Trainer defends Ben sitting in key game

PITTSBURGH – Attendees at a concussion conference heard an example Saturday of what it means to err on the side of caution in deciding whether a concussed athlete – even if its Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger going into a critical game – is ready to return to play.

Roethlisberger sustained a concussion during Pittsburgh's 27-24 overtime loss at the Kansas Chiefs on Nov. 22, 2009. Up next was a Sunday night game at the division rival Baltimore Ravens. The urgency for Roethlisberger to play was heightened by the fact his backup, Charlie Batch, had suffered a broken wrist against the Chiefs.

Roethlisberger passed his baseline concussion test early in the following week after his concussion. He told news reporters he'd passed "thousands of tests." He practiced Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2013/06/08/ben-roethlisberger-concussion-conference/2403837/

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Haters used Hines' comments as a window to attack Ben Roethliseberger and scald him for sitting out the big game. A concussion is tricky. Symptoms can be there one day, and vanish the next. Or even there one hour, and gone the next! Trust me, I've had three of them in 8 years. The right decision for Ben was to sit out that week, and the trainers knew it. Ben WANTED to play, but I guarantee you he wasn't ready to play. That's just the fighter in him wanting to go out and help his team win a big game. Hines shouldn't have said what he said, but the team wanted to win that game badly, so I understand what caused him to say it. He apologized for it on Facebook, so honestly, the "relationship" between Ben and Hines doesn't seem to be Ben's fault at all.

I wanted him in that game more than anybody, but I didn't want him in it unless he was 100% healthy. I told my dad the minute conussion talks were buzzing around that Ben wouldn't play the following week. I was (embarrassingly) excited to see Dixon play, too.