From: TMZ
TMZ has learned Ben Roethlisberger has pulled out of the Kraft Nabisco Championship Celebrity Pro-Am scheduled for March 29-April 4 in Rancho Mirage, CA.
Big Ben has been keeping a low profile since the alleged sexual assault in Georgia earlier this month.
Joe Mantegna is the headliner of this year’s event.
Larry Foote has been pretty vocal about his happiness about being back in the Steel City, and MLive.com today talked about how he has also been bashing the Lions at the same time, going so far as to say that he’s glad he didn’t sign a real long deal there:
Despite all the hugs and kisses when he arrived in Detroit last season, Larry Foote let his feelings about the Lions be known when he recently signed a three-year deal with his original team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. “You can’t really explain it until you go through it,” he said. “You talk about dog days. Those were dog days, especially being a competitive person and losing. But I made some good relationships and it was good going home playing there. I’m just glad I’m back and thank God I didn’t sign a longer deal there.” Foote spent his previous seven years with the Pittsburgh Steelers – winning two Super Bowl rings – and was part of a well-tuned machine in which Foote knew exactly where he needed to be at all times.
Not that I’m the first one with this thought, but the Steelers have a tough decision to make when it comes to their franchise QB in terms of what to do if he has to sit due to the situation in Georgia. The Steelers also may have to make a decision on if they are going to suspend him or not, and then the question is – for how long?
Here are some options that have already been thrown around:
1. Dennis Dixon – This is the most obvious to me. Dixon is ready to step in as the #2 on this team, and even though they lost, I thought he and the team played well enough to win in Dixon’s only pro start in Baltimore last year. He’s been in the system, and I think the team is interested to see what he can do if he has to play 2-3 games in a row.
2. Byron Leftwich – The rumor mill has the Steelers looking at Leftwich, who was with the team for their Super Bowl two years ago. He’s a serviceable backup, and I was for the team bringing him back last year. If the team can get him cheap, he’s not a bad guy to have waiting in the wings.
3. Daunte Culpepper – Another guy the team had interest in two years ago, but he wanted a shot to start, spurning the Steelers. Now though he has few options if he wants to start playing, and the Steelers could be an option if the team wants to plug him in for a few games. Me – forget it, Culpepper has had better days.
4. Charlie Batch – An option, but to me a longshot option. Batch has had good moments, but having to play four quarters of football as a starting QB scares me to death. The team has to have a better option than Batch, but if not, he’s there to step in if no one else can step in.
The Steelers have re-signed linebacker Patrick Bailey to a one-year deal, according to Scout.com. Bailey was an exclusive rights free agent. Bailey makes his mark on the Steelers special teams coverage unit and recorded 13 tackles last season.
According to Steelers beat writer, Ed Bouchette, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has already met with Steelers management in regards to the situation that has arisen with the Super Bowl QB. Bouchette reports in his weekly chat that fellow beat writer Gerry Dulac reported the meeting on Monday. “Gerry Dulac confirmed he has met with management and not just by phone. He wrote it for PG Plus Monday.” Bouchette also believes that there has been no talk in regards to releasing the quarterback. “We have a long way to go on this one, I think, so let’s not put the cart ahead of the horse. Let’s see what comes out of Ga. first. I’ve heard no talk about releasing him.”
The Trib this morning talked about the very real chance that it looks as if Ben Roethlisberger may end up sitting the bench with a suspension if he’s charged in anyway in the latest sexual harassment case in Georgia.
If Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is charged following accusations of sexual assault, authorities are still investigating the March 12 incident that took place in Milledgeville Ga., his latest off-the-field troubles go to another level and probably to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s office. Under the league’s player conduce policy, Goodell has taken a hard line against those that tarnish the league’s image and punished players before they have been convicted of any crime. If Roethlisberger, who has been accused of sexual assault twice within the last months, is charged in the coming days or weeks in Georgia, he will be staring down the barrel of a league suspension and possibly a lengthy one.
For the second time this offseason the Steelers have inked a player from their past, as today they came to terms with linebacker Larry Foote on a deal that will have him in Pittsburgh for three years at $9.3 million and includes a $1.8 million dollar signing bonus.
Foote was allowed to leave the team after Super Bowl XLIII after he felt he was being phased out of the defense in place of Lawrence Timmons. Foote was a fourth-round pick of the Steelers in 2002 but left in free agency last season to play with his hometown team, the Lions.
Last season with the Lions he had 2 sacks and 99 total tackles. He has 16.5 total sacks in his career to go along with 531 total tackles. He adds depth to the defense, a unit that fell apart in the fourth quarter of games last season as they week in and week out blew leads.
The case against Big Ben had some pretty hefty accounts filed against it today, as the Huffington Post reports that Ben’s bodyguards blocked the bathroom door where the alleged assault against the 20-year old accusing him took place:
Ben Roethlisberger’s bodyguards guarded the entrance to the bathroom where he allegedly sexually assaulted a 20-year-old college student, according to an eyewitness account at FanHouse. Another witness tells the web site that the Steelers quarterback looked “as surprised as anybody” when police arrived at the Milledgeville, Ga. bar later in the night.
A woman who claims to have partied with Roethlisberger the night of the alleged assault says the Steeler “was not nice.” She tells WTAE Pittsburgh that he “bought a round of shots for girls and said, ‘All you bitches, take my shots.’” The article reports that Roethlisberger “hit on her but she wasn’t interested and didn’t like the way he was acting, so she left.”
There’s also been reports that the QB posed for photos with the cops before the alleged incident, and that he has said yes to submitting to DNA testing. Roethlisberger has said there was contact with the 20-year-old, but that no assault took place.
We reported a few days back about the Steelers interest in former Browns center Hank Fraley. Well, the hope of getting Fraley is gone as today his agent, Ralph Cindrich, announced his client is inking with the Rams:
Former Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Hank Fraley canceled his scheduled visit with the Kansas City Chiefs and has agreed to a deal with the St. Louis Rams, according to his agent. Fraley’s agent, Ralph Cindrich, announced the deal on his Twitter account. Fraley was drawing interest from the Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers, but chose the Rams after what Cindrich terms an excellent visit.
