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FORT WORTH, Texas — He came not with a scowl but a smile, even if it seemed as forced and faked as an anchorman’s grin. Ben Roethlisberger wanted to capture the first few moments of the first press gathering of his third Super Bowl, so he pushed the button on his cell phone and took some video of the media throng, a talking point he was more than happy to seize.
“You never know when you’ll have the opportunity to be back here,” Roethlisberger said, flashing a Stepford smile framed by his full playoff beard. “If I ever have kids, I want to be able to show them what it was like, so I want to capture as many images as I can.”
Then he smiled again.
Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers would love it if he could simply retire his black hat, let the only black in his outfit be the part of the team color scheme that’ll be on his uniform Sunday. They know it isn’t possible. Roethlisberger has come armed with a retort for all the questions that deal with the way his life has changed since last March 5, when he was accused — though never charged — of sexual assault by a college woman in Milledgeville, Ga.
“The time for reflection will come,” Roethlisberger said. “Now isn’t the time for reflection. I have important business to focus on.”
Then he smiled again.
Nobody expected Roethlisberger to come out and give a full accounting of what happened last March, and if anyone expected he might apologize to his teammates for whatever distractions he may have fostered since then, they walked away unhappy. No fewer than six times, Roethlisberger was asked if he’d asked his fellow Steelers’ forgiveness.
All six times, he offered up a variation of this standard-issue answer: “I am blessed to be a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Followed, as always, with the smile.
If the Steelers hoped they could finesse their Ben Problem this week, that probably vanished early yesterday morning when SI.com’s Peter King featured Ben-specific quotes from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who said he “doesn’t feel a connection” to Roethlisberger and added that during his investigation he talked to “I bet two dozen players … Not one, not a single player, went to his defense. It wasn’t personal in a sense, but all kinds of stories like, ‘He won’t sign my jersey.’
Roethlisberger shrugged off the question. His teammates, however, did not, with ex-Jet James Farrior all but calling the commissioner a liar and saying, “When we talked, he tried to get that point across to me but it just wasn’t the case. I never thought [Roethlisberger] should have been suspended in the first place. There’s a difference between being accused, being charged, and being convicted. And if that can happen to one of us, it can happen to all of us.”
So, yes, if Roethlisberger remains a prominent part of Goodell’s agenda, he isn’t likely to fly under the radar here. And the issue really is everywhere.
On the side of the yet-to-open Omni Hotel in downtown Dallas is an enormous image of Aaron Rodgers; the Steeler chosen was Troy Polamalu. In the same way many Steelers fans haven’t taken their No. 7 jerseys out of the closet, neither has the NFL. Yet.
And as disconcerting — and borderline creepy — as Roethlisberger’s perma-grin might be, it’s understandable why he’d like to simply smile the discomfort away. He tried to say the right things. Talked about being closer to his father, and to God. Talked about how fortunate he is to work for a family like the Rooneys.
Said, “I want to be a role model. I like people to look up to me. I like it when kids wear my jersey.”
Yet in his own way, he remains distant and defiant. I asked him if the day he received the news the Steelers were all but dumping Santonio Holmes to the Jets, exiled due to his own set of off-field issues, did it remind him how easily his perfect football life could vanish if he weren’t careful? He gave a curious answer.
“It makes you realize that this is a business,” he said.
And then he smiled.
michael.vaccaro@nypost.com