Friday column: For Roethlisberger, another message coming

In the battle of public perception, messages matter.

Georgia district attorney Fred Bright said this week that he wouldn’t prosecute Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for sexual assault. There wasn’t enough evidence, he said.

The rape kit used on the 20-year-old accuser at the hospital did collect some male DNA, but not enough to be useful, Bright explained. Though the woman sustained injury to the genital area, there was not enough bodily evidence to prove penetration. And the accuser apparently was intoxicated, a fact that would have made it more difficult to secure a guilty verdict.

Bright could have stopped there, but he didn’t.

Instead he made it a point to say, “We do not condone what Roethlisberger did,” adding “we do not prosecute morals. We prosecute crimes.” He also pointed out that Roethlisberger “provided shots of alcohol” for the underage accuser and her friends.

That was one message.

Another message was sent Monday when not a single Steelers exec stood by Roethlisberger when the quarterback read a statement before the TV cameras. Last year, when he was denying another accusation of sexual assault — in this case a civil complaint — Roethlisberger had coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Kevin Colbert on hand.

Tuesday, PLB Sports, a Pittsburgh-based marketing firm with ties to athletes, ended its relationship with Roethlisberger, its company president saying, “Enough is enough. I hope there is a suspension. At some point in time, Ben has got to put himself in the right position and understand what it means to be a celebrity, a quarterback, a Steelers player.”

Consider that a third message.

Of course, Roethlisberger’s side can send messages, too, and did when the quarterback’s high-priced mouthpiece, Ed Garland, announced to the world that the decision not to prosecute had “exonerated” his client.

How’s that line playing in the heartland?

Well, in Findlay, Ohio, hometown of one Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger, a normally popular Steelers jersey — No. 7 — is collecting dust. Complained Findlay merchant Sue Cataline: “We can sell everybody else’s, but not his. We can’t sell any of his stuff.”

With CBS reporting that allegations of a third sexual incident involving Roethlisberger has surfaced, don’t expect a buying spree anytime soon — in Findlay, in Pittsburgh or in Santa Fe.

E-mailed one local reader, a longtime Steelers fan: “Well, I’m a retired psychotherapist, I’m tellin’ ya, this guy is a sexual predator. This isn’t about ‘hooking up.’ It’s about sexual assault.”

That reader isn’t alone in her opinion. Google Roethlisberger and “sexual assault” and you’ll get more than 20,000 hits.

It’s a fact Roethlisberger has avoided prosecution. It’s also a fact that his behavior has tarnished not only his reputation but that of the NFL. That being the case, look for commissioner Roger Goodell to send his own message very soon.

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.