Ben Roethlisberger recently granted separate interviews to Pittsburgh television stations KDKA and WTAE to discuss the allegations of his sexual assault case.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

In the interviews, Roethlisberger repeatedly faults himself for mistakes, blaming it in part on his immaturity while transitioning from his small-town Findlay, Ohio, background to “big city” Pittsburgh.

“Big Ben just kept building up, and I think it ended up coming off the field, and as the years kept going it just kept taking over Ben Roethlisberger,” he told KDKA’s Bob Pompeani.

Roethlisberger appeared relaxed and contrite throughout the interviews, with his most emotional moment coming in description of recent talks with his father, who now has a Western Pennsylvania farm Roethlisberger has visited frequently.

“We were talking about everything and how I got kind of lost, and he looked at me and we both kind of broke down, and he said, ‘It’s good to have my son back.’ And that just killed me,” Roethlisberger said.

I don’t care in what context they do it in: I love when athletes break out the third person. It’s classic.

It’s good to see that Roethlisberger is saying all the right things, but his actions will speak louder than his words in the end. He’s going to be tempted again at some point to go out, have a few adult beverages and check out the “scenery.” Will he do a better job of putting himself in a good situation or will he fall victim to his poor decision-making again?

Photo from fOTOGLIF