While he knew that it would hold personal significance, I’m sure that Ben Roethlisberger had no idea that it would be worthy of CNN coverage that he began throwing ‘legit NFL passes’ again to his teammates. And I’m equally confident that he had no idea the trimming of his beard would be a major source of controversy. Or, at least, a mild one.
While he has gotten some criticism, I feel that most have been generally supportive, especially after his barber came out and made it clear that his shop was not actually open. One of Roethlisberger’s defenders was Jason Whitlock, who went so far as to say that the Pennsylvania mayor “should shut the hell up” after he expressed concern about the barbering featured in his hype video.