I was young and invincible once, but it was so long ago now that the feeling is hard to remember let alone rekindle. Life is a relentless task master and one day realization inevitably dawns that nothing lasts forever.
That day came early for Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who apparently ducked the Reaper’s scythe after flying face first into a windshield while riding without helmet on a downtown Pittsburgh street.
It’s hard not to feel immortal when you’re the youngest quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl, when you are strong and carefree and are the star of an entire region and even an entire Steeler Nation.
But just like my children, Big Ben wouldn’t listen to the adults, including his coach.
Like any other kid, he had to make his mistakes for himself.
Even Terry Bradshaw, known more for his deep ball than his deep thoughts, knew better.
Asked about Ben’s hobby of riding motorcycles sans helmet,
“I told him to park it,” he told reporters.
You see, we know better. We know that life is a roll of the dice, a place where one wrong turn can forever change even the most blessed of lives. We know that a window of opportunity where you can gain fame and make millions is narrow and subject to closure without warning at a moment’s notice.
I know at 46 what I didn’t know at 24; that common sense can help balance the odds in what can quickly become an unbalanced world.
Big Ben didn’t realize that until reality struck him, quite literally, right between the eyes.
In the big picture, the kid got lucky. Hopefully he won’t squander the lesson learned on that Pittsburgh street.
The bell tolls for you, too, Ben, and all of your ability to avoid NFL linemen won’t avoid that.