Incredibly Dumb NFL QBs... (Roth's motorcycle accident)

I hope he's OK.  Save the skydiving and cycle riding for AFTER you've made your mark in the world.  That is sad news for Ben and Pittsburgh fans.  So totally avoidable I can't help but criticize Big Ben.

That being said, at 23 had I had the cash these guys have, there's no telling...

Go work in an ER for a bit and see the difference in the severity of injuries from similar accidents between cars and motorcycles.

NHTSA - 2001 statistics.

Motorcycle 33.4 Deaths / 100 million miles travelled.
Automobile 1.3 Deaths / 100 million miles travelled.

I'm sure injury statistics would also point to cycling as FAR FAR more dangerous than driving a car.   Should he be in a bubble?  No.  Was riding a cycle in and of itself "reckless" behavior?  No.  Reckless WITHOUT A HELMET?  Perhaps. 

WAY MORE RECKLESS than riding in an automobile?  Absolutely.  Should the team have protected itself contractually, esp. in the wake of the Kellen Winslow Jr. fiasco?  Yes.

Actually...Ben riding his motorcylce is about as safe as all of us cyclists. I hate to admit it but it is probably true

So they crash equally, but the severity of motorcycle crashes is much more, and you don't see this as a problem?  There's a reason that a lot of athletes are banned from that and other similar activities by their contracts.

The plane analogy doesn't quite hold up either.  Plane crashes are extremely rare compared to either of the two we're talking about.

[standing up] Ahem.

I would like to point out that skydiving has been unfairly slighted here.  Less people are hurt skydiving than those other activities you mentioned.

Besides, if you do have an accident while skydiving, you are much more likely not to have to spend the rest of your life listening to people tell you how stupid you are for potentially blowing your career and millions of dollars in earnings on a joyride since "the rest of your life" will probably be spent wedged in between a few blades of grass.

[sitting down]

[everyone looks around awkwardly then goes back to the discussion at hand.]

Of course, the Pennsylvania legistlature had the brillant idea of getting rid of the law requiring motorcylists over 21 to wear helmets in their state, which they did a few years ago when I was in college

He gets what he deserves for being so stupid.  And to ride in downtown Pittsburgh without a helmet?  Too bad it has to affect his teammates and almost most importantly the fans, for whom he really was a hero. 

Saw some of the pictures/video from the scene on ESPN.  car was smashed pretty good.  He lost alot of teeth, 9 inch gash on back of head, broken jaw.

Be careful out there Triathletes.

They showed some vclips of Big Ben talking about not wearing a helmet. I am tired of people, especially these leather clad, all Harley product wearing weekend wannabe badasses, saying it is their "right" to not wear a helmet. While I am all about PERSONAL FREEDOMS..... when these dumbasses get in a wreck and their insurance is insufficeint and it gets put on the taxpayer or the hospital, which it eventually does, I don't care about your personal freedom of not having to wear a helmet. Motorcycles are dangerous. I raced moto - x and sportbike, and have crashe din all sorts of situations. There IS a reason why you are suppoised to wear them.

I lament the poor decision making by most professional athletes, but I guess we don't watch them for their intelligence.....

Yeah and that little piece of styrofoam and plastic would have saved you from a broken jaw and losing teeth.  Look people I am not saying he shouldn't have been wearing a helmet but there are plenty of people that would call us dumba$$es for riding our bikes on the road. 

And if we were riding our bikes on the road without a helmet, they'd be correct.

You should take a closer look at motorcycle helmets too.

I am sure that he is a good person and all but he is one dumb mutha hucker!!! The statement about him being careful is moronic. You can be as careful as you want but you don't control the actions of the drivers around you. Which is exactly which happened in this case. I am not saying that he should not be allowed to ride his bike but at least wear a helmet. Especially when you have the fastest bike available for retail sale. When you have that type of machine you know your are not really going to be careful. At least he can afford a really good pair of false teeth.

Why wait until after you made your mark in the world to skydive? You can make your mark on the world by skydiving, a big mark if you don't use a parachute too.

You know what they say, when life hands you lemonheads, it's time to make lemon...ade... or something. Anyway....

I smell quick some cash to be made here. This is a great opportunity to sell facially disfigured QB bobblehead dolls.  Anyone have any connections in toys and/or plastics manufacturing?

We gotta move quick before the stitches come out.