In the wake of the second set of sexual assault allegations made against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, a wide variety of stories have emerged regarding Big Ben acting like a big doofis (we prefer that spelling) when dealing with other humans.
We’ve heard several version of “the Arnold Palmer story,” an anecdote involving Roethlisberger and the legendary golfer who was named after the curiously delightful mixture of lemonade and iced tea. The folks at Out of Bounds have posted a version of it, and this has given us the best possible opening for posting our own.
We preface this by saying we don’t know whether it’s true. But we’ve heard it from someone with connection to multiple NFL players.
As we’ve heard it, Ben went golfing with Palmer at the Laurel Valley club in Latrobe. Ben, supposedly, was a general jerk during his round with Palmer.
So then Ben later wanted to play at Laurel Valley, and he dropped Palmer’s name in the hopes of getting in. (Or is it “on”?) Palmer eventually made a phone call to help get Ben in/on the course without Palmer there.
While on the course, Ben supposedly was rude to some kids.
The kids ended up being Palmer’s grandchildren.
The kids called Palmer, who then drove to the club and went berserk on Ben.
Again, we don’t know whether it’s true. It might be, it might not be. But it’s not inconsistent with the anecdotes that are being shared consistently on radio and in other media regarding Roethlisberger.
UPDATE: A source close to Roethlisberger says that the Arnold Palmer rumors are false.