Franchises should make safety clauses

By Berry Tramel

Published: June 13, 2006

Ben Roethlisberger likes to ride his motorcycle sans helmet. That's his right, under the law, which does not always clamp down on stupidity.

Roethlisberger's condition serious but stable
Jocks and bikes

Roethlisberger's desire is a little ironic, don't you think? Here's a guy who wears a helmet for a living, not because it looks cool but because to do otherwise would leave his head open for intense battering. Yet he'll jump on a Harley and play roulette.

If Big Ben is so fired up to go helmetless, I say do so on the football field. Wear the helmet on the streets of Pittsburgh and take your chances with the Michael Strahans of the NFL. Roethlisberger couldn't be the worse for wear.

Roethlisberger today lies in a Pittsburgh hospital, his jaw and nose busted, some teeth knocked out, his knees banged up, all the result of a crash Monday. His status for the 2006 season unknown, though the early prognosis is optimistic about his football future.

Roethlisberger quarterbacked the Steelers to Super Bowl victory last winter. He's 24 years old and has the world by the tail, but that's not enough for some.

Athletes love thrills and crave adrenaline. So they sometimes jump into sports a little more dicier than golf and gamble like it's Monopoly money and turn daredevil whenever they get the chance.

Which is why franchises must write safety clauses into the contracts of their players. No motorcycles. No hang-gliding. No mountain climbing. No bungee jumping. No skydiving. No anything else you can think of the other side of snow-cone eating.

Sorry. Prohibited. No allowances.

Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks get many perks. Major cash. Celebrity status. Benefits that would shame the United Auto Workers.

But such prestige must come at a price. You want millions of dollars to play a game? OK, but you've got to protect yourself.

Roethlisberger and major-league athletes are handsomely compensated not because they overflow with the milk of human kindness. Exalted not because their wisdom is rare. Their value is in their bodies, their athletic prowess.

Franchises make an investment in that prowess. It should be protected. The Vatican built that funky car for the Pope. The Secret Service shields the president with "Mission: Impossible" efficiency. The Hollywood crowd hires body guards to ensure safety.

Athletes need protection, too. From themselves. Roethlisberger is not the first motorcycle crash to threaten an athlete's career. The Chicago Bulls' Jay Williams ruined his NBA career with a crash; the Cleveland Browns' Kellen Winslow Jr. has postponed his NFL hopes with the same. Goofball second baseman Jeff Kent suffered a broken wrist trying to do wheelies on his cycle, though his career was not derailed.

The tonic is clear. Franchises should insist on contract clauses that prohibit dangerous activities and, even more importantly, must enforce them.

The Bulls actually had a clause keeping Williams from riding motorcycles. He had just completed the first year of a three-year, $16.14-million contract.

The Bulls could have voided the contract; instead, they gave Williams a $2 million buyout, which was very kind. But complete voiding would have done more to deter future hijinks.

All kinds of professions make requirements to hold the job. Public finance folks must have good credit. Clergy often are asked to stay clear of the vice squad.

Is it too much to ask professional athletes to keep their greatest tools -- their bodies -- out of harm's way?

BerryTramel: 475-3314, btramel@oklahoman.com. His radio show, The Writers Block, can be heard Monday through Friday from 4-7 p.m. on KREF-AM 1400, KADA-AM 1230 and KSEO-AM 750.