recalled that Roethlisberger did not show up for a couple of practices for a youth travel baseball team and that Iriti’s father cut him.
“He definitely had the thought that he didn’t have to do things,” Iriti said.
Roethlisberger’s senior year of high school, when he became the starting quarterback and set state records, had its share of drama. Some of his receivers felt forced to befriend Roethlisberger out of fear that he would not throw the ball to them, said Josh Huston, a former teammate who went on to be a kicker for Ohio State.
Iriti recalled that Roethlisberger nearly quit the football team. At one practice, Roethlisberger was sent to the sideline after hitting his hand on a helmet while throwing a pass and could only watch as Iriti excelled. Roethlisberger, he recalled, sulked and said: “I don’t like it. I hate it.”
The coach had to convince Roethlisberger that the team needed him, Iriti said. read more.. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/sports/football/30quarterback.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&hp)
By THAYER EVANS
Published: July 29, 2010
Before the two Super Bowl titles, the $102 million contract and the well-chronicled accusations of sexual assault, Ben Roethlisberger was a college quarterback in 2004, about to realize his dream of playing in the N.F.L.
Mike Iriti, a childhood friend and a teammate at Miami University in Ohio, was with Roethlisberger and others in the days before the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted him 11th over all. Roethlisberger slipped off to a room by himself, Iriti said, and cried.
“He knew that it was going to be completely different,” Iriti said. “It was one of those ultimate realizations that life ain’t the same. I think he kind of had that feeling of, Who do I look at as my true friends? He lost that vision somewhere.”
Indeed, as Roethlisberger prepares to report to the Steelers’ training camp Friday, life is not the same for the quarterback once affectionately known as Big Ben.
In the spring Roethlisberger, 28, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Georgia nightclub, then scolded by the district attorney in the case, although no charges were filed. He also faces a suit filed last July by a woman who contends he raped her in 2008 at a Lake Tahoe hotel and casino.
In April, N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Roethlisberger for six games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy and ordered him to get a behavioral evaluation. In discussing the penalty, Goodell cited not only the Georgia incident, but also a “pattern of behavior and bad judgments.”
To Roethlisberger’s many fans, the revelations of his conduct have come as a shock. But to many who knew him growing up in Findlay, Ohio, played with him in college or saw his personality change in Pittsburgh, the seeds of his problems were sown long ago.
“It took awhile,” Ryan Hawk, a backup to Roethlisberger at Miami, said in a telephone interview, “but it’s all coming out now.”
Roethlisberger did not respond to an interview request through his agent.
Those who knew the young Roethlisberger described him as a person who was intensely driven to succeed in athletics but who was allowed little time to develop socially. He had friends, they said, but few were close. He could be charming at times, they said, but usually when it served his self-interests.
Childhood Focus on Sports
Roethlisberger faced considerable loss early in life. His parents divorced when he was 2, and he lived with his father, Ken. When he was 8, his mother, Ida, died of injuries sustained in a car crash. She was on her way to visit him.
By then, his father had remarried, according to news accounts. The family later moved from Lima, Ohio, to Findlay, a quiet town of about 37,000 in northwestern Ohio. Roethlisberger immersed himself in sports, excelling in football, basketball and baseball.
Tara McCullough, who also grew up in northwestern Ohio and dated Roethlisberger briefly when they were freshmen at Miami, said she had childhood memories of seeing him shooting baskets for hours on end at a recreation center.
“He seemed really driven in terms of athletics,” she said.
Roethlisberger’s father, a former pitcher and quarterback at Georgia Tech, encouraged him.
Iriti said Roethlisberger could not spend the night at a friend’s house unless his father and stepmother had two days’ notice to check out the arrangement. Clayton Acheson, who played high school basketball with Roethlisberger, described him as sheltered.
Roethlisberger emerged as an intense competitor, even in recreational activities like table tennis and pool. Acheson described him as “Michael Jordan competitive.”
“He pretty much knew how good he was,” Acheson said. “He was a good kid. That’s why I think a lot of this is going down now, because he never lived like any of us in high school, having fun, doing this and that. He was completely focused.”
But as Roethlisberger began to succeed on the field, he also began to exhibit signs of privilege that later characterized his recent actions off the field, those who knew him said. Iriti recalled that Roethlisberger did not show up for a couple of practices for a youth travel baseball team and that Iriti’s father cut him.
“He definitely had the thought that he didn’t have to do things,” Iriti said.
Roethlisberger’s senior year of high school, when he became the starting quarterback and set state records, had its share of drama. Some of his receivers felt forced to befriend Roethlisberger out of fear that he would not throw the ball to them, said Josh Huston, a former teammate who went on to be a kicker for Ohio State.
Iriti recalled that Roethlisberger nearly quit the football team. At one practice, Roethlisberger was sent to the sideline after hitting his hand on a helmet while throwing a pass and could only watch as Iriti excelled. Roethlisberger, he recalled, sulked and said: “I don’t like it. I hate it.”
The coach had to convince Roethlisberger that the team needed him, Iriti said. read more.. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/sports/football/30quarterback.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&hp)