There’s no more enjoyable way for me to spend a Sunday afternoon than on the couch, watching football, or soccer, or hockey, and even though the banality and faux machismo of baseball makes me loathe it, people love sitting on their couches and watching that too, and that’s fine.

To those that do not enjoy sports and see them as a waste of time, I would argue that at the core of sports is human history itself; our minds constantly try to understand the limits of the human body, and to see other humans use their bodies in ways that we cannot is inherently interesting.

So many films, photographs, works of art, songs and literature are inspired by the physical limits of the human body and our constant struggle to make ourselves do new things through sport. Sports also bring communities together, and are generally fun to play.

The pinnacle of athletics in America is the Super Bowl, and anybody who argues against that is wasting their breath. The Super Bowl attracts 80 million more viewers than anything else on American television, and the AFC Championship game this year featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets attracted roughly 41 million viewers, which does not even account for the tens of millions more who watched in bars or at parties.

The fans at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field roared as the Jets hung their heads and left the field, and Ben Roethlisberger, two-time Super Bowl Champion and Steelers quarterback, buried his face in a shirt, kneeling near the end zone in a solemn display of emotion. Ben climbed up to the podium and was greeted by CBS Sportscaster Jim Nantz.

“God is good” were the first words out of Ben’s mouth. As I was still reeling from this response, Nantz had the gall to start his next question with the words, “With all you’ve been through this year…,” and at that point, I think I threw up a little bit.

“With all you’ve been through.” Really!? Yes, Jim Nantz and Ben Roethlisberger were kind enough to remind us that the real victims in cases of sexual misconduct are the assailants. Did you victims ever once stop to think about how you might be affecting your attacker’s life? Some people are just so selfish.

Absolutely ridiculous. Ben didn’t go through anything—he put others through stuff. Why has this become a story of redemption? Ben has been a symbol of reckless behavior before; a few years ago, he crashed his motorcycle helmet-less, completely ignoring the multi-million dollar investment the Steelers organization put into him to be the face of their franchise.

Then years of allegations finally caught up to him and he was suspended for his sexual misconduct (though never formally charged, the officer who took the report later resigned because he made disparaging comments about the victim while at the scene, even joking with Ben).

Now we are treated to stories about Ben overcoming his adversity. His adversity? I wasn’t aware that you create your own adversity and then overcome it. Adversity is an unfortunate situation or simple misfortune. If even half of the rumors of Roethlisberger’s conduct are true (and there are many), it seems to me he got exactly what he wanted out of the situation for a long time: to use his celebrity status to do inappropriate things, and then to avoid getting caught for it. So now that he has been caught he’s facing adversity?

Victims of sexual assault can develop fears of intimacy, feelings of shame, and have the memory of it in their heads for their whole life. And could you imagine if you were violated by somebody, then had to see their face on the most watched program in America?

But you needn’t worry America – Ben is fine. He’s overcome his adversity. He even said that “God is good,” so that means he’s a Christian and a good person. Never mind the fact that there could be women out there traumatized by his actions.

So come Super Bowl Sunday, I will be on my couch, rooting for the Packers, a team that over the last 20 years has only had 33 percent of its starting quarterbacks send unsolicited photos of their penises to a woman.  And I guess, for pro athletes, that’s progress.