Back in 2010, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was
accused of raping a 20 year old college student. Having this allegation brought
upon him, he had to defend himself. He needed to make himself look better in
the eyes of his fans and even try and save the image of the Pittsburgh
Steelers. Big Ben made several public apologia.
In his several apologies it was seen Roethlisberger used several strategies to
make himself and the Steelers look better again.
Roethlisberger talked to Sally Wiggin about what he “truly”
wanted to say to the public about the events that took place in Georgia in
2010. He seemed to be trying to imply corrective
action was taking place. Wiggin mentioned at the end of the segment he was
getting help from councilors along with family and friends. However, a lot of people
would think that was an unfair punishment, even though he was suspended for six
consecutive games.
During the apologia Roethlisberger gave to TMZ he seemed to
be almost in denial when giving his
apologia. He read from a notecard which made it less believable. It almost
seemed like members of the marketing team for the Steelers had him say those
things because they were getting viewed as “the bad guy” as well. They wanted
to restore their image as being a well-respected
organization and not “the team with the rapist.”
Roethlisberger also brought up in sever of this interviews
that he was going to be a better person because of these allegations. He was
using the bolstering strategy by
telling the interviewers he was “going to be a better person because of this”
and “this has shown him he isn’t the same man he was before football.”
Athletes sometimes do things they think they can get away
with just because they’re famous. This is not true and when they get caught
they try and restore their image; they want to be loved again. In the case of Ben
Roethlisberger he seemed to do that quite well. He defended himself and showed
he was going to get help for the problem he had caused.
Roethlisberger created quite a name for himself, after this incident and his motorcycle incident,as being kind of a meat-head. I would argue that his apologia was slightly ineffective, because before these occurances, he was a highly regarded QB, but afterwards, many people (even Steeler fans) began to question the positive things about Roethlisberger and instead worry about what might happen next.
ReplyDeleteI also think an argument can be made that his apologia was ineffective. There are a lot of NFL fans that view Roethlisberger in a negative light. There are also many out there who choose not to support Big Ben's antics off the field, but still support his on-field performance. Nevertheless, as time has passed, people tend to forget about the allegations against him and have moved on.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Ben's apologia was ineffective because it really lacked heart. He really just got a slap on the wrist and thats it. It was almost as if he payed the girl off and waited till the situation blew over. It also doesn't help that everyone who says they met him has a story about how rude he is. If he wanted to be seen in a different light then I feel he needs to change as a whole.
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