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Quiet Winner
Last week I was listening to a sports commentator go on & on about the same old teams they always talk about. It made me wonder, why is it that I rarely hear about the defending super bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. It was at this point that I recalled a conversation with my neighbor who is from Pittsburgh and whose best friend in high school is writing a book about the Rooney family. He told me that in talking to his friend, he was told that the family believes whole heartedly in the integrity of the team and more importantly in hiring players that will be good upstanding citizens.

It then became clear to me, the reason we don’t hear a lot about the Steelers is that there isn’t a lot to report about the Steelers. Except that they have quietly won more super bowls than any other team in history. They have done so with only three coaching changes and when they do have problem players on the team (i.e. Bam Morrison or Plaxico Burress) they get rid of them before they ruin the franchise.

Now I know Steelers critics will try to point to the Jerome Bettis or Ben Roethlisberger’s alleged rape charges. Keep in mind the facts, Ben’s charges were brought a year after the alleged event and consisted of civil charges only. The hotel security chief Guy Hyder said the woman kept him "informed with running e-mail commentary about her plan to have sex with Roethlisberger." The alleged victim also “boasted to her friends and co-workers that she had consensual sexual relations with Mr. Roethlisberger and was happy about that.” McNulty (alleged victim) “was also not afraid or apprehensive about the prospect of an unplanned pregnancy, but expressed to others that she had hoped that she was pregnant by Mr. Roethlisberger.” Now check out the emails she sent:

-Sent that night: "light-hearted" email to faux Ben at 12:41 a.m. on July 12, 2008 - only about two hours after she claims real Ben assaulted her
-Sent the day after the alleged incident - McNulty wrote, "This golf tournament has been really fun. Speaking of which I need to head over to a dinner with your lookalike [referring to Ben Roethlisberger] and a few others before heading out"
-Sent the day after the alleged incident "I would date Ben Roethlisberger"
These e-mail revelations follow the account from one of Andrea McNulty's co-worker, who said the accuser actually bragged about sex with Roethlesberger. In conclusion Andrea came out and said that said she would be willing to settle the civil matter against Roethlisberger if he admitted to raping her, apologized and gave $100,000 to the Committee to Aid Abused Women, a non-profit agency in Reno that helps victims of domestic violence.

If I were raped I don’t believe I’d settle at all, I'd want justice but that’s just me. So did he do it or not, I’d say she is a gold-digger trying to extort money from a famous athlete. Realistically there are only two people that will ever know what really happened, but from the looks of things I’d say gold-digger. No the Steelers don’t have a Tom Brady or the Hoodie, nor do they have the title “America’s Team”. What they do have is an integrity filled franchise, the most loyal fan base around, and a super bowl record second to none. So keep talking up the other 31 teams while we here in Steeler nation do what we do best, cheer for our team that quietly wins super bowls.

Link to the Actual Charges: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/download/2009/0721/20132331.pdf