By most measures, Ben Roethlisberger is one of the best quarterbacks in professional football...he's been selected to two Pro Bowls and won two Super Bowls in his first seven seasons. But even as the 28-year-old prepares to start his third Super Bowl for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, many people in his hometown of Findlay, Ohio still struggle to embrace him because of his off-the-field troubles.
Roethlisberger was born in Lima, Ohio and moved to Findlay in grade school. And it was clear almost immediately he had what it took to be a star. Cliff Hite coached the quarterback in high school, and says there was one thing in particular that set Roethlisberger apart.
"He has an ability to see things that other people just don't, and he has this incredible escapability, which until you've coached it you really just don't get it," Hite says.
Hite describes a young Roethlisberger as a generally nice kid, but ultra-competitive, which often rubbed people the wrong way.
Chris Miller is the long-time sports director at radio station WFIN and called Roethlisberger's games at Findlay High. He says he always liked the quarterback, but he knows plenty of people who did not.
"Some people like teachers and so on thought he was egotistical, and I think some of the kids at the school that he didn't hang around with had that same opinion," Miller says.
But Roethlisberger was still almost universally considered a local hero, even after an embarrassing motorcycle accident in 2006. Then, in June of 2009, came the first allegation of sexual assault against Roethlisberger when an employee at an upscale Lake Tahoe resort said Roethlisberger called her up to his room to fix a television, then grabbed her, tried to kiss her and would not let her leave. Roethlisberger denied any wrong doing and no criminal charges were filed, but a civil case is pending.
Still, Miller and Hite say most everyone in Findlay and Pittsburgh loved the guy. Then, in last March, came the most damning news.
"For the last month, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Milledgevile Police Department have been investigating a sexual allegation against Ben Roethlisberger."
That's a local prosecutor in tiny Milledgeville, Georgia, speaking to reporters about a second sexual assault allegation against Roethlisberger. A college student told police that after drinking all night, Roethlisberger locked her in a bar restroom and forced her to have sex. Those charges were also dropped, but the damage to his image was done. Again, Roethlisberger's high school coach Cliff Hite, who was also quoted in an investigative story in Sports Illustrated that first reported many of the sordid details of the investigation.
"We were hearing the same stuff that everybody else was, and when Sports Illustrated wrote that big article, that opened the eyes to a lot of people. And if it was accurate then it disappointed people, I'm not going to lie to you. It was a tough article," Hite says.
Roethlisberger again denied any criminal wrong-doing, but he apologized for his behavior. Here he is speaking to Pittsburgh television station WTAE.
"I have made a lot of mistakes, and from the bottom of my heart I am so sorry to them if I have wronged even one fan. I am so sorry," Roethlisberger says. "I'm going to do everything in my power not to let it happen again."
And just as things seemed to be dying down, the New York Times wrote an article quoting many of Roethlisberger's long-time friends from Findlay. He responded by changing his hometown in the Steelers' media guide from Findlay to the name of his elementary school district. When asked what the quarterback should do with his hometown, his high school coach Cliff Hite says that decision lies with Roethlisberger.
"I think that's up to him. I think he'll come back. But he loves Pittsburgh from what I hear, so maybe that's his hometown. So what's he need to do? He's going to have to decide that."
