Backlash from Big Ben's Bruises

Three days and seven hours of facial surgery later, Ben Roethlisberger is starting to recover from his horrific motorcycle accident but the ramifications will reverberate through the sports world for quite some time. Now that it appears the reigning Super Bowl Champion Quarterback will make a healthy recovery from his injury, talks run rampant on what control sports franchises should have on the recreational activities of their athletes. With career threatening injuries to promising young stars such as former Duke basketball standout Jay Williams and current Browns tight end Kellen Winslow II, along with Big Ben's scary collision, teams have had to reflect on how to keep their players on the field. It also begs the question, are dangerous hobbies such as riding a motorcycle worth the risk of losing millions of dollars?

From an outsider's perspective, it seems unfathomable that players would risk their careers and livelihood for the thrills of riding a bike. Of the three players mentioned, all of them were relatively fresh out of college and had the abilities to make millions in the pros. The recent trend started with Jay Williams, the 2002 NCAA National Player of the Year and number 2 overall pick to the Chicago Bulls. In videos released on SportsCenter over the last few days, Williams knew full well he shouldn't own a bike and understood its dangers. His accident has taken several years off his career at best, and he is still a longshot to make it back to the pros. Last summer the talk focused on Kellen Winslow II. Being the son of former NFL great Kellen Winslow, expectations were high for the freakishly athletic Tight End. After losing his rookie season to a broken leg suffered in his first regular season game, his sophomore campaign was lost after a crash last summer. Becoming the second high profile player to suffer such a fate, teams warned against such dangerous activities. Roethlisberger in particular became a point of focus as he was a noted motorcycle enthusiast. When asked about it last summer, he stated he didn't wear helmets and would continue to ride. Despite strong criticism from Terry Bradshaw in which the former Steeler great pleaded with Big Ben to save it for retirement, the young quarterback stuck to his guns.

So why do athletes continue to risk their careers for thrill-seeking? Conventional wisdom suggests it's the mentality athletes need to have. Certain activities, especially high risk ones, are often most appealing to athletes who constantly are trying to gain an edge. It's that competitive drive that makes them so successful on the field that often leads to the worst decision making off the field. Although I rarely agree with the often less than intelligent Bradshaw, his sentiments are correct in this situation. Save that stuff for retirement, stay focused on your career while you still have many good years ahead. The next important thing that stems from incidents such as these are how much control management should take over their players.

Most teams work clauses in to their players contracts prohibiting them from certain high risk activities. If a player is injured during one of the restricted activities, the team has the right to forfeit the contract. The activity does not even necessarily have to be "high risk", the Yankees were able to void their obligations to Aaron Boone after he tore his ACL in a pickup game of basketball. While player's associations for the major sports will look to keep as much money as they can in the pockets of the players, it is absolutely the right of owners and general managers to regulate the activities of their stars. With contracts as high as they are today, the owner should be able to ensure that his dollars are not being thrown away for a young thrill seeker. While I do not believe Roethlisberger's accident was a joy-ride, his inexplicable insistence on not wearing a helmet leaves him open to criticism. His opposition to keeping himself safe was wreckless and hopefully will serve as a lesson to not only athletes, but also force other riders to think twice before hitting the road without a helmet.