Innocent until proven guilty?

It's supposed to be that way.

But it doesn't seem to be the case for a pair of professional athletes these days.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was accused of sexual assault. He hasn't been convicted of — or even charged with — sexual assault.

Penguins forward Matt Cooke delivered a crunching hit on Boston Bruins' forward Marc Savard, unfortunately resulting in a severe concussion and a likely premature end to the season of the Bruins' best player.

Cooke has been accused of a dirty play by players, media members and fans. He was not penalized for the play, nor fined or suspended by the NHL office after a review of the play.

The court of public opinion rules over all.

Many Steelers fans already are calling for the team to dump Roethlisberger and to replace him with somebody else. The guy isn't even in his prime yet and already has two Super Bowl rings. He's coming off a 4,000-yard passing season — the first in team history.

It doesn't matter.

He's disgraced the Steeler name. He's damaged the Steeler image. He's a traitor to Steeler Nation.

Actually, Steeler Nation needs to take a deep breath here and relax.

The police investigation is ongoing. The facts will come out. If Roethlisberger is charged, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell likely will hand him a suspension and then the team has a problem.

That hasn't happened yet.

Does Roethlisberger need to make better decisions? Yes. Is Roethlisberger a jerk who thinks he can do no wrong? Maybe.

Either way, he's innocent until proven guilty, just like anyone else.

In Cooke's case, the NHL already has deemed him innocent. You just wouldn't know it by listening to anybody else.

Yes, Cooke's hit on Savard was too high. Shoulder to shoulder rather than shoulder to head would have been much better and a penalty could have been called because of the blow to the head.

But Cooke was a physical forward backchecking in his own end. His physicality is why the Penguins brought him here in the first place.

Jarko Ruutu played the same role when he was with the Pens and fans worshipped the guy. He just never sent anyone off the ice on a stretcher.

Savard was caught off-balance to his blind side. If the exact same play results in him hobbling to the bench, nobody says a word about it. It's just hockey, after all.

The NHL now is addressing the issue of blows to the head. That's a good thing.

If Roethlisberger leads some fourth-quarter comebacks next fall, the cheers will be deafening.

If Cooke scores a game-winning goal in the Stanley Cup Finals, ditto.

Luckily for both, the court of public opinion has a short memory.