Big Ben Goes BONG!...

OK, it's not funny that Ben Roethlisberger cracked his Hayabusa off of the front fender of the little old lady that cut him off. Really. But, I must say, it is more than a little ironic that, a little over a year after he and Drew Bledsoe are featured in and ESPN piece on NFL players that don't wear helmets when they ride, he's in a motorcycle accident. Trey Wingo had a good observation in discussing Big Ben's interview from that piece...Ben did seem almost defiant when he said why he doesn't wear a helmet.

Now, for a couple of questions that have come up since the accident yesterday...

1. Should professional athletes be banned from riding motorcycles? Altogether, no. I do think that teams should have the ability to restrict their players from riding them during the season (as many teams do), but, the players should be free to ride their bikes during the off season.
2. What are the odds that Ben's contract will have language addressing motorcycles in the future? Pretty good, I'd say. I think that the teams would be well within their rights to place language in the contracts requiring that if players ride, they wear helmets. These guys may be grown men, but they and their talents are also investments for these teams, and it in the best interests of the teams to try to protect their investments.

That's just my opinion. Nothing will probably change, though. Probably not until a high profile player dies on a bike.