Roger Goodell On Ben Roethlisberger: 'Not A Single Player Went To His Defense'

UPDATE: King clarified Goodell's remarks about Roethlisberger. According to ProFootballTalk, King said he assumed Goodell meant that he spoke with Roethlisberger's teammates. The Commissioner told King later on Monday that he was not talking about Steelers players.

Peter King of Sports Illustrated wrote in this week's Monday Morning Quarterback column that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said none of Ben Roethlisberger's teammates defended him while he was deciding how to discipline the quarterback at the beginning of the season.

Goodell told King that out of the two dozen players he talked to, no one was supportive of Roethlisberger.

"Not one, not a single player, went to his defense," Goodell told King. "It wasn't personal in a sense, but all kinds of stories like, 'He won't sign my jersey.'"

Goodell went on to say that he "doesn't feel any connection" with the two-time Super Bowl champion.

Ben Roethlisberger responded to Peter King's report that Roger Goodell said none of the Steelers he talked to defended their quarterback.

"Well, I know for a fact that when the commissioner came to training camp to talk, a lot of the guys kind of did," Roethlisberger said, according to ProFootballTalk. "I'm just thankful that my teammates are who they are and I'm really appreciative of it."

Linebacker James Farrior also denied Goodell's claim that nobody defended Roethlisberger.

A college student accused Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting her in a bathroom of a Georgia nightclub on March 5. It was the second time in less than a year that he was accused of sexual assault. No charges were filed.

In May of 2010, Sports Illustrated published an article revealing more sketchy behavior from the Steelers quarterback.

The NFL suspended Roethlisberger for the first six games of the season, but the punishment was later reduced to four games.

Comments

[BassguyGG]

10:12 AM on 02/02/2011

Sports reporting is getting just like political reporting. The Powers that Be have all the control because no reporter wants to be barred from having access to the people he covers. The NFL has learned that from the Bush Administration. So, King is backpedaling as fast as he can!

[Dadeo]

12:30 AM on 02/02/2011

Poor Peter King, he's already apologizing for misquoting GODdell. I hope the first thing on the list when players meetings start is a demand for GODdell to resign. All he has done is took his first foot out of his mouth and inserted his other one. Thanks for the foot reference Paul Ziese.

[Barbara Brown Baulding]

11:27 PM on 02/01/2011

Great timing on the part of goodell, the week of the Super Bowl. This should make everyone question whether or not he should keep his job as NFL Commissioner. The Commissioner in my veiw should be impartial, his comment at this time does not show impartility. goodell has should his dislike of the STEELERS all season, considering the fines against Harriison.
I think that after the game, he should be FIRED!!!!!!

A Football and a Fan of the STEELERS.

[jse17]

11:13 PM on 02/01/2011

Big Bum is a misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misread prince of a person.

[unhipcat]

07:44 PM on 02/01/2011

pretty unprofessional on the part of the commish

[Kathleen57]

05:54 PM on 02/01/2011

I wonder if Peter King was offered exclusive interviews from the integrity deficient Goodell for the next twelve months in order to be his scapegoat for the comments he made about Steeler Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger? Clearly we should throw the bulls#@t flag on the moronic and paper-thin clarification offered today by the illustriously classless NFL Commissioner, and for those of you who truly believe that he did not attempt to isolate Roethlisberger from his teammates just before the Super Bowl, I have a pair of lower level, 50 yard line tickets for the big game to sell you for $10.00 a piece!

[Sixtracks]

01:35 PM on 02/01/2011

I REALLY hope the Packers take it to Ben and the Steelers.

[Terri Scott]

11:28 AM on 02/01/2011

please, Kings already backtracked and said it wasn't the teammates who wouldn't defend BR. This whole story sucks, wtf is the commissioner doing talking about this anyway? Goodell is a CLOWN

[time2impeach]

10:42 AM on 02/01/2011

Ahhh - the NFL...Rothlisberger gets to go to the Super Bowl while Sal Alosi gets canned. I certainly respect Rothlisberger's talents, but I have severe doubts about his behavior -- and that seems to be confirmed by his teammates.

[Jackandcoke]

10:32 AM on 02/01/2011

Is this all Goddell has leading into SB week? With the looming lockout, I wonder how many players or even owners would comre to his defense.

[TonyOnly]

09:51 AM on 02/01/2011

I guess the point of King`s SI article is, he`d rather see the Packers win on Sunday.

[G Lang123]

08:34 AM on 02/01/2011

Ben didn't need NFL players to come to his defense, that is what the Milledgeville police department is for...................

[NatTurner1]

12:16 PM on 02/01/2011

Exactly and Amen!

[on1talk]

08:25 AM on 02/01/2011

what is the point of this story?

[dreamers]

01:16 PM on 02/01/2011

It's basically making a mockery of the people that defend Roethlisberger. Even his OWN TEAMMATES won't defend him because they know what he is. So does everyone else that's not lying to themselves.

[tbing]

09:10 AM on 02/02/2011

have you read the update. your post represents an epic fail. you obviously know NOTHING about this subject. stick to the dreams.

[anpu]

07:35 AM on 02/01/2011

And why should the Steeler players defend lil ben and the heinous acts he was accused of doing?! It was not the first time Steeler players have heard this song. It was the 3rd time for the same act. Sometimes you can't support a particular behavior in order to get the message across. This is a non-issue because it appears that lil ben got the message because his interactions with his teammates appears to have changed. Tough love baby!!

[Erin DeCaprio]

08:07 AM on 02/02/2011

Well said. If they had defended him, we'd be hearing about how ALL the Steelers condone Ben's bad behavior just because he can lead a drive...

[tbing]

09:13 AM on 02/02/2011

you guys spoke to soon, and YOU Erin...didn't even read the update above before posting. did you WATCH media day yesterday. his teammates did EXACTLY what you said. and remind me...you're american, you believe in justice, yet somehow you want to convict and sentence a man (we don't know if he behaved badly in that bathroom do we?) without a trial. how typically american.

[foneric]

02:32 AM on 02/01/2011

Sounds like Goodell is trying to rattle the Steelers going into the superbowl. Not a class act at all to give an interview like that this week. And I am frankly getting tired of Peter King.

[kapalabhati]

06:38 AM on 02/01/2011

Yeah, rattling the Steelers. Good luck with that, Goodell. Seems to me that they coalesced around their QB this season.