Ben Roethlisberger injured in accident

I'm not seeing this anywhere else online. Figured ESPN would have something up by now.

Keep us informed, guys.

Jesus christ. I'm in Pittsburgh and it's all over the news right now. He wasn't wearing a helmet either. No definite news as to his condition.

Not good.

From CBS Sportsline:

The Steelers have confirmed to multiple media outlets in Pittsburgh that Ben Roethlisberger was involved in a motorcycle accident Monday morning. The extent of the QB's injuries are not known at this time.

And closing down a bridge or street could just mean there's a lot of debris all over. It could also mean they're bringing in a chopper.

Or keeping the media out.

ESPN Bottom Line just had a crawl which said that Roethlisberger's motorcycle collided with a car and his head hit the windshield, but John Clayton reports that the injuries are not life-threatening.

EDIT: Link

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2480830

I like it when my franchise quarterback rides around on a motorcycle without a helmet.

I love the links at the bottom of the story from the Pittsburgh Channel. I'll never understand people as long as I live. Of course I hope he's fine, but how stupid can you be?

Hmm...

As a fan of team who lost a player to a motorcycle accident last year (Browns/Winslow), I am curious to see how the Steelers handle this. I know that Ben spoke for players being able to ride bikes (in interviews during the Winslow mess) and he is a MUCH higher profile player, but if he can't play next this year - do they try and get money back since he violated his contract.

As much as I am not a fan of the Steelers, I feel bad for Ben. I hope that he is okay, lives a healthy long life - but maybe misses next season.

Yes... I was simply pointing this out to everyone.

He is very outspoken about his ability/desire to ride his bike.

If I were the ownership I would very outspoken about my desire to trade for a quarterback who wouldn't pull a Jay Williams/Kellen Winslow Jr.

hope the kat's all right, but jeez. what fucking stupid thing to be doing.

Two words-Jay Williams.

These NFL guys do have contracts that say motorcycles are no-no's. I hope he's ok but also hope he's hurt just enough to miss some training camp.

Or one of his teammates smash up any other bikes he has.

These guys will never learn though.

Even though I'm a hardcore Ravens fan, this brings me no satisfaction. I feel sorry for the guy, but damn, wear a frigging helmet you moron.

Way to pull a Busey, Ben!

12:46 EST




Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was injured in a motorcycle crash Monday morning and taken to a hospital.

"He was alert and conscious," said Ernie Roman, shift commander for the Allegheny County emergency service.



Steelers Dave Lockett, outside Mercy Hospital, confirmed the accident but did not provide additional details.

In only his second year in the NFL, Roethlisberger helped guide the Steelers to the Super Bowl championship last season.

Calls to Roethlisberger's agent, Leigh Steinberg, were not immediately returned.

The 24-year-old Roethlisberger has said in the past that he prefers not to wear a helmet when riding his motorcycle. He has pointed out Pennsylvania's 35-year-old state law requiring helmets to be worn was amended to make helmets optional.

In May 2005, Steelers coach Bill Cowher lectured Roethlisberger on the dangers of riding without a helmet.

"He talked about being a risk-taker and I'm not really a risk-taker. I'm pretty conservative and laid back, but the big thing is to just be careful," Roethlisberger said at the time. "I'll just continue to be careful. I told him we don't ever ride alone, we always ride in a group of people, and I think it makes it even more safe."

I do feel bad for him, as a crash of any type is horrible - and as a rider I realize that at any given time a car can not see you and end your life. The majority of bike crashes are the result of a car not seeing you.

Also, I will defend him in some part against the K2 and Jay Williams arguments. While I don't know how fast Ben was going, Williams was speeding on a crotch rocket (not that they are less safe, but people seem to turn into idiots as soon as they sit on one) that was fairly new to him. K2 was doing nose wheelies in a parking lot on a crotch rocket that was brand new to him. Ben is a very experienced rider, who knows exactly how to handle a motorcycle, so I would imagine his accident is probably mot as much his fault.

However, even if its not his fault - I remember how adamant he was about riding his bike and not wearing a helmet during the K2 interviews - and I think you should always ride with a helmet - so some of this is on him.

I do think that Steelers ownership will take it somewhat easy on him, because he wasn't being a daredevil (so far as we know).

Update: Just heard a report of a broken jaw. No clue if that's true, but one of the rumors floating around.

It's bad enough to not wear a helmet. It's an order of magnitude worse to then publicly speak on the joys of motorcycle riding without wearing a helmet, unless it's to say "I'm a complete XXXXing moron, don't do what I'm doing."

Of course, if my tax dollars didn't go to subsidize the medical care of those who consciously decide to be "risk-takers", I'd probably care less.

I don't blame him... He'd look pretty silly wearing his work clothes while riding.

Take that, helmet safety laws! This is America, and if I want head trauma, it's my God-given right. It's in the constitution.

I do feel bad though, and I hope he's okay. Connecticut doesn't have helmet laws either, and it's so strange to see people doing 80 without a helmet on something that won't even stay upright without a kickstand.

Should people be forced to wear helmets? I don't know. Common sense alone should make it a moot point. On the other hand, it's natural selection at its finest.

I like the " I'm not a risk-taker" mentality.

Because we all know accidents happens only if you take risks...

From the AP newswire: Introducing the least favorite person in PGH!

Apparently the car had Maine plates and was driven by a woman.

*Insert woman driver joke here*

According to the news, he's in serious but stable condition and is currently in surgery.

No other details have been released so far.

Folks can decide not to wear helmets when they have a 10K bond posted with the state to cover the administrative cost of investigating their deaths/serious injuries and when they sign a waiver indicating that the state and/or hospitals will not have to subsidize their medical care with free treatment.

I don't wish Roethlisberger any harm, but it is far, far overdue that helmet laws be implemented in every state. If this gets us closer, so be it.

Scenes from the accident:

Pic 1
Pic 2

(if the links don't work, ctrl-F5 'em)

I figured he'd be more of a Harley guy (maybe he is...just was out on his crotch-rocket today or something).

Is it to soon to start calling him Ben Toothlessberger??

It makes no sense to me that there is a nation-wide seatbelt law, but no nation-wide helmet law. Also, the car being from Maine makes me suspect Tom Brady. Not really.

Don't motorcyclists pay for insurance like everybody else? If they want to not wear helmets, up their premiums by a couple of hundred dollars. That "I wanna be free" attitude will most likely lose out to the "I'd like to eat" attitude.

From http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com...067/detail.html

Ouch.

"Severe injuries to his knees" can mean a lot of different things but none of them can be making Steelers fans happy right about now.

This needs to be done with laws, as by law they typically receive free medical care when they are catastrophically injured due to their own stupidity.

The requirements for liability and UIM/UM coverage need to be dramatically upped in every state for motorcycle drivers. Here in CA, allowing a motorcycle rider to have 15K liability and zero in UIM/UM is utterly asinine, and we have a helmet law! It should be a 250/250 requirement in states without a helmet law.

Gary Busey really hasn't suffered any ill effects, he seems just fine.

YIKES!

I thought that the Steelers would have to wait until next season for the football gods/karma payback from the officiating in the Super Bowl. This is hard core BAD. :-O

Yeah, but you liked Attack of the Clones.

Not in Baltimore. Feel free to say that as much as you want here. Provided he doesn't die or something of course.

And our punishment for that was Revenge of the Sith.

Yowza!

Weird... Carl's original post just disappeared.

I think if The guy has a broken jaw we can put him in the k2/Jay williams category.
Profesional athletes need to minimize risks when they are being paid so much. Bikes and skiing are automatically out. You can get hurt at many things, but these can end careers.

Big Ben seemed like a team guy too so I'm surprised he'd ride when even the most experienced bikers take falls.

*The ESPN interview don't know if it was posted
and he gives the typical answer
Riding a bike and walking down the street aren't even close to being the same thing.

You know, Bill Cowher is on the cover of the EA Head Coach game that's coming out. A new curse!!!

What a dipstick. You'd think the constant media-attention to his helmetless riding would be enough for him to reconsider, but no. Guess this means I won't miss anything if I leave the TV off for the next few days though.

I love this town but they're already acting like Kennedy's been shot.

What an absolute dumbass.

Couple of days? They'll be talking about this in some fashion for the next 6 months, especially before any Steelers match...

They're under no more obligation to do so than anyone else in this country. It's amazing to me that people think playing a sport means you have to live without certain personal freedoms. Bikes and skiing can ruin anyone's career, but I don't think was talking about outlawing hitting the slopes before or after Sonny Bono's political career ended.

I think it has to do more with contracts GFC. Many times these guys have clauses in their contracts forbidding them from certain high-risk activities off the field.

When other people are counting on you for their livelihoods/professional success, this type of decision is profoundly selfish and short-sighted. It's not a legal or contractual obligation, it's a moral one. We're not talking about living in a bubble.....wear a helmet jackass!

No one lives in a bubble. The foreman of a construction team is a huge loss to his workers, an office employee important to his co-workers, etc.

It's also profoundly selfish to think that you can tell people they can't ride a motorcycle because you like the Steelers (not you personally). I'm all for helmet laws, but don't go over the top with bullshit about restricing people from skiing or riding.