Roethlisberger and his THIRD Sexual Assault Allegation

[JBandJoeyV]

This screams "she got paid off"

[oldschooler]

[b][size="5"]Witness statements make bad situation worse for Roethlisberger[/size][/b]
Posted by Mike Florio on April 15, 2010 7:42 PM ET


Now that the criminal investigation in Milledgeville, Georgia has ended, police have released 572 pages of records relating to the alleged events of the night of March 4 and the early morning of March 5.

The documents contain among other things the statements of the alleged victim and her friends. And it's not pretty, primarily since the documents paint the clearest picture yet of the behavior, legal or not, in which Roethlisberger was engaged on the evening in question.

From The Smoking Gun, here's the relevant portion of the [url="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0415101roethlisberger1.html"]alleged victim's detailed statement[/url], which was given the morning after the alleged incident:

"Ben asked us to go to his 'VIP' area. . . . We all went with him. He said there were shots for us, numerous shots were on the bar, and he told us to take them. His bodyguard came and took my arm and said come with me, he escorted me into a side door/hallway, and sat me on a stool. He left and Ben came back with his penis out of his pants. I told him it wasn't OK, no, we don't need to do this and I proceeded to get up and try to leave. I went to the first door I saw, which happened to be a bathroom. He followed me into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. I still said no, this is not OK, and he then had sex with me. He said it was OK. He then left without saying anything. I went out of the hallway/door to the side where I saw my friends. We left [the club] and went to the first police car we saw."

As it turns out, the alleged victim gave two handwritten statements. The statement given after the passage of time is neat and legible. The [url="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0415101roethlisberger3.html"]earlier one[/url] is hard to read, since it was written while the alleged victim was still intoxicated. Here's part of what it said:

"His bodyguards took him back to the rooms w/bathroom and I said, 'I don't know if this is a good idea' and he said 'it's OK.' He has sex w/me and meanwhile his bodyguards told me friends they couldn't pass them to get to me. My friends found me & talked to a Milledgeville policeman and he said to report it."

During his Monday press conference, district attorney Fred Bright mentioned the sketchy initial statement followed by the more detailed second statement. He also pointed out that, at the hospital, the alleged victim said, "[url="http://nationalsportsreview.com/sports/us/d-wil/2010/04/12/da-fred-bright-transcript-plus-the-post-statement-interview/"]A boy kind of raped me[/url]." Moreover, the officer who received the initial complaint wrote that the alleged victim's recollection was "[url="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0415101roethlisberger5.html"]foggy from to [sic] her intoxication level[/url]."

The inconsistencies in her statements and her intoxication create fertile ground for "reasonable doubt." Though this gives rise to an unfortunate reality that women who are intoxicated will have difficulty obtaining justice if raped, the fact remains that our legal system employs a high standard of proof in order to ensure that innocent men are not wrongfully imprisoned (notwithstanding all of the supposedly innocent men who already are in prison).

Meanwhile, we detected a strong degree of consistency and credibility regarding the statements from the alleged victim's friends, who nevertheless could contribute only circumstantial evidence to the investigation, since no one saw the exchange between Roethlisberger and the alleged victim. For example, Ann Marie Lubatti said that she saw Roethlisberger's bodyguards guide the alleged victim to a side door, and that two minutes later she saw Roethlisberger walk back there. "I immediately went up to the other bodyguard and said, 'this isn't right,'" Lubatti said in her statement. "'My friend is back there with Ben. She needs to come back right now.' The bodyguard wouldn't look at me, he just said, '[url="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0415101roethlisberger7.html"]I don't know what you are talking about[/url].'"

Lubatti wrote that she saw Nicole Biancofiore approach the manager of the nightclub, and that Biancofiore told him to unlock the door to the hallway. The manager said, "Ben's an NFL quarterback, he won't do anything to ruin his reputation."

Lubatti also corroborates the allegation from the alleged victim's legible statement regarding Roethlisbergers "penis already out of his pants."

[url="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0415101roethlisberger9.html"]Nicole Biancofiore's statement[/url] corroborates much of Lubatti's, but does not mention the remark about Roethlisberger exposing himself upon entering the room.

So while Bright concluded that he could not obtain a conviction (he said Monday at his press conference that he didn't believe there was even probable cause to arrest), Bright echoed on Monday the opinions of many regarding the evening in question.

"It is unclear, it is foggy, what exactly happened in that bathroom," Bright said, "but if I was there coaching him I'd say, 'Ben, you don't need to do this. You don't need to put yourself in a position where you're alone in this dingy bathroom with you and this girl. That's foolish. Grow up. You need to be a role model. You need to be a role model for your team, your city, the NFL. You can do better.' And I hope he's learned something from this. I really do."

It's unclear whether he has. After the Commissioner and/or the Rooneys impose their discipline, it's far more likely that he will.





[url="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/15/witness-statements-make-bad-situation-worse-for-roethlisberger/"]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/15/witness-statements-make-bad-situation-worse-for-roethlisberger/[/url]








[b][url="http://twitter.com/ProFootballTalk"][color="#0a0501"]ProFootballTalk[/color][/url][/b] [url=""] [/url] After reading those statements, I'm not going to be surprised if he gets suspended for eight games or more.
[url="http://twitter.com/ProFootballTalk/status/12251972774"]41 minutes ago[/url] via web

[Oldcat]

Nothing yet from Mr Goodell or the Rooneys.

[oldschooler]

[b][size="5"]Ben Roethlisberger's Bad Play[/size][/b]

[b][size="4"]Police reports detail NFL quarterback's unseemly night in Georgia[/size][/b]


APRIL 15--The college student who accused Ben Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting her last month in a Georgia nightclub told cops that the NFL star approached her "with his penis out of his pants" and followed her into a bathroom, where "he had sex with me" in spite of her objections.

The victim's account is included in 572 pages of Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) records detailing the probe of the booze-fueled March 5 incident involving the athlete and the 20-year-old woman, both of whom had spent that evening barhopping in Milledgeville, a college town 90 miles southeast of Atlanta. The woman told police that the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback raped her in a bathroom adjacent to the VIP section of the Capital City club.

In one of two [url="#theLink"][color="#000000"]handwritten police statements[/color][/url], the woman recalled that she told Roethlisberger, "No, this is not OK, and he then had sex with me. He said it was OK. He then left without saying anything." After the woman reconnected with friends, they left the club and "went to the first police car we saw," according to one statement.

The alleged victim, in a [url="0415101roethlisberger3.html"][color="#000000"]second statement[/color][/url], told investigators that she met Roethlisberger at The Velvet Elvis, a Milledgeville bar where the athlete called her and her friends "a tease." Later, at Capital City, the football star's bodyguards "told my friends they couldn't pass through to get to me," she recalled. A [url="0415101roethlisberger5.html"][color="#000000"]Milledgeville Police Department incident report[/color][/url] indicates that the woman, whose name was redacted from investigative reports, initially told a cop that she was "sexually assaulted or sexually manipulated" by Roethlisberger.

The GBI documents, which were provided to TSG in response to an open records request, include interview reports with several of the alleged victim's friends, all of whom are sorority sisters from Georgia College and State University.

One witness, Ann Marie Lubatti, [url="0415101roethlisberger6.html"][color="#000000"]told investigators[/color][/url] that she saw one of Roethlisberger's bodyguards guide the alleged victim to a side door. Lubatti said that she immediately approached another bodyguard and said, "This isn't right. My friend is back there with Ben. She needs to come back right now." Lubatti, who described Roethlisberger as "noticeably intoxicated," said she was rebuffed by the bodyguard, who remarked, "I don't know what you are talking about."

When Lubatti later spotted her friend, the alleged victim said, "We need to go now." Lubatti said the woman told her that Roethlisberger "walked back to where she was with [url="0415101roethlisberger7.html"][color="#000000"]his penis already out of his pants[/color][/url]. She told him that they shouldn't be doing this and that it wasn't right." The woman told Lubatti that Roethlisberger had followed her into the bathroom and shut the door. "She continued to say she didn't want to have sex, but he kept saying, "No, it's OK." Lubatti said that her friend told of having unprotected sex with Roethlisberger. After hearing her friend's account, Lubatti and another woman, Nicole Biancofiore, "walked up to the first cop we saw and told them what happened."

Biancofiore [url="0415101roethlisberger9.html"][color="#000000"]also told police[/color][/url] about seeing her friend disappear with Roethlisberger inside the club. She recalled telling the club's owner that her friend was "too drunk to be back there" with Roethlisberger, adding that the man assured her that "Ben would not do anything to ruin his reputation." Biancofiore said that when her friend resurfaced, the woman was crying and "she told us he raped her."

Another sorority sister, Victoria Garofalo, recalled that the alleged victim was [url="0415101roethlisberger11.html"][color="#000000"]wearing a name tag with the initials "DTF."[/color][/url] The tag--which the woman had received at a birthday party earlier that evening--was the subject of an inside joke between the students. When Roethlisberger asked about the initials, "Garofalo explained that 'DTF' stood for 'down to fuck' and that it referred to a joke between" the women.

"I'm not down to fuck, but I like to fuck girls," [url="0415101roethlisberger15.html"][color="#000000"]Roethlisberger replied[/color][/url], according to a police report.

Witness Elizabeth Brooks told investigators of partying with Roethlisberger at Capital City, where he purchased a round of shots for women in the VIP room and announced, [url="0415101roethlisberger17.html"][color="#000000"]"All my bitches, take some shots."[/color][/url]

The GBI records also include an [url="0415101roethlisberger19.html"][color="#000000"]interview report with Brad Aurila[/color][/url], a Roethlisberger pal who accompanied the athlete on the Milledgeville bar crawl. When the athlete's entourage returned to Roethlisberger's home, Aurila--who had noticed cops speaking with the NFL star at Capital City--asked Roethlisbeger what happened. "Roethlisberger explained to Aurila that nothing had happened," and that he was "in the back with a girl and they were 'messing around.'" Aurila recalled that Roethlisberger said the "girl slipped and he helped her up and then came back out." Aurila noted that "he took 'messing around' to mean 'kissing, whatever,'" according to a GBI report. He added that Roethlisberger's demeanor was "angry and shocked that this was happening" as he spoke of the allegation leveled against him.

The GBI records also include a [url="0415101roethlisberger21.html"][color="#000000"]floor plan of the Capital Club[/color][/url], with the dimensions of the bathroom where the encounter occurred, as well as a [url="0415101roethlisberger22.html"][color="#000000"]search warrant[/color][/url] authorizing investigators to collect a DNA sample from Roethlisberger, along with "hair follicles, specifically head and pubic." The samples were not eventually collected from Roethlisberger, because investigators were unable to retrieve more than trace amounts of male DNA from the alleged victim for matching purposes.

In a March 17 letter to prosecutor Fred Bright, a lawyer for the woman asked that the rape probe be dropped. "What is obvious in looking forward is that a criminal trial would be a very intrusive personal experience for a complainant in this situation, given the extraordinary media attention that would be inevitable," wrote attorney David Walbert. "The media coverage to date, and the efforts of the media to access our client, have been unnerving, to say the least."




[url="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0415101roethlisberger1.html"]http://www.thesmokin...lisberger1.html[/url]

[Bengals1181]

At this point I don't care if it was consensual or not. If you're a high profile athlete and you're hanging out in a college bar giving alcohol to college girls and following them into bathrooms and having sex with them while your buddies block the door, you DESERVE to be punished under the Personal Conduct Policy, regardless of whether she was willing or not.

[Cricket]

An unnamed source reports that Ben had his penis out of his pants and he asked one of the girls what she thought about it.

She replied,"it looks like a penis, only smaller."

[CTBengalsFan]

Damn. He definitely is a rapist.

Something else to ponder. How the fuck do the PA cops that were standing outside the door still have jobs? I've read that they still do.

From a comment on PFT....

"But Blash, the senior officer who took the original complaint DID NOT NAME ROETHISBERGER despite being told who he was by the girls. He was seen in more than one photo being cradled under Ben's right arm. After the complaint was made he was overheard MAKING DEROGATORY COMMENTS ABOUT THE GIRL to Roethlisberger.

He was confined to desk duty since the incident and yesterday RESIGNED from the Milledgeville PD. So how accurate was his recording of the initial complaint? That is a HUGE question."

[Jeb]

[quote name='CTBengalsFan' date='16 April 2010 - 02:01 AM' timestamp='1271397695' post='878188']
Damn. He definitely is a rapist.

Something else to ponder. How the fuck do the PA cops that were standing outside the door still have jobs? I've read that they still do.

From a comment on PFT....

"But Blash, the senior officer who took the original complaint DID NOT NAME ROETHISBERGER despite being told who he was by the girls. He was seen in more than one photo being cradled under Ben's right arm. After the complaint was made he was overheard MAKING DEROGATORY COMMENTS ABOUT THE GIRL to Roethlisberger.

He was confined to desk duty since the incident and yesterday RESIGNED from the Milledgeville PD. So how accurate was his recording of the initial complaint? That is a HUGE question."
[/quote]

...and today he signed on as Ben's newest bodyguard.

[bengaled]

[quote name='CTBengalsFan' date='16 April 2010 - 02:01 AM' timestamp='1271397695' post='878188']
Damn. He definitely is a rapist.

Something else to ponder. How the fuck do the PA cops that were standing outside the door still have jobs? I've read that they still do.

From a comment on PFT....

"But Blash, the senior officer who took the original complaint DID NOT NAME ROETHISBERGER despite being told who he was by the girls. He was seen in more than one photo being cradled under Ben's right arm. After the complaint was made he was overheard MAKING DEROGATORY COMMENTS ABOUT THE GIRL to Roethlisberger.

He was confined to desk duty since the incident and yesterday RESIGNED from the Milledgeville PD. So how accurate was his recording of the initial complaint? That is a HUGE question."
[/quote]

doesn't sound like the prosecutor has done his job completely. that would seem to be a serious issue.

[|SF2|]

[quote name='GoBengals' date='15 April 2010 - 03:48 PM' timestamp='1271360938' post='878012']
jesus.... how are you a millionaire super bowl winner and draggin bitches to bathrooms for a raping.
[/quote]

Certainly the result of being the star of the Pittspuke Stealers. If he has won those rings in Miami or New York, he would have smoking hot gold diggers hanging off his arm. In Pittspuke you are lucky if the chick you meet is able to get the restraint bar down when riding the Beast at King's Island.

[oldschooler]

[size="5"][b]GBI documents contain evidence of another Roethlisberger allegation[/b]
[/size]Posted by Mike Florio on April 16, 2010 9:03 AM ET


The 572 pages of documents released on Thursday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation likely contain plenty of useless and irrelevant stuff. But, apparently, the materials contain some interesting information that could make things even more difficult for Steelers quarterback [url="http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=NFL&id=1181"]Ben Roethlisberger[/url].

Buried in an item in the [i]Atlanta Journal-Constitution[/i] regarding the newly-available materials appears reference to an "unsubstantiated allegation" that a "drunken Roethlisberger" made an "unwanted advance" at another Milledgeville-area woman on an unspecified date during a party at Roethlisberger's house in the area.

Per the GBI information, Roethlisberger allegedly [url="http://www.ajc.com/sports/gbi-report-accuser-claims-465574.html"]pulled down his pants[/url] and told the woman she could "do whatever she wants." A week later, he allegedly forced his hand up the same woman's skirt.

The woman was able to get away, and her father advised her not to file a formal criminal complaint.

If this stuff keeps coming out, Ben is going to get the Pacman treatment.




[url="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/16/gbi-documents-contain-evidence-of-another-roethlisberger-allegation/"]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/16/gbi-documents-contain-evidence-of-another-roethlisberger-allegation/[/url]

[Jamie_B]

[quote name='oldschooler' date='16 April 2010 - 09:09 AM' timestamp='1271423342' post='878224']
[size="5"][b]GBI documents contain evidence of another Roethlisberger allegation[/b]
[/size]Posted by Mike Florio on April 16, 2010 9:03 AM ET


The 572 pages of documents released on Thursday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation likely contain plenty of useless and irrelevant stuff. But, apparently, the materials contain some interesting information that could make things even more difficult for Steelers quarterback [url="http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=NFL&id=1181"]Ben Roethlisberger[/url].

Buried in an item in the [i]Atlanta Journal-Constitution[/i] regarding the newly-available materials appears reference to an "unsubstantiated allegation" that a "drunken Roethlisberger" made an "unwanted advance" at another Milledgeville-area woman on an unspecified date during a party at Roethlisberger's house in the area.

Per the GBI information, Roethlisberger allegedly [url="http://www.ajc.com/sports/gbi-report-accuser-claims-465574.html"]pulled down his pants[/url] and told the woman she could "[color="#FF0000"]do whatever she wants.[/color]" A week later, he allegedly forced his hand up the same woman's skirt.

The woman was able to get away, and her father advised her not to file a formal criminal complaint.

If this stuff keeps coming out, Ben is going to get the Pacman treatment.




[url="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/16/gbi-documents-contain-evidence-of-another-roethlisberger-allegation/"]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/16/gbi-documents-contain-evidence-of-another-roethlisberger-allegation/[/url]
[/quote]


Dumbass needs to be careful who he says that to....

[img]http://symonsez.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/bobbit.jpg[/img]

[Jeb]

[quote name='oldschooler' date='16 April 2010 - 09:09 AM' timestamp='1271423342' post='878224']
[size="5"][b]GBI documents contain evidence of another Roethlisberger allegation[/b]
[/size]Posted by Mike Florio on April 16, 2010 9:03 AM ET


The 572 pages of documents released on Thursday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation likely contain plenty of useless and irrelevant stuff. But, apparently, the materials contain some interesting information that could make things even more difficult for Steelers quarterback [url="http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=NFL&id=1181"]Ben Roethlisberger[/url].

Buried in an item in the [i]Atlanta Journal-Constitution[/i] regarding the newly-available materials appears reference to an "unsubstantiated allegation" that a "drunken Roethlisberger" made an "unwanted advance" at another Milledgeville-area woman on an unspecified date during a party at Roethlisberger's house in the area.

Per the GBI information, Roethlisberger allegedly [url="http://www.ajc.com/sports/gbi-report-accuser-claims-465574.html"]pulled down his pants[/url] and told the woman she could "do whatever she wants." A week later, he allegedly forced his hand up the same woman's skirt.

The woman was able to get away, and her father advised her not to file a formal criminal complaint.

If this stuff keeps coming out, Ben is going to get the Pacman treatment.




[url="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/16/gbi-documents-contain-evidence-of-another-roethlisberger-allegation/"]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/16/gbi-documents-contain-evidence-of-another-roethlisberger-allegation/[/url]
[/quote]

Ben is toast. This keeps growing and more and more sites are picking it up. All it takes is one article in a non-sports section to send him packing because the man is too "creepy" to be an NFL QB.

Also, if the victim picks up Gloria Allred for the lawsuit, ...that will be the end of Ben too. She will eat him alive in the mainstream press.

He's tiptoeing through landmines right now (not that I care).

[Ben]

[img]http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/198/957/motivator78c752574df8fccec82475c8aaeda56c9dd03672_display_image.jpg?1271288515[/img]

[oldschooler]

[b][size="5"]Source: Steelers face likely 6-figure fine[/size][/b]
By Adam Schefter
ESPN[b]
[/b]

Just as quarterback [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=5536"][color="#225fb2"]Ben Roethlisberger[/color][/url] will be held accountable for his actions, so will the [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=pit"][color="#225fb2"]Pittsburgh Steelers[/color][/url].

If (and when) Roethlisberger is punished, the franchise is facing a fine upwards of six figures -- possibly in the neighborhood of $200,000 -- for the behavior of Roethlisberger and former Steelers wide receiver [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=9611"][color="#225fb2"]Santonio Holmes[/color][/url], according to a league source.

Two seasons ago, when the NFL implemented its personal conduct policy, it also mandated that teams would be responsible for their players' off-the-field transgressions. If any player ran afoul of the policy's personal conduct guidelines, a team also would be accountable.

How much the Steelers will be penalized won't be determined until after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell decides on any punishment for Roethlisberger, likely not until after next week's draft. Sources in and around the league believe Roethlisberger will receive a suspension of between two and four games.

Roethlisberger was accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old college student early in March. He was not charged in the incident. Holmes was involved in a couple of incidents as a Steeler and earlier this week was traded by Pittsburgh to the [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=nyj"][color="#225fb2"]New York Jets[/color][/url] for a draft pick.

When a player forfeits salary during the time of a suspension, a team must forfeit a percentage of the money it no longer is paying the player. There is a ceiling on how much a team must pay the NFL, which is why the Steelers fine could top out at about $200,000. But it is the NFL's way of reinforcing how important it is to protect its image and brand.



[url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5098560"]http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5098560[/url]

[Ben]

[img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs428.snc3/24698_411595896613_623086613_5185094_6433476_n.jpg[/img]

[Dautcom08]

[quote name='oldschooler' date='16 April 2010 - 10:33 AM' timestamp='1271428395' post='878250']
[b][size="5"]Source: Steelers face likely 6-figure fine[/size][/b]
By Adam Schefter
ESPN[b]
[/b]

Just as quarterback [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=5536"][color="#225fb2"]Ben Roethlisberger[/color][/url] will be held accountable for his actions, so will the [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=pit"][color="#225fb2"]Pittsburgh Steelers[/color][/url].

If (and when) Roethlisberger is punished, the franchise is facing a fine upwards of six figures -- possibly in the neighborhood of $200,000 -- for the behavior of Roethlisberger and former Steelers wide receiver [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=9611"][color="#225fb2"]Santonio Holmes[/color][/url], according to a league source.

Two seasons ago, when the NFL implemented its personal conduct policy, it also mandated that teams would be responsible for their players' off-the-field transgressions. If any player ran afoul of the policy's personal conduct guidelines, a team also would be accountable.

How much the Steelers will be penalized won't be determined until after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell decides on any punishment for Roethlisberger, likely not until after next week's draft. Sources in and around the league believe Roethlisberger will receive a suspension of between two and four games.

Roethlisberger was accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old college student early in March. He was not charged in the incident. Holmes was involved in a couple of incidents as a Steeler and earlier this week was traded by Pittsburgh to the [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=nyj"][color="#225fb2"]New York Jets[/color][/url] for a draft pick.

When a player forfeits salary during the time of a suspension, a team must forfeit a percentage of the money it no longer is paying the player. There is a ceiling on how much a team must pay the NFL, which is why the Steelers fine could top out at about $200,000. But it is the NFL's way of reinforcing how important it is to protect its image and brand.



[url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5098560"]http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5098560[/url]
[/quote]

So there being fined monetarily for Holmes/Raper, but can keep the draft pick for trading Holmes? Makes sense...

[PutWittyNameHere]

[quote name='Dautcom08' date='16 April 2010 - 11:00 AM' timestamp='1271430058' post='878255']
So there being fined monetarily for Holmes/Raper, but can keep the draft pick for trading Holmes? Makes sense...
[/quote]

Why would they have to give up the draft pick?

[Arkansas Bengal]

What a great time to be a stealer's fan!


HAHAHAHAHAHAHA


Fuck em all!

[|Elflocko|]

[quote name='PutWittyNameHere' date='16 April 2010 - 08:09 AM' timestamp='1271430571' post='878259']
Why would they have to give up the draft pick?
[/quote]


Draft picks can be removed from teams at the discretion of the commissioner...

[sparky151]

The Steelers won't lose a draft pick over this. The times teams have lost draft picks have been due to cheating by coaches or front offices. Pats lost their first rounder for taping opponents signals, Denver lost a pick for cap violations, I think the Steelers got hit with this also, San Fran lost a pick for "tampering" with a guy they were considering trading for.

[|Elflocko|]

[quote name='sparky151' date='16 April 2010 - 10:06 AM' timestamp='1271437571' post='878288']
The Steelers won't lose a draft pick over this. The times teams have lost draft picks have been due to cheating by coaches or front offices. Pats lost their first rounder for taping opponents signals, Denver lost a pick for cap violations, I think the Steelers got hit with this also, San Fran lost a pick for "tampering" with a guy they were considering trading for.
[/quote]


I don't believe they will either; just saying that if Goodell wanted to, he [b]could[/b]...

[scharm]

[quote]repeat: WOULD. Rooneys r angry. Told calls/emails/letters team is getting r overwhelmingly anti-Ben. And the Steelers listen to their fans.
about 7 hours ago via TweetDeck
[/quote]

Mr. Rooney allow me to introduce myself. I am the biggest Steeler fan on earth. Here we go Steeler and all that jazz. I strongly urge you to draft punter in the first round or I will be upset.

[PutWittyNameHere]

[quote name='Elflocko' date='16 April 2010 - 01:31 PM' timestamp='1271439105' post='878296']
I don't believe they will either; just saying that if Goodell wanted to, he [b]could[/b]...
[/quote]


That was kind of my point though. Dautcom acted like he didn't understand the logic of fining them but not taking away a draft pick.

I know Goodell could, but I can't figure out why someone would think he should. As another posted stated, draft picks have only been taken away when an organization has knowingly done something to circumvent the rules of the game (Spygate, free agent tampering, etc).

So I'm trying to figure out why he would think they should take a pick away when it's never been done before in this context, and the new rule about fining teams says nothing about draft picks.

[|Elflocko|]

[quote name='PutWittyNameHere' date='16 April 2010 - 10:48 AM' timestamp='1271440082' post='878301']
That was kind of my point though. Dautcom acted like he didn't understand the logic of fining them but not taking away a draft pick.

I know Goodell could, but I can't figure out why someone would think he should. As another posted stated, draft picks have only been taken away when an organization has knowingly done something to circumvent the rules of the game (Spygate, free agent tampering, etc).

So I'm trying to figure out why he would think they should take a pick away when it's never been done before in this context, and the new rule about fining teams says nothing about draft picks.
[/quote]

Wishful thinking on our part...