Ben Roethlisberger: Sexual Predator?

Living in Toledo,Ohio you don't usually get a lot of national news that relates
to you but on the evening of July 21, 2009 I witnessed a story that puts this
area in the national spotlight in a way we probably hadn't dreamed of.

On it's 10 p.m. newscast, the local Fox News channel (WUPW, 36) broadcast the
story that Ben Roethlisberger had been accused of sexual assault by a Lake
Tahoe, Neveda woman. The alledged incident was to have occurred last July in
Lake Tahoe at the hotel where Roethlisberger was staying and where the accuser
worked.

Andrea McNulty accused Roethlisberger of luring her to his room where he
assaulted her. At the time no criminal report was filed and no charges brought
forth. The present action being taken against Roethlisberger is a civil suit in
which several others are named as co-defendants in a defamation suit.

The sporting world is stunned and so am I.

I know Ben personally from afar and I find it hard to believe that he could
commit such an act. As a assistant high school coach in Toledo, Ohio, I had the
opportunity to coach against Roethlisberger's Findlay High School team when he
was a senior. He was a good player and of course they beat us but that was to be
expected. As I recall he had a pretty good game that night. he usually scored in
double figures and he did no less against us. Ben moved very well for a guy his
size and back then he was a little slimmer than his is now and fairly quick.

I followed Roethlisberger's career after he left Findlay and went on to the
University of Miami (Ohio) and afterwards to the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was
always glad to see him succeed and was proud to say I had the chance to meet him
and coach against his team though in a losing effort. I felt that I was a piece
of his history in sports and i was glad to be a part.

When I heard the news I couldn't believe it because it depicted someone who
wasn't at all like the Ben Roethlisberger that I had met. The young man that I
shook hands with was a cordial, polite, well-mannered person. He certainly
didn't impress me as being anyone who could do what he is being accused of
doing.

Can people change? Of course. Do people change? Absolutely. But do they change
that much? Hard to believe.

Through the years Ben Roethlisberger has always portrayed an image of a
clean-cut, all american, guy next door. He has always presented himself with the
utmost class and dignity. It is hard to believe that someone who has been
unassuming and low key all this time would suddenly be moved to sexually assault
someone.

The length of time that it took for this young lady to take any legal action,
puts her claims in a questionable light. The fact that she waited almost exactly
a year to do anything raises more red flags. Was she trying to file something
before the statute of limitations ran out?

All of her actions point to something suspicious.

Ben Roethlisberger spent a lot of years carefully crafting an image that would
make him both popular and marketable. It is hard for this writer to believe that
he would take a chance on throwing that all away by doing something like what he
is being accused of doing.

In the coming days and weeks, more facts will come out and we will be better
able to judge what is true and what is false.

If these accusations are found to be true I will be the first one to confess
that I misjudged him but for right now, i simply find it hard to swallow.