Interview: Roethlisberger seeking forgiveness and a chance to prove himself
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As he drove toward Saint Vincent College today in a MINI Cooper, Ben Roethlisberger suddenly felt frightened. It wasn't the car, it wasn't the specter of the media horde awaiting him on campus, and it wasn't the impending arrival of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell next week.
The Steelers quarterback suddenly worried about the reaction fans would have toward him tomorrow afternoon when he takes the field for a public practice for the first time since a woman accused him of sexual assault in March.
"Driving up here today I was talking to my dad, and for the first time it hit me about what is about to happen and - who knows? I got scared. I really did," Mr. Roethlisberger told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette during a 25-minute interview this afternoon in a campus dorm room.
Will it be cheers or jeers?
"I don't know what is going to happen. I am sure I will get a little bit of both. I hope it is mostly good. I guess that is what makes you human, if you are scared, and that is what my dad told me."
Mr. Roethlisberger, giving his first lengthy print interview since Mr. Goodell doled out a four- to six-game suspension for his antics in March, said he would try to follow the advice his father gave him on the cell phone today.
"He said it is OK to be scared and afraid of those things, and to just be yourself and be human; and that is what hit me coming up here. I don't know what is going to happen, and I am scared."
He said he would have the same anxious moments before his next game at Heinz Field Aug. 14.
"I am hoping and praying that I get a warm reception. I hope people want to give me another chance and that they will give me that chance to prove to them .... It would tear me apart if [booing] happened at home. On the road we are used to it anyway. I can block that out; but it touches my heart because I love Pittsburgh. I'm a 'yinzer.' I don't say it, but I am a yinzer. I feel like they are home to me, they are family. So I feel like I let my family down through all of this, so that is why I hope family forgives."
First Published July 30, 2010 9:35 pm
