Again, the big news of the past week for the NFL did not occur on the field but off. There was Plaxico Burress and StarCaps, and fortunately for the Steelers, neither case involved them.

By letting Burress go as a free agent after the 2004 season, the Steelers were heavily criticized in many corners. Even quarterback Ben Roethlisberger pleaded for them to keep him. They had no idea he would become such a distraction in New York, but perhaps they had an inkling by some of his minor antics with the Steelers and decided to commit their money to Hines Ward in 2005 instead.

Burress never committed a major crime nor was he a mean person during his time with the Steelers. He did knucklehead stuff, though, on and off the field, and it sounds as though that is what he did in that New York City club last week, only this time he is accused of a major crime with a 3 1/2-year minimum jail sentence.

Perhaps had Burress not kept tweaking the Giants' noses all season -- getting fined for missed meetings, suspended for a game by them, getting benched for a quarter in Heinz Field for missing a trainers' room appointment, getting in Tom Coughlin's doghouse -- they might have had more reason to stand by him during this more serious offense. Instead, they tossed him out like a moldy hunk of Roquefort.

And as for the gun in his pocket going off, it sounds as if Burress misread the safety again.

Six other players were suspended four games by the league for using a banned substance that was contained in a product called StarCaps, although a judge granted an injunction so they remain eligible to play. The players say they did not know the banned diuretic was contained in the StarCaps and it was not listed among the ingredients.

As in real life, ignorance is no defense for violating the law. Players can go through their team trainers to acquire supplements that pass NFL muster. If they do that, and one of them fails a test because of it, they have recourse. Players also have a phone number they can call to verify if a product is on the banned list or not; had any of the players dialed that number and asked about StarCaps, they would have learned it was on the banned list.

Those are the rules. Some people may not agree with them, but like any rule, it must be followed because if it is not, there are consequences.

On the occasion of Fox Sports Latin America broadcasting today's game between the Steelers and Cowboys into 16 countries from Mexico to Argentina, what the heck is the NFL doing playing regular-season games in London and not in Mexico City?

Mexicans have a passion for the game of football that will never take place in Britain. Two NFL games are broadcast nationally each week in Mexico, in Spanish, although today's game is the only one with the broadcasters on site -- they normally broadcast them in Spanish from the studio feed.

People in the NFL are excited because they draw 100,000 to the regular-season game in London, which is now played annually. The Steelers played the Indianapolis Colts, who had few Mexican fans, in Mexico City in an exhibition game in 2000. They drew 100,000 people for the meaningless game.

If they played an annual game in Mexico, the length and time of travel would not be the issue it is for the game in London.

The Buffalo Bills will play an annual game in Canada starting this season; why not have one in Mexico as well? It beats London.

Ben Roethlisberger said something funny about Tony Romo this week. He was asked if he could imagine being in Romo's shoes as a celebrity quarterback for the Cowboys.

"No, I don't," he replied. "I don't mean this to sound rude: He is asking for it. Dating the high profile, doing all the stuff he wants to do. That's the life he chooses to live off the football field."

Didn't Big Ben date LPGA calendar girl Natalie Gulbis, pictured at right, and actress Missy Peregrym? In his defense, he took a low-key dating approach to both and neither woman was photographed in a private box at Heinz Field flaunting a pink No. 7 jersey.

Good for Ryan Clark that he did not get fined by the NFL for his hit on New England's Wes Welker last Sunday. But it is sad for the league that it was again a big story in Pittsburgh, and the reason it became bigger was that a league official said a flag should not have been thrown and that Clark was not fined for the legal hit.