Goodell's Slippery Roethlisberger Slope

Why Hasn't he acted against Big Ben when he moved so quickly on Vick and Pacman?

Goodell's Slippery Roethlisberger Slope

by Jemele Hill

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said this week at the NFL owners meeting in Orlando that he'll meet with Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who is currently under investigation for sexual assault, at the "appropriate time."

What's he waiting for? Nightly updates from Nancy Grace's show?

Certainly, I'm not making light of Roethlisberger's situation or the complicated position that Goodell finds himself in now that the quarterback for one of the NFL's most storied franchises is facing a sexual assault accusation for the second time in less than a year.

Goodell's first public comments about Roethlisberger indicate the NFL is watching the developments in the case closely. But the commissioner's words weren't as strong as they need to be. Instead of bringing the Roethlisberger controversy down to a simmer, it remains at a boil.

In truth, Goodell should already have met with Roethlisberger, even though the investigation into whether Roethlisberger should be charged with sexually assaulting a 20-year-old woman in a Milledgeville, Ga., bar remains ongoing. And once he and Big Ben are in a room alone together, Goodell should absolutely castigate the two-time Super Bowl winner for bringing such bad publicity to his lucrative league.

I'm aware Roethlisberger hasn't been charged with any crime and -- everyone say it with me -- is innocent until proven guilty. He has the right to defend himself against his accusers. We have no idea what Georgia investigators will uncover, or what will become of the civil suit filed against him last summer by a Lake Tahoe woman who accused him of raping her in 2008.

In a perfect world, there would be no pressure for the commissioner to act until Roethlisberger's situation plays out completely. But in the real world, perception is what matters.

And surely the commissioner has noticed that Roethlisberger's case is becoming a racial litmus test. Fair or not, the perception is that Goodell has been eager to punish black athletes regardless of the status of their criminal investigations; and now that a white superstar quarterback is under police investigation, a lot of people -- especially African-Americans -- are noting how patiently Goodell is behaving.

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