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Nov 11, 2009 6:58 am US/Eastern
Ben Roethlisberger Breaks Silence On Civil Lawsuit
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Ben Roethlisberger (File)
KDKA
When a lawsuit alleging rape was first filed against him, Ben Roethlisberger called it "false and vicious," but said he wouldn't discuss the case or his private life in the media.
Tuesday, he spoke about his private life and his reaction to being sued on national television.
"I was blown away - it shocked me. It hurt because people that know me and that I'm close with know that this is ridiculous," he said during an
interview on ESPN's "E: 60." "I was just taken aback and didn't know what to think."
Roethlisberger talked about the moment the civil suit was presented to him this summer nearly a year after the alleged incident took place.
"I was actually signing a ball for a little kid, was having fun and had a stack of papers handed to me," he said during the interview.
Roethlisberger said that moment and his press conference five days later at the Steelers headquarters were two of the toughest experiences of his life.
"I was almost in tears because I got up there and I thought about my family, I thought about my teammates who are my family," he told ESPN. "There was almost like the, 'This is really happening,' moment."
Roethlisberger has continued to fight the accusations, going so far as to file a countersuit against Andrea McNulty for defamation, extortion and abuse of process – even after she offered to settle out of court.
He says it's important for people to know he did nothing wrong.
"We want to clear my name because that's what hurt the most because my name, my family's name has been tarnished by this accusation that hurts a lot," Roethlisberger said on ESPN.
Big Ben talked about more than just the sexual assault case. He admitted that early in his career he let his fame get to his head and explained how it took a wakeup call from backup quarterback Charlie Batch to make him a better leader and teammate.
"I wasn't a good leader early on and I wasn't probably the best teammate I should've been the first couple of years and Charlie helped me and I think I became a better teammate and friend to a lot of these guys," he told the network.
Roethlisberger said he now makes sure that he's in touch with his teammates during the offseason and has made an annual habit of inviting the offensive line to his lake house in Georgia each May.
"I just wanted them to kind of get to know me - know who I was kind of away from football and all that and I think we developed a really good relationship off of it," Roethlisberger said on ESPN.
Roethlisberger said the support of his teammates has meant a lot to him.
As for the civil suit, a judge has temporarily halted proceedings because of Roethlisberger's appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.
Roethlisberger wants the case to be tried in a different county, but that appeal is still pending.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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