Dissension Among the Rooney Family? Ben Announcement on Monday

First some facts. Keep reading for a little bit of rumor mongering.

According to a multitude of sources including the Post-Gazette, Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Fredric D. Bright will announce at a press conference on Monday at 2 PM whether he has decided to charge Ben with sexual assault. The announcement comes very shortly after the case was given to the DA by the police department especially when some experts were saying a decision could be months away. The timing could mean one of two things: Either the case is so flimsy that there is no conceivable way charges could be brought against Ben making it easy for the DA to come to a conclusion so quickly or it was so obvious that there was enough evidence to bring charges that the DA didn't need more than a few days to make his decision.

The fact that a press conference has been called is leading a lot of people to assume that Ben will be charged with sexual assault. Normally, I would believe that to be true because, let's be honest, who calls a presser to announce nothing. But the high profile nature of this case gives me a moments pause. Having Ben Roethlisberger possibly commit sexual assault in a rural county in Georgia is the most high profile thing that will probably ever occur to this DA. He needs to milk the publicity for all its worth. If he is charging Ben, then he will have a long time to get his name out there and be in the papers. If he isn't charging Ben, this is his last chance to be in the public eye. He needs to make a convincing case to the voters as to why he isn't charging Ben and why that is the correct decision.

From the anonymous source department, according to a friend of the Rooney family, Art II and Dan do not see eye to eye on the Ben situation. According to the source, if Ben is charged with sexual assault and Art does not cut Ben, Dan will resign the Ambasadorship to Ireland and return to Pittsburgh to re-take control of the team from Art II and cut Ben himself. Dan is tired of the team's name and the family's name being besmirched and does not want to stand for this type of behavior from the players any longer. Adds a little more excitement to the announcement Monday. I would be interested to see if they wait till his trial is over to cut him if he does get charged.

Will Ben be charged or not? What do you think the announcement means and the timing?