Ben Roethlisberger Returns To Steelers After Four-Game Suspension

The bye will certainly help the rest of the Steelers offense adjust to a quarterback they haven’t worked with in months, but Roethlisberger laments the empty Sunday:

For more on Roethlisberger and all things Steelers, stop by Behind The Steel Curtain.

Roethlisberger’s four-game suspension ended Monday morning meaning he can now return to the team.

This makes sense, why have a guy who is not going to be around for a month to be a captain of their team. A captain should not be someone who has not been in trouble with the law.

Things are just not going Big Ben’s way this past off season, and for his sake lets hope Roethlisberger is focusing on the upcoming season, as he said.

Shortly after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell lessened Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension from six games to four, the Steelers issued a statement, saying the team is focusing on moving forward.

Additionally, the NFL released a statement of their own.

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Friday morning in New York City, and as was expected, his suspension was reduced to four games, as reported by NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora.

La Canfora added that Big Ben is already on his way back to Pittsburgh.

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was suspended this offseason for six games by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Goodell later said that the suspension could be reduced to as few as four games if Roethlisberger does all that’s asked of him.

The two will meet in New York on Friday to discuss the suspension and the decision whether to reduce it will be made then.

Representatives meeting with Roger Goodell on Friday on behalf of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will ask the commissioner of a reduction of at least three games from his conditional six-game suspension, according to a report by ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio.

When the suspension was first handed down in April, Goodell said that the suspension would be reduced two games if Roethlisberger passed a comprehensive behavioral evaluation and stayed out of trouble. Goodell remarked in early August that Roethlisberger has been “doing what he’s been asked to do -- and frankly more.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell this offseason suspended Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger for six games. He also included a possibility that the suspension could be reduced to as few as four games based on, among other things, good behavior by Roethlisberger.

Mike Wise of the Washington Post now reports that Roethlisberger’s suspension will be reduced from six to five games.

At the outset of the Steelers-Broncos preseason game, it was reported on Fox that Jay Glazer has learned that Ben Roethlisberger will head to New York to meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell following the Steelers final preseason game on Thursday against the Panthers.

The meeting will address whether Roethlisberger’s conditional suspension will be reduced to four games from six, per the original terms of the suspension that stated that it could be reduced if Roethlisberger showed marked improvement in his behavior as the season approached.

WTAE Channel 4 conducted a seven-minute interview with Ben Roethlisberger at his home.The reporter, Sally Wiggin, speculate that the reason for doing the first interview locally -- and not on a national program like Oprah or Larry King, as some have suggested -- was that he wanted to speak straight to Steelers fans because “that’s who he cares about.”

The full interview will be available tomorrow but here’s Roethlisberger apologizing to all of his fans.

Since Ben Roethlisberger has come out of the allegations made against him in a Georgia bar, folks have been wondering when he would sit down for a one-on-one interview.

He released a few statements during the police investigation. And then there was the two-question media session with reporters after practice last week.

TMZ.com has obtained video of the police interview with Ben Roethlisberger’s accuser. Here is the transcribed version of the video:

Accuser: “We went and saw our friends and then I turned around and my friend was like, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s Ben Roethlisberger!’ So we were like, ‘Oh cool!’ So we took pictures with him and he seemed really nice at first. We were just like hanging out with [him] and all these people kept coming up to him. I was like, ‘Gosh that has to be really annoying.’ So me and my friend went away. We weren’t like standing around him the whole time. We went away and we were talking with all of our friends. It was just so scary because it happened so fast because the body guard escorted me. It was like they had planned it the entire night because we were like, ‘Oh why are you here?’ We asked him that at the beginning of the night. And he’s like, ‘Oh I’m just trying to change it up.’ We were like, ‘OK that’s weird. You’re in a college town.’ He’s 28 years old. That’s weird.

Though much (if not all) of the interesting information from the investigation into Ben Roethlisberger’s alleged incident at a Georgia bar has been released, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is releasing today more than 50 DVDs of video interviews with key participants in the investigation.

The name of Roethlisberger’s accuser has not been released so her picture will be blurred in the videos and any information on who she is has been excluded.

Ben Roethlisberger will serve at least a four-game suspension to start the 2010 season if not longer. The decision to replace was expected to come down to Dennis Dixon and Byron Leftwich. According to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it’s becoming clear who the leader of the Roethlisberger-less Steelers will be.

Leftwich has more experience than Dixon so if it’s just for the short-term, he probably makes the most sense. Even if Leftwich plays well, it’s hard to think Roethlisberger won’t be the starter upon his return.

Ben Roethlisberger spoke to members of the media following the Steelers practice on Thursday afternoon. He didn’t reveal anything new but said he was focusing on a new chapter in his life.

He said those changes he’s been talking to the Commissioner about are “personal things” and that this is an opportunity to re-evaluate his life as a whole.

Ben Roethlisberger has been silent since Commissioner Roger Goodell allowed him to return to Steelers OTAs on Tuesday. According to Jim Wexell of Steel City Insider, that will change today.

Roethlisberger is expected to speak with reporters following Thursday’s practice at the Steelers facility.

An interesting part of the Steelers offseason will be how the quarterback reps are split up. Ben Roethlisberger has been the established starter since he came into the league so he’s got plenty of experience with the offense. However, he’ll be suspended at least the first four games of the season so at some point this offseason Steelers coach Mike Tomlin will have to increase the first team reps for whoever will take his place (expected to be Byron Leftwich).

This week Roethlisberger is handling the first-team duties, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Ben Roethlisberger is trying to demonstrate to Commissioner Roger Goodell that he’s making the necessary changes in his off-the-field life to more accurately reflect the image the NFL is attempting to portray. Likewise, he’s also making changes on-the-field.

According to Jim Wexell of Steel City Insider, Roethlisberger looks to be in “much better shape” than he was at the Steelers minicamp in April.

Don’t expect to hear anything from Ben Roethlisberger or head coach Mike Tomlin on the quarterback’s return to the practice field.

A team spokesman says Roethlisberger will not speak to the media following the Steelers morning practice.

After months of off-the-field news regarding Ben Roethlisberger, the star quarterback can get back to football. Roethlisberger will return to the practice field for the first time since Commissioner Roger Goodell told him to stay away following a messy investigation involving accusations of sexual assault in a Georgia bar.

Roethlisberger was suspended six games by Commissioner Goodell and ordered to stay away from practice pending the completion of a behavioral evaluation.

The NFL released a statement on Thursday evening announcing the return of Ben Roethlisberger.

Well, kind of the return. Roethlisberger can return to practices next week but his six-game suspension currently still stands.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello has said Commissioner Roger Goodell advised Ben Roethlisberger he can return to team activities next week.

As a note of clarification, this announcement pertains solely to Roethlisberger’s return to the practice field -- not the suspension.

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger has completed a behavioral evaluation -- as ordered by Commissioner Roger Goodell -- but has yet to return to the field.

The Commissioner hasn’t given him clearance to return to Steelers OTAs.

On Monday, QB Ben Roethlisberger took to the golf course with a few of his teammates. On Tuesday, his teammates hit the practice field but Roethlisberger was nowhere to be seen.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Roethlisberger has yet to be given the OK from Commissioner Goodell to return to the practice field.

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger has completed his league-ordered clinical evaluation, according to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Now he’ll wait to hear from Commissioner Roger Goodell on when he can return to the field with his teammates. Assuming the Commissioner allows him back on the field this offseason, he can participate until his six-game suspension begins in week one.