This billboard of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and Findlay native Ben Roethlisberger has been hanging on Main Street here in Findlay, Ohio since last summer, before Big Ben became the youngest quarterback in NFL history to win the Super Bowl. You’ll notice that in his high school football portrait, Big Ben wasn’t wearing a helmet, a habit I hope he’s reconsidering now that he’s been seriously injured in a motorcycle crash.
Both Steelers coach Bill Cowher and lengendary quarterback Terry Bradshaw had tried to convince Big Ben that riding without a helmet was just plain stupid, but apparently Roethlisberger has a really hard head. Witnesses say Big Ben’s noggin hit the windshield of an oncoming car before hitting the pavement, and it subsequently took five doctors seven hours of surgery to repair Roethlisberger’s mangled jaw and nose.
When it comes to wearing a motorcycle helmet, Nike has the proper slogan: Just do it.
Jun 13, 2006 at 2:52 pm
Yes, stupid. A precaution that should be as much of a no-brainer to Mr. Roethlisberger as bringing the ball into the chest when you catch it. Yet, for some reason, it wasn’t, and he rode without the helmet (he often told friends he didn’t ‘like’ it), and now he’s got bigger things to worry about than “helmet hair.”
It’s even more unfortunate because now that this big cute lunkhead of a football star has cracked his noggin, lawmakers may get to feeling once again that people need to be saved from their own mistakes and once again Pennsylvania law will cross the thin line into an area where it should have no business.
Guys – where the helmet because you are loved, and because you love liberty, and because if you don’t, the government will make you do it anyway.
Jun 14, 2006 at 10:47 am
As a resident of “Live free or die” New Hampshire, I naturally don’t think it’s the government’s business to make stupidity illegal. I have to admit, though, on my LOOOOOONG drive to Ohio, I was a nervous nelly whenever I saw folks riding motorcycles without helmets or other protective gear…and it was a *common* sight.
Just as the gov hasn’t banned cigarettes, alcohol, or junk food, I think they shouldn’t ban helmet-free cycling…but I definitely think responsible folks should let reckless folks know that stupid behavior is, well, stupid.
Jun 14, 2006 at 12:32 pm
The vehicle itself is unsafe. It’s a tough argument. I’m not sure how to go on it. I lean towards the helmet as a choice, but I’m not sure.
We can’t strap the person “in” to a motorcycle. I have to think about it.