It used to be easy to root for Big Ben Roethlisberger. If you admired the grit and tenacity of Pittsburgh, you liked him. He played hard, he hung in under pressure, made plays out of nothing and pulled games out of despair. He wasn’t flashy, just a winner.

Hard to see him the same way again, even if he is the same player.

Roethlisberger made his preseason debut against the Giants Saturday night. He ran 17 plays, went 6-for-8 for 76 yards and led the Steelers to a second-quarter field goal. He completed a few bootlegs and sprintouts, had one pass intercepted running away from pressure, made one great throw to set up the field goal and went back into mothballs for the rest of the game. It will be Byron Leftwich‘s team for at least the first month of the season as Roethlisberger sits out a suspension for violating the NFL‘s personal conduct policy. His wrist must really hurt. He’s lucky he’s not in jail.

Roethlisberger escaped criminal charges after a 20-year-old college student accused him of sexual assault in a restroom at a Milledgeville, Ga. nightclub, where he allegedly had his bodyguard thugs stand guard. He still faces a civil lawsuit involving a sexual assault accusation from a 2008 incident at a casino in Lake Tahoe, Nev. That lawsuit is being delayed because the Nevada Supreme Court is considering a change of venue.

So it was a contrite Roethlisberger who rushed out of the locker room Saturday night ahead of most reporters, saying he was “definitely nervous” and that he “expected it.” He reacted to boos from Giants fans with, “We always get booed on the road.”

At home? We’ll see. But don’t count on it.

In the meantime, he’s been trying to be the perfect teammate – running onto the field to high-five Leftwich after he fired a 68-yard TD pass Saturday night. So far, his teammates have said nothing for public consumption, although a few have groused behind the scenes that he’s put them in a bad spot. In any case, when he does come back, it will be about football, not about bad behavior. That may be sad, considering there are victims who could care less about the Steelers’ season. But it’s also reality. It’s what happens in sports. We grimace and bear it and if the home team is involved, we cheer it.

So it was Saturday night when coach Mike Tomlin was asked about “disruptions.” “I don’t care about the disruptions quite frankly when it comes to his performance,” Tomlin said. “He’s a professional. His job is to play and lead us. He’s done that. He needs to continue to do that. And we’ll deal with all the other things we have to deal with in the appropriate manner.”

In Pittsburgh, blue-collar sensibilities and old-fashioned values have been tested and fans are in a moral dilemma when it comes to their quarterback. When the coed’s account of the incident in Georgia became public, the vivid descriptions hit home.

In a poll conducted by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 61% wanted Roethlisberger suspended and 23% wanted him traded. The negative furor died down somewhat after camp started. According to someone close to the team and the town, fans will still support the Steelers but might want to take a shower afterwards.

It’s striking that it was Steelers-Giants Saturday night. They are throwbacks to the days when NFL teams were family-run businesses, and nobody cares more for their players and employees than the Rooney and Mara families.

Roethlisberger has twice thumbed his nose at ownership with his irresponsible conduct and they have taken him back. But if being a Super Bowl contender didn’t rest so heavily on Roethlisberger’s arm, he could have easily been cut loose, just as the Steelers traded bad boy Santonio Holmes.

Roethlisberger’s supporters point out that only one side of the Georgia incident has come out – the alleged victim’s. But Roethlisberger did get to tell his story to the Steelers and to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, whose suspension was no indication of innocence by anyone’s imagination. Goodell is expected to reduce the six-week suspension to four, based on Roethlisberger’s good conduct so far. From all accounts, he’s been a model citizen, in addition to being the Steelers’ best player at training camp. It’s easy, however, to be chastened when put on notice, to play the choir boy. The real test of whether Roethlisberger is a changed man will come in the offseason when he’s away from the team and the game.

Suspension or not, it would be fitting if Roethlisberger paid for this the way Tiger Woods has. Woods’ family has been blown apart and for the time being, he has lost his game. He has become a lonely individual. And the worst is yet to come. When Woods’ kids are old enough to understand, how will he explain it all to them?

Roethlisberger’s guilt will be more easily mitigated – by touchdown passes.

Before the game, he slapped hands with every teammate as they went through stretching. Then he knelt down at the 20, prayed and pointed up to the sky.

No doubt, he’ll need God’s help.

First, he’ll have to help himself.