Newz Forum: FOOTBALL: Big Ben in serious condition after motorcycle accident

Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident earlier this morning.. The intersection the accident occured in was a known dangerous area, with changing light conditions due to overpasses and the non standard way the different streets meet at the intersection. Also there is a chance Ben was not paying full attention, based on eye witness reports. He also was not wearing a helmet. His injuries include a broken nose and jaw.

ESPN.com
PITTSBURGH -- Steelers star Ben Roethlisberger, the youngest quarterback to lead a team to the Super Bowl championship, broke his jaw and nose in a motorcycle crash Monday and underwent surgery.

Roethlisberger was in serious but stable condition Monday afternoon, said Dr. Larry Jones, chief of trauma at Mercy Hospital. The player's agent, Leigh Steinberg, described the injuries to The Associated Press and said he did not know if there was further damage.



[Edited on 6/12/2006 by crayon]

[Edited on 6/12/2006 by crayon]

Rothercheeseburger isn't hurt bad....Jeepers...He hit the car going like 5mph and flipped into the windshield he got up walked on his own power he was more worried about looking stupid than anything.

[Edited on 6/12/06 by tsloan71]

What I just read sounds a bit more harsh than that...

Yeah, based on the picture in this link, the amount of blood does not mean anything good.

A witness got to the scene and said Ben was not moving, and dazed. Not surprising after whapping your head against a hard object.

I heard he knocked out several of his teeth, had minor knee injuries, and broke his nose and jaw. He was in serious, but stable condition.

He should have wore a helmet.

At any rate, Timmy has it right. The dude should have been wearing a helmet. Maybe this high-profile accident will help others learn that they should be wearing helmets.

What was he thinking not wearing a helment honeslty, that is one of the first thing that your parents drill into you when you are a little kid. Come on man, you make millions of dollars and you go and not wear a helemt.

Well, he DID make millions of dollars a year, and he was GOING TO keep making millions of dollars a year. With what's come out, and what the team's been saying about how they'd warned him, he'd better make a good recovery.

Terry Bradshaw was right.

BHN

This may spur more teams to put clauses in the contract forbidding players from riding motorcycles, or at least against riding them without a helmet. Kellen Winslow, Jr. had such a clause in his contract when he was riding and crashed a few years ago.

When it come to Roethlisberger's choice, I know about the whole right to choose thing. If he wants to ride without a helmet, then he can. I live in Pennsylvania, and a couple of years ago there was juge debate over the helmet law. Eventually, they passed the law making helmets optional for adults. I have a friend who rides motorcycles, and he was for the law even though he wears a helmet. He felt that it should be his choice what he does with his head.

[Edited on 6/14/06 by BirdstheBest]

As a fellow Pennsylvanian, I am also for the choice provided by the new law. However, I think that the State should not have to pick up the tab for medical bills on anyone who doesn't have the helmet on. (which shouldn't happen in Big Ben's case, but likely does happen in others) After all, the rider makes his/her own choice...






EDIT: ONe day, I'll learn to spell and type correctly.

[Edited on 6/15/2006 by Gibbs Baby!!!]

Ben's out of the hospital now -

sports.yahoo.com...;_ylt=Ag652lAGFIaFRZqpp6Ggydc5nYcB?slug=ap-roethlisbergeraccident&prov=ap&type=lgns

Ben Roethlisberger was released from the hospital after a bloody motorcycle crash two days earlier left the Steelers' star quarterback with extensive facial injuries.

Roethlisberger, who wrecked his bike and cracked his head on a car windshield on Monday, was discharged just before midnight Wednesday. Mercy Hospital officials did not confirm his release until Thursday morning at the request of his family.

Rothlesberger has issued an apology:

ESPN Story LINK

"In the past few days, I've gained a new perspective on life," the Super Bowl-winning quarterback said in a statement released by the team. "By the grace of God, I'm fortunate to be alive ... "

I agree with all of this, and actually take it a lot further than that.

Just as people who are 21 or older are allowed to drink, I think people who are 21 or older should be allowed to use other drugs... ALL other drugs, except methamphetamine, because what it chemically does to the human brain to produce antisocial and violent behavior is just too extreme (trust me; you know I'm a criminal lawyer); and except PCP, because SOME people, who--like some alcoholics--just can't handle it, go violently insane when using it.

BUT... If you take acid or heroin or crack or whatever to wretched excess, I don't want to pay for what you've done to your brain, nor do I want to pay for feeding your drug addiction. I DO think the state should provide the drugs you're addicted to (to avoid all sorts of horrible, violent crimes committed during home-invasion robberies, burglaries that turn into unintended face-to-face encounters, etc.), but I think YOU should pay for them. And I feel very strongly about that.

I know the idea of our government's selling heroin, crack coc aine, '___', etc., sounds awfully radical, but most of those drugs are only bad when the user gets hooked and runs out. (Not true of '___', which is non-addictive and harmless for people who are mentally suited to use it, but HORRENDOUS for people who aren't, and you CANNOT know which group you're in until you've done it, which is too damn late if you're in the large group of people who cannot handle it; that, my friends, is an old hippie's way of telling you young ones NOT to do that extraordinarily powerful drug, which I haven't touched for nearly 35 years.)

BHN