Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger opened up about his addiction issues over the weekend.
According to a Tuesday report from ESPN, Big Ben was speaking at the virtual ManUp conference for Christian men when he touched on addiction issues in his life, and how athletes can fall into dark places. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
He said the following in part, according to the same report:
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. I’ve fallen as short as anybody. 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.
First and foremost, props to the Steelers quarterback for being open and honest about his addiction issues. You can’t get help if you’re not honest about what’s going on.
If you want help, then you have to be willing to seek it out. That’s just the way it works.
Secondly, I’ve always said most people don’t understand that athletes have many of the same issues regular people do.
A lot of people seem to view athletes as superhuman individuals who throw on a jersey and entertain the masses.
They don’t see them as men who struggle with problems on a daily basis. It’s almost like people have a tendency to dehumanize them to nothing more than objects of entertainment.
Feels good to be back out there with my guys! @TeamJuJu @JamesConner_ @Switz pic.twitter.com/hAlOwr7Ias
— BigBen7.com (@_BigBen7) May 18, 2020
While I don’t understand what a porn addiction even entails, I do know that we have plenty of examples of what can happen when you struggle with alcoholism.
It doesn’t take much for things to unravel if you can’t put the bottle down. Props to Big Ben for getting the help he needed and taking a step forward.
If you think you have addiction issues, you should really get help before it’s too late. There’s no shame in admitting you have an issue.