PITTSBURGH — If Ben Roethlisberger thought his reputation for loutish behavior with women was behind him, this week remains an eye-opener for the Steelers quarterback.
Roethlisberger is spending much of his time with the media going into Sunday’s AFC Championship with the Jets fending off questions about the jerk-ish ways that landed him a four-game suspension last spring from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
At least on the field, Roethlisberger rebounded from the ban to throw for 3,200 yards and 17 touchdowns while leading the Steelers to within a game of their third Super Bowl since 2005.
But it had to become obvious to Big Ben this week that the rest of the country isn’t as ready to forgive him as Steeler-crazy Pittsburgh is for the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct that landed him in such hot water.
“The great thing is, that was so long ago that I forgot all about it,” Roethlisberger said yesterday when asked about the suspension and raging controversy that followed him all offseason. “Right now, it isn’t about living in the past for me — it is about here and now and this game [Sunday].”
Speaking to reporters on a national conference call, he added: “We can’t really afford to look back and focus on the past.”
That wasn’t the first time this week Roethlisberger has tried to downplay or feign ignorance about his sordid past.
Roethlisberger claimed to be puzzled Wednesday at the perceived link — confirmed by league sources — between his off-field woes and the Steelers’ decision to suddenly dump top receiver Santonio Holmes on the Jets for peanuts because the team didn’t want two P.R. headaches.
Roethlisberger can expect plenty more of those sex-related questions if the Steelers advance to the Super Bowl. In the meantime, he is sticking to his claim of being changed for the better by the suspension and league-mandated psychiatric counseling.
“When it comes to being a person, I just try to be the person my parents raised me to be,” Roethlisberger said.