Just Because You're A Super-Bowl-Winning QB Doesn't Mean You Have A Brain

I am relieved to learn that Ben Roethlisberger, the youngest quarterback to take his team (the Pittsburgh Steelers) to a Super Bowl victory, has not in fact injured his knees in the motorcycle accident in which he was involved yesterday. Early news reports said it wasn't just his face that got smashed when a car turned into the lane in which he was riding his Suzuki--and if those news reports had been correct, Roethlisberger's career may well have been over. As it is, his injuries were nothing to pooh-pooh. He broke his jaw, had several facial fractures, and lost some teeth.

All this because he wasn't wearing a helmet. Pennsylvania has no mandatory helmet law. He doesn't "feel free" when riding with a helmet on, so he won't wear one when he doesn't have to do so. And no one who is not his boss will ever tell him what to do. [Ah, excess testosterone! It can be wonderful--on the football field, ferinstance--and it can be bad news indeed--nearly everywhere else.--Ed.] Ben actually said these things on camera in an ESPN interview last year, after Kellen Winslow crashed his motorcycle and suffered probable career-ending injuries.

Ben, Ben, Ben! At the age of 24, you've achieved fame and fortune few ever experience . . . and you've mastered a complicated play book and obviously are good at making snap (pun intended) decisions on the football field . . . but you sure haven't applied your brains to your off-the-field behavior.

There are two vital things you've forgotten to consider in your need to "feel free," to wit: (1) concrete has a 100% record. It always wins. (2) You cannot control what the other people on the road are doing. You can say you are a safe and cautious rider and that you don't take chances, but you share the road with vehicles which are much heavier than your bike, and which may well be driven by drunk, drugged-out, or otherwise distracted drivers--who might not even see you before they plow their SUVs [Jay Leno once called them SubUrban assault Vehicles. He's not just funny--he's smart.--Ed] into you and your unprotected head and body.

Let's all hope that Ben learns something from what happened to him. Let's all hope that Ben doesn't take the lucky break (pun intended) that he suffered relatively minor injuries, considering, as a vindication of his need to "feel free" and ride without a helmet. Let's all hope that we never again hear the name Roethlisberger connected to news reports from outside a hospital of a horrible accident he suffered on his motorcycle.

In fine, let's all hope that Ben literally got some sense knocked into him.