Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is Superman on the football field, able to perform nearly any task presented to him.
He's one of the big reasons the Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII in February for the second time in four years.
That doesn't necessarily mean he's Superman off the field. If that were the case, he'd be able to fix a television sound system by himself.
Roethlisberger had a civil lawsuit filed against him last week, accusing him of sexually assaulting a woman in Nevada in 2008. According to the lawsuit, he lured the Harrah's Lake Tahoe employee to his penthouse room by asking her to fix his TV and then forced her to have sex with him.
These kinds of lawsuits are becoming commonplace in the world of professional sports. The most notable case was one against Kobe Bryant several years back.
Because of that and the fact that Roethlisberger has maintained a clean image during his professional career, especially after recovering from a motorcycle accident in 2006, many Steelers fans likely see no merit in the lawsuit and figure the woman is merely plotting a financial settlement.
There are other factors that seem to work in Roethlisberger's favor: The woman never filed a criminal complaint, and she waited an entire year before filing the lawsuit, which seeks more than a half million dollars from Roethlisberger and Harrah's officials.
But one shouldn't rush to judgment.
Roethlisberger is single - although that doesn't always matter with pro sports stars - and he's used to getting things his way. He probably has star-struck men and women treat him like he's a king all the time.
Living in that kind of environment, Roethlisberger easily could have misread this woman's intentions. That doesn't make what he allegedly did right, though.
Maybe 95 percent of women in similar situations would have called the police right away, and maybe 95 percent would not have suffered from depression following it.
That doesn't mean this particular woman should have reacted the same way.
After reading the entire lawsuit and all of the details presented, I'm left with the feeling that the woman's story is at the very least believable.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is looking into the allegations, and the lawsuit will definitely be an issue when Steelers training camp starts in Latrobe next weekend.
Most people would like to see this resolved quickly so Roethlisberger and the Steelers can fully focus on the upcoming season.
But keep a thought for the alleged victim because we don't know the entire truth.
Buck Frank can be reached at 946-7461 or bfrank@altoonamirror.com.
