Our society is supposed to be predicated on the legal philosophy that you are innocent until proven guilty. In the twenty-first century, however, if you are famous enough to receive media attention, this is not a luxury that you enjoy. The latest hot button topic around radio row at the Super Bowl is the fact that Ben Roethlisberger stayed out until 1:00 A.M. Wednesday night at a piano bar. Even though it was a full four days before the game, Roethlisberger was singled out among the many Steelers at the bar for criticism because of recent allegations of sexual assault. Most people in America couldn't tell you that he has never been charged with anything in connection with those two cases. It doesn't matter though, because Roethlisberger was found guilty in the court of public opinion, which can be worse than being convicted by a court of law in certain instances. For more matters of public opinion and how they affect the Houston Texans, follow the jump.
Sometimes it is easiest for the guilty to judge the guilty. Bill Romanowski thinks that Brian Cushing should admit his mistake of using steroids, according to Alan Burge. I find it interesting that Romanowski not only used steroids to cling to his NFL career, and that he now uses it to cling to relevance.
Everyone will be judging players, teams, and front offices in the course of draft season. See what players Wes Bunting judged to have improved or worsened their stock in the NFLPA Game event.
Recently, Lance Zierlein jumped into draft season feet first with his first mock draft. Daniel Charles breaks down Lance's mock and tells you why he's okay with it.
Bruce Matthews was an institution on the Oilers offensive line, and his brother Clay is the model for consistency among linebackers. In all their years, they never won a Super Bowl. I hope for Bruce and the rest of their family that Clay Matthews the Third is the first to achieve that goal.
Apparently Texans fans who were excessive in their criticism of the offensive line were a little too judgmental. As Barrett Walton notes, the entire unit was the All-AFC South Offensive Line this season.
Diehard Chris took time away from preparing for the apocalypse to ask whether the Texans should trade Mario Williams. No.
The Onion Sports Dome has met with mixed reviews so far. The latest to do so was Rivers McCown, who also has suggestions on how to improve the sports show parody.
I said that I would no longer link Scott Robinson's articles anymore, but I have to make an exception. On January 30th, Robinson asked his readers in a blog post who they would rather have at quarterback than Matt Schaub. That seems oddly familiar to this post by Tim. Is it weird to have those two posts just four days apart? You be the judge.