#Ben Roethlisberger reveals battles with alcohol, porn addictions

Ben Roethlisberger opened up over the weekend about past missteps, revealing he’s struggled with addictions to alcohol and pornography.

“I’ve fallen as short as anybody,” the Steelers quarterback said during the virtual ManUp Pittsburgh event, per ESPN. “I’ve been addicted to alcohol. I’ve been addicted to pornography, which makes me then not the best husband, not the best father, not the best Christian I can be.”

Married to wife Ashley Harlan for nearly a decade, Roethlisberger — who is a father of three — added that being a professional athlete doesn’t make him immune to transgressions.

“People don’t realize all the time that us athletes, we’re human. We sin like everybody else. I am no different. We make mistakes. We get addicted to things. We sin. We’re human. I think sometimes we get put on this pedestal where we can’t make mistakes,” the 38-year-old quarterback stated.

In April 2010, Roethlisberger was suspended for the first six games of the season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations. The quarterback was instructed to undergo a “comprehensive behavioral evaluation.”

“One of the things I want to tell guys and tell people out there, I can be a really good athlete and a Christian. It’s not one or the other. I can do both,” the quarterback said.

“I want it to be known to all of the young men out there. It’s cool to be Christian and be an athlete. Go ahead and be the best athlete you can be and see if you can be a better Christian. And that’s what I’m trying to do now. I’m trying to be a better Christian than I am athlete and football player. I push myself every day to do that, and it starts here. It’s not always easy,” he continued.

Roethlisberger talked about the challenging 2019 offseason the Steelers faced. Though Roethlisberger did not mention any specific incidents, his end-of-season feud with Antonio Brown was a constant storyline during the receiver’s controversial departure from the franchise.

“All I thought about was getting back on the football field, and I was like, ‘God, you’re going to give me all this redemption. I’m going to go out there, I’m going to prove everybody wrong, I’m going to win a Super Bowl, and we’re going to give you all the glory, and this is it. This is my comeback year.’ And the second game, I tear my elbow. That was God being like, ‘Hold on, it’s not your plan of coming back. It’s got to be my plan,’” Roethlisberger explained.

He added, “I don’t know that I would’ve been able to handle it a few years ago, five, six, seven, 10 years ago. I know that my faith wouldn’t have been as strong. Now that I know what it’s about, it’s easy to say, ‘Hey, God, this is in your hands.’”