EDITORIAL - Bellyachers across the Steeler nation unmercifully castigated Big Ben Roethlisberger from the moment of his near-fatal motorcycle accident last summer. His crime? Alleged "stupidity" for failing to wear a motorcycle helmet.Turns out the joke's on the bellyachers.
It is true that Big Ben is going to miss the first two games of the season due to a medical condition. But, with apologies to the bellyachers, his absence has nothing to do with his failure to wear a motorcycle helmet. In fact, much good did wearing a helmet do Roethlisberger Sunday morning when he reported to the Steelers' South Side training facility feeling ill and had to be rushed to the hospital suffering from an appendicitis. The brutal fact is that all the helmets in the world couldn't have spared Ben from this latest setback.
But, of course, this goes beyond Ben, doesn't it? All the helmets in the world couldn't save our beloved Mayor Bob O'Connor, who passed away last Friday after a valiant struggle with cancer. His death is silent testimony to the futility of helmets to elude the grim reaper.
But, you gush, the Mayor wasn't riding a motorcycle when he died and had no need to wear a helmet. That, of course, is nothing more than a red herring, but for the sake of argument we'll focus solely on Ben's case. The injuries Big Ben sustained from failing to wear a motorcycle helmet last June had no detrimental impact whatsoever on his performance in the pre-season. He didn't miss a single game, and in fact, until Sunday morning he'd been playing better than ever. I would go so far as to say that the motorcycle accident has actually made Ben a better player.
I digress momentarily to note that some may find it ironic that Martha Fleishman, the woman who struck Big Ben's motorcycle last June, publicly scolded the Steelers last night for not having the foresight to have Ben's appendix removed as a precautionary measure while he was laid up in the hospital last summer. I happen to agree with the woman who has become, in my mind, the first lady of the Steeler nation. Frankly, the Steelers owe Mrs. Fleishman a debt of gratitude, and I, for one, am campaigning to have her honored at an upcoming Steelers home game. But that is a topic for another editorial.
For now, the important lesson is this: Wearing a helmet didn't do Ben any good, and not wearing one actually made him a better player. It is my hope that when Big Ben is released from that hospital, he will show the bellyachers how misguided they are by riding his motorcycle out of the hospital parking without a helmet.
