National Football League

Ashley Fox: We'll see if Roethlisberger's apologies are sincere

Published Oct. 17, 2010 10:15 p.m. ET

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Michael Vick changed. When the game he had loved his entire life was taken from him - through a major fault of his own - Vick missed football more than he ever thought he would. He grew to appreciate the game, his freedom to play it, and his place in the National Football League. Vick's love for football is genuine; if it wasn't, he would not have played at the level he did before injuring his rib cartilage against Washington two weeks ago.

Let's hope Ben Roethlisberger has changed, too.

A week after he was allowed to start practicing again during Pittsburgh's bye week, Roethlisberger returns to the playing field on Sunday after serving a four-game suspension for violating the league's personal-conduct policy. Although he was not charged with a crime, the suspension stems from a sexual-assault complaint in Georgia against Roethlisberger, who faced a similar charge in Nevada in 2008. Roethlisberger has denied any wrongdoing.

But if anything, Roethlisberger has been guilty of acting as if he was a gift to football. He has made stupid choices, like riding his motorcycle without a helmet. He has treated Steelers employees, including his own teammates, rudely. He has been a churl with the media. And he has rubbed people in Pittsburgh the wrong way with his arrogance and attitude.

Sure, Roethlisberger has won two Super Bowls and is one of only two active quarterbacks (Tom Brady is the other) to win multiple titles, but that does not give Roethlisberger a free pass to behave badly. From the sound of it, Roethlisberger has learned his lesson and has apologized, publicly and privately, to the Steelers. We shall see if he is sincere.

"I'm going back to the person I was raised to be, the person I was before all this," Roethlisberger said last week, according to the Los Angeles Times. "It's not like I'm going back to being 'Big Ben' and having all these issues."

The Steelers certainly will be happy when Roethlisberger steps on the field Sunday against the 1-4 Browns. While Pittsburgh has been able to win games with Roethlisberger on the shelf, it has been an adventure at quarterback. The Steelers have been through Byron Leftwich, Dennis Dixon, and Charlie Batch, and not surprisingly they rank last in the league in passing, averaging 136 yards per game, and last in attempts (81).

Last season, Roethlisberger threw for a career-high 4,328 yards, with 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. If he can be as consistently effective as he was in 2009, the Steelers, who have the fourth-ranked defense in the NFL, are going to be dangerous.

Favre or no Favre? Speaking of quarterbacks behaving badly, Brett Favre has tendinitis in his throwing elbow and might not be able to play when his 1-3 Minnesota Vikings host the 1-3 Dallas Cowboys. All that is on the line is the Vikings' season and Favre's cherished streak of 289 regular-season games started. No big deal.

Meanwhile, the NFL continues to investigate a Deadspin report that Favre sent inappropriate messages and photos to a New York Jets game hostess when he played there in 2008.

Big loss How devastating would a work stoppage in 2011 be for the NFL? The league could lose up to $1 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

That's a staggering figure and underscores the importance for the league to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the players prior to March 3, when the current CBA expires.

According to the report, no new agreement is in place, the league could lose up to $400 million in March, when many season tickets are renewed - although presumably that money could be recouped - and another $500 million in August if preseason games are canceled. Each team could expect to lose $8 million per regular-season home game canceled, according to the Journal.

Those figures are what will propel the league to get a new deal done.

Thank you Jerome Harrison has the potential to be a huge pickup for the Eagles. In the last three games of 2009 with Cleveland, Harrison rushed for 561 yards - 286 against Kansas City to break Jim Brown's single-game team mark - and five touchdowns. He apparently fell into Eric Mangini's doghouse this season and was replaced by rookie Montario Hardesty and then Peyton Hillis.

With the Browns this season, Harrison had 31 carries for 91 yards.

"All I can say is thank you," Harrison told the Cleveland Plain Dealer after the Browns traded him to the Eagles for Mike Bell. "I don't feel like they were using me there, so thank you for letting me get the opportunity somewhere else. Excitement might be an understatement. I just want to go somewhere and win."

Clearly, that place is not Cleveland.

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Dont? Stallworth played with Harrison for one season in 2008. He tweeted this about Harrison last week: "Heads up Eagles fans . . . RB Jerome Harrison from the Browns, the kid is a damn ANIMAL!!! Trust me."

Contact staff writer Ashley Fox

at 215.854.5064 or afox@phillynews.com. Follow

her on Twitter at twitter.com/AshleyMFox.