The Fine Line Between Morals and Winning

All Steelers' Fans Remember This Scene -
The FIRST Time Ben Had Off the Field Issues

I can't think of any NFL team that hasn't had to deal with this dilemma at some point in their organization's history.  Whether its Dez Bryant slapping his mother, Pacman Jones "Making it Rain" in a strip club, Ray Lewis' potential murder, Jamal Lewis selling drugs, Ben Roethlisberger getting into problems in Nevada and in Georgia, Santonio Holmes "wake and bake" Tweets, or even the Steelers' most current issue of their rookie NT going crazy on the South Side of Pittsburgh and forcing police to draw their weapons on him.  I could continue on forever with this list of NFL players who have made questionable / idiotic / moronic decisions in their lives OFF of the field and have had to pay consequences because of it. 

As a Steeler fan, the "SteelerNation" typically prides itself on being an organization that doesn't put up with nonsense off of the football field.  The Steelers shipped Santonio Holmes to the Jets after his incident on Twitter and a drug arrest.  They also parted ways with WR Cedrick Wilson after he was accused of beating his girlfriend.  However, with drawing such a hard line in the sand, any NFL team can get themselves into trouble.  Not from a League standpoint, but a moral standpoint.  Its easy to say, "This undrafted rookie went out the other night, got drunk, and got caught driving while intoxicated...so we are going to part ways with him."  Its another to say, "Our franchise QB has been accused of sexually assaulting a young woman in Gerogia.  We are going to wait and see what happens with the court case before we draw any conclusions."  Quite the double standard by any organization.  It all comes down to the dilemma that NFL organizations have to make in regards to morals vs winning.

Its easy for any NFL fan to stand up and say "I can't believe the Ravens aren't going to cut Ray Lewis.  The man murdered someone!  If he didn't, he sure knows who did, and he isn't talking!"  However, on the opposite side is an organization that is planning on building its entire franchise around this player for the next 15 years.  As an organization, I can't blame teams for holding off on making that quick, knee jerk reaction that might have them shipping a quality player somewhere when it might just be a blip on their off the field radar.

The Steelers are a prime example of fans that are extremely loyal, passionate, and biased towards their team.  That doesn't mean that they will sit there and put up with alot of the organization's decisions.  When Ben Roethlisberger was alleged of sexual assault in Milledgville, Georgia, there were two camps of thought from Steelers fans: #1 - Cut him, he is a creep and a low-life.  #2 - This guy made a mistake, and the girl could be lying.  Wait and see what happens then make a decision, but I think the Steelers should keep him.  As sad as it may be, the Steelers made a FOOTBALL decision, and not a moral decision.  Everyone needs to realize that if every NFL team made decisions on morals, there probably wouldn't be enough players to have 32 NFL teams. 

As a human being, I think its sad how these players are idolized (literally) by many fans.  Its this plain and simple fanaticism that turns fans rabid on Sundays, but fans need to realize that some of these players wouldn't be upstanding individuals in society if it weren't for football.  I'm not saying that they are low-lifes, but some come from broken homes and wouldn't have had the opportunities provided them if it weren't for sports.  As a Steeler fan, I will back up my favorite team and their play on the field till I am blue in the face.  What I won't do is back up their actions off of it.  I've always believed in the statement "I like them for what they do ON the field, not OFF of it."  Fans need to seperate themselves from their favorite team and remember that they are just fans, and they also need to remember that they aren't the ones that are having to make decisions that will impact their livelihood and their families...which sometimes means putting morals aside and making football decisions...as sad as that may sound.