Sports
OXFORD — Much remains to be resolved and even explained about Ben Roethlisberger and his six-game suspension by the NFL for violation of its personal conduct policy.
But two things seem certain when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and his college alma mater.
These are not comfortable days for his fans. That’s one.
The other is that Miami University is not turning its back on the man who made the nickname “Big Ben” as popular on the Oxford campus as “The Cradle of Coaches” for his heroics on the football field. Not yet.
But the reaction of Brad Bates, Miami’s director of athletics who arrived in 2002, one year before Roethlisberger guided the RedHawks to a 13-1 record and a No. 10 ranking in the final national polls, shows the kind of quandary in which the quarterback’s supporters find themselves.
“I’ve stayed in touch with Ben and he has returned to the university many times,” Bates said.” He’s someone I’ve known who’s had great character and the reports in the media are completely inconsistent with the Ben Roethlisberger I know.”
Those reports, not the kind to produce a warm glow inside, involve a night in the Georgia bar last month. The 20-year-old girl and her accusations. The bodyguards. The bathroom.
The images they conjure don’t jive with the images of his jersey No. 7 being retired by Miami’s football team, or with the “Roethlisberger” burger listed on the menu of a local restaurant, or with posters and cardboard cutouts of Roethlisberger hanging at multiple Oxford businesses and inside Millett Hall.
Still, when Mike Pearson, Miami assistant athletic director for media relations, was asked if the school intended to downsize the presence of Roethlisberger in the way Miami presents its sports tradition to the public, his answer was a simple no.
Don Crain, a member of Miami’s board of trustees who used to play baseball at Miami, said it’s important to be fair to Roethlisberger.
“By trade I’m a lawyer,” Crain said, “and I believe in the (U.S.) Constitution and people being innocent until proven guilty. Let’s wait and see how things work out.”
He recalled Roethlisberger as “a spit-and-polish young man” of outstanding character in his years at Miami and added “I can’t believe, in my heart, any of those things have changed in the last five or six years.”
Crain also noted that Roethlisberger “hasn’t had an opportunity to tell his story.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.
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