Roethlisberger to Meet NFL Commissioner Goodell Over Six-Game Suspension
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell will meet Sept. 3 to discuss a possible reduction of his suspension for personal misconduct.
Roethlisberger, who was allowed to play during the preseason, was suspended without pay for the first six games of the 2010 regular season by Goodell on April 21 after two accusations of sexual assault were made against him.
“We are looking forward to hearing from the commissioner, but we will not have any further information or comment until after they speak,” said Steelers President Art Rooney II in a statement on the team’s website.
Roethlisberger’s suspension, which begins Sept. 19, may be reduced by the commissioner, although a failure to comply with Goodell’s rehabilitation plan could mean a longer ban. Roethlisberger will lose about $3 million in salary if the suspension runs the full six games.
The 28-year-old quarterback, who led the Steelers to Super Bowl wins after the 2005 and 2008 seasons, was suspended nine days after prosecutors said they wouldn’t charge him for an alleged sexual assault on a 20-year-old college student in a bar in Milledgeville, Georgia, in March.
He also faces a lawsuit filed by a woman who says he raped her in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 2008, according to the Associated Press. Roethlisberger denies both allegations.
The Steelers’ first six games of the 2010 season are against the Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nancy Kercheval in Washington at nkercheval@bloomberg.net
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