Every time an email arrives from TMZ in our inbox, I have come to realize that shit is about to hit the fan. Sadly, it has happened a few times in recent years with Jeff Reed, Santonio Holmes and Ben Roethlisberger. Add Hines Ward to that list as of this morning.
Ward was arrested for DUI in DeKalb County, Georgia early this morning. There aren’t many details about the incident out there yet, but this is another black eye on the Steelers and especially hard to swallow knowing it was Ward of all people.
As far as the NFL coming down on Ward, I wouldn’t expect him to miss any games, but then again, you never really know. Rey Maualuga was arrested for DUI in January 2010 and didn’t receive a fine or suspension. Ward is a much more popular player and it is always possible Goodell will make an example of him, as he has been wont to do with the Steelers.
Speaking of the Steelers, they have had a major off-the-field incident in each of the last three summers now and every time it involves a star player on the team. There is the false sense among the fan base that the Steelers operate under some higher standard of morality than other teams and I’ve been writing for years that it isn’t true. How many arrests will it take for that stereotype to leave the fan base?
And I hate to play devil’s advocate, but this driving under the influence is arguably worse than anything Santonio Holmes ever did and Steeler fans started calling for his head immediately. The Rooney’s also found his transgressions bad enough to trade him away. I’ve got a feeling Ward won’t see the same fate.
I’m so frustrated that I have to start writing about this kind of thing again. All I want is one summer to talk football and not all of this garbage.
UPDATE: New, longer post on all of this and how it ties in to other Steelers incidents in recent years.
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