Ben Roethlisberger's legs broken in car crash? Nope, that's fake

A new "report" by something called "Global Associated News," released on Wednesday, claims that Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger just broke both his legs in a car accident.

The accident involved a 2012 BMW driven by Ben Roethlisberger and a 76 year old female driver in a 2010 Audi. The driver of the Audi was issued a citation for failing to stop at a red light before striking the vehicle driven by Ben Roethlisberger at a high rate of speed.

This is absolutely false. Read the disclaimer at the bottom of the page.

about this web site. FAKE... THIS STORY IS 100% FAKE! this is an entertainment website, and this is a totally fake article based on zero truth and is a complete work of fiction for entertainment purposes! this story was dynamically generated using a generic 'template' and is not factual.

Here's the thing. If a large number of people think your satire is real, it's either amazing as satire, or terrible. This falls into the latter category. It isn't funny, nor does it even try to be. And it doesn't offer any kind of trenchant commentary on ... well, anything, really.

So if you just tweeted to all your friends about Ben Roethlisberger breaking his legs, well, congrats! You just wasted everyone's time. It pays to wait until a reputable source publishes a piece of news before running with it. Maybe that's where the trenchant commentary comes in? If someone publishes a wild headline involving a celebrity, someone, somewhere will run with it, no matter how ridiculous it seems.

In other news, I heard the White House will soon release a redesign of the American flag.