[quote]JOG wrote:
is this guy an idiot, or is this guy an idiot? riding a motorcycle or otherwise doing any high risk activity as a professional athlete in his prime is totally uncalled for.
[/quote]
Professionals can’t ride motocycles? What about doctors, lawyers, or other professionals? They are all idiots for riding motorcycles?
[quote]Bauer97 wrote:
Steeler players are tough, unlike that other PA football team…[/quote]
The other team’s players don’t ride motorcycles without helmets and get into accidents…
[quote]Professor X wrote:
JOG wrote:
is this guy an idiot, or is this guy an idiot? riding a motorcycle or otherwise doing any high risk activity as a professional athlete in his prime is totally uncalled for.
Professionals can’t ride motocycles? What about doctors, lawyers, or other professionals? They are all idiots for riding motorcycles?[/quote]
Isn’t being a proffessional athlete a high risk activity?
What’s the point of living if you can’t enjoy life?
Helmet laws are a slippery slope.
[quote]lostinthought wrote:
Wouldn’t his contract have had something in it to prevent something like this? I think back when Elway played, in his contract it said no skiing. [/quote]
[quote]Dirty Tiger wrote:
Isn’t being a proffessional athlete a high risk activity?
What’s the point of living if you can’t enjoy life?
Helmet laws are a slippery slope.[/quote]
Yes, most contracts have clauses in them stating that played will either wear all protective equipment for riding a bike or won’t ride one.
On the second quote, is a 20 minute bike ride worth 10’s of millions of dollars to you?
I think i’d enjoy the 10 million more than the bike ride.
[quote]JokerFMJ wrote:
lostinthought wrote:
Wouldn’t his contract have had something in it to prevent something like this? I think back when Elway played, in his contract it said no skiing.
Dirty Tiger wrote:
Isn’t being a proffessional athlete a high risk activity?
What’s the point of living if you can’t enjoy life?
Helmet laws are a slippery slope.
Yes, most contracts have clauses in them stating that played will either wear all protective equipment for riding a bike or won’t ride one.
On the second quote, is a 20 minute bike ride worth 10’s of millions of dollars to you?
I think i’d enjoy the 10 million more than the bike ride.[/quote]
Most of us would enjoy doing what brings us joy, period. Why do people lift heavy weights with the potential to hurt themselves? Should I erase any activity that might be a risk in my life just because I might be a professional? Pro football is one of the most risky sports out there. Most of those guys can’t even walk well after they retire.
[quote]Kir Dog wrote:
He also has serious knee injuries, both knees.[/quote] He has knee LACERATIONS. That’s severe cuts - nothing that shouldn’t heal although will probably leave scars. That doesn’t mean torn ligaments though.
[quote]Dirty Tiger wrote:
Isn’t being a proffessional athlete a high risk activity?
What’s the point of living if you can’t enjoy life?
Helmet laws are a slippery slope.[/quote]
Like Terry Bradshaw once told Roethlisberger - “Do it when you’re retired.” Good advice…
[quote]Mr. Mojangles wrote:
I simply can’t understand the reasoning for him not wearing a helmet…he plays a sport in which men fly at him at speeds up to what 20 mph [/quote] The slower guys run 20 mph…
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Nicholas F wrote:
JokerFMJ wrote:
And he wasn’t wearing a helmet… Simply amazing.
Im boggled at the fact people even ride bikes nowadays. Ive seen to many people die an early death to ever step foot on one of those. I would rather walk.
Most accidents to motorcycles riders happen to be the direct fault of the car that caused the accident. It would help if people in cars would begin realizing that bikes are vehicles also and that looking for them on the road is what you should be doing, not ignoring them and running into them.[/quote]
Prof, can you provide any stats for this? I am willing to bet that this is the case with experienced riders, but I am also willing to bet inexperienced riders are at fault at a much higher rate.
In any case, Big Ben appeared to be an experienced rider, and it looks like the driver of the car was at fault. I don’t fault him for riding, but I do fault him for not wearing a helmet, and it looks like he just got a hard lesson why. We all know there are many idiots on the road, and if you are going to ride, you need to accept that fact and take steps to protect yourself, as an experienced rider, I am sure you know and practice this. That to me is the biggest reason to wear a helmet, because no matter how safe you think you are, there is always going to be some moron out there putting you in harms way.
[quote]Bauer97 wrote:
eh, broken nose and jaw, and a head laceration, he’ll be alright. Could’ve been a lot worse for getting thrown into a windshield…
Steeler players are tough, unlike that other PA football team…[/quote]
Those Penn Staters are a bunch of pansies.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
JOG wrote:
is this guy an idiot, or is this guy an idiot? riding a motorcycle or otherwise doing any high risk activity as a professional athlete in his prime is totally uncalled for.
Professionals can’t ride motocycles? What about doctors, lawyers, or other professionals? They are all idiots for riding motorcycles?[/quote]
Most of therse guys can do their job with injuries.
Even if a surgeon hurts his hands he can get into other areas of medicine and still be successful.
An athlete can end his career more easily with an injury.
I think he is an idiot for riding w/o a helmet.
[quote]Bauer97 wrote:
eh, broken nose and jaw, and a head laceration, he’ll be alright. Could’ve been a lot worse for getting thrown into a windshield…
Steeler players are tough, unlike that other PA football team…[/quote]
You ain’t never lied…
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
Those Penn Staters are a bunch of pansies.[/quote]
Ha! I was waiting for some smart ass to pick up on that opportunity…
Anyway, living in PA, I’ve heard a statistic that the non-helmeters often point to, stating that those wearing helmets get into a higher percentage of accidents than those who don’t wear them, presumably due to the fact that if you’re wearing a helmet you’ll be riding faster, more recklessly, and have decreased visibility…
I have no idea how valid that is, just throwing it out there.
As a Pennsylvanian, I support the right to choose for motorcyclists. The Patriot News (i’m from h-burg) ran a table today showing the number of motorcyclist deaths in the last 5 years in PA. There are years where 75% of the riders who died were wearing helmets. What does that tell you?
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Should I erase any activity that might be a risk in my life just because I might be a professional?[/quote]
If you sign a legally binding contract and you’re a man of your word, then yes, you absolutely should.
[quote]JOG wrote:
Mr. Mojangles wrote:
I simply can’t understand the reasoning for him not wearing a helmet…he plays a sport in which men fly at him at speeds up to what 20 mph and its mandatory to wear a helmet but this Rhodes Scholar doesnt find it necessary to wear a helmet when speeding along at 65 mph or faster. Thank God he wasnt killed. Hopefully the state wises up to the stupidity of their law
good post except for the last part. i do not believe it to be the state’s responsibility to protect people from their own stupidity.
is this guy an idiot, or is this guy an idiot? riding a motorcycle or otherwise doing any high risk activity as a professional athlete in his prime is totally uncalled for.
reminds me of when percy snow of the chiefs fell of a moped at training camp about 10 years. broke his ankle and was out for the season. in fact, i think it ended his career.
this is the exact reason why jerry rice was so damned good for so damned long. he didn’t do dumb stuff, he took care of himself, he stayed healthy, and he stayed on the field.[/quote]
I don’t need to post after reading this.
[quote]JokerFMJ wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Should I erase any activity that might be a risk in my life just because I might be a professional?
If you sign a legally binding contract and you’re a man of your word, then yes, you absolutely should.
[/quote]
He signed a contract to not ride a motorcycle?
Big Ben is entitled to do whatever he wants. However, he has 60 players 20 coaches and an entire organization that depends on him to lead them. Jobs depend on him, livelihoods of 100’s of people.
If he was some peon scout-teamer do you not think that the famously frugal Steelers would void his contract and try to reclaim whatever signing bonus they had paid?
That is his big boy responsibility. If he worked at Starbucks nobody would give a shit.
With fame and money comes responsibility.
[quote]greatgro wrote:
Mr. Mojangles wrote:
I simply can’t understand the reasoning for him not wearing a helmet…he plays a sport in which men fly at him at speeds up to what 20 mph The slower guys run 20 mph…
[/quote]
Well, I highly, highly doubt that guys are flying at him at roughly 20mph. The fastest human ever recorded was 22 or 23 mph. That’s a sprinter, on a track, without pads on. Plus, most of the guys that are coming after him are D-Linemen, with the occassional CB or Safety blitz.
But back on topic. I can’t believe all the people that are coming out and calling this guy an idiot. So, he rode without a helmet. That’s his choice. He said he found it to be relaxing. He didn’t have a clause in his contract preventing him from riding a motorcycle so he wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was simply doing what he enjoyed.
He could have slipped in the shower and broke his neck. He could have choked on a hot dog while eating. He could have fallen down his stairs in his mansion and broke his back. Should he stop doing all those things? The Steelers airplane could crash on the way to a game. Should he stop living his life just because he’s a football player? He’s more likely to be injured playing football than he is riding a motorcycle. Ok, well, atleast I think he is. Sometimes life sucks, get over it and move on.
But for cripes sake, let the guy have a life outside of football. Let him do what he enjoys.
The lady that ran into him should take one for the team and throw herself off Mt. Washington. I love how this becomes Ben’s fault when he got fucking run over by some old blue-haired broad that can probably barely see over the goddamn steering wheel of the huge boat she was driving. Now everyone in Pittsburgh wants to play devil’s advocate and tell everyone they know how stupid they think he is for not riding without a helmet. Meanwhile they completely ignore the stupid cunt that caused the fucking accident in the first place.
Unless he was wearing a helmet with a full visor and chin guard, he’d still have suffered the same injuries, maybe minus the gash in his head (he faceplanted into the windshield).