Roethlisberger: No more Big Ben

A contrite Ben Roethlisberger said he got caught up in being a caricature called Big Ben, not the grounded player and person he once was, leading to his off-field problems and affecting his play as the Steelers quarterback.

"Big Ben just kept building up. It ended up coming off the field. It kept taking over. Superman kept taking over Clark Kent and you just never saw who Ben Roethlisberger was any more," Roethlisberger told KDKA-TV. "At the time, I didn't see it. I was gaining everything but I was losing a lot of who I was raised to be. It got so overwhelming, it consumed me."

In his first detailed interviews since a Georgia college student accused him of sexually assaulting her in a nightclub bathroom on March 5, Roethlisberger told two Pittsburgh stations he doesn't have an alcohol problem. Roethlisberger didn't promise he wouldn't use alcohol again, but said he must make "smart" decisions.

He did promise he won't go back to being the ego-driven, rude and boorish person he was before, not only in public but in private.

"I've wanted to apologize to them [fans] for so many things. For being immature, for being dumb, for being young, for not knowing any better," he told WTAE. "For getting caught up in everything that was thrown my way. ... In my heart, I know I haven't been the best person, the best quarterback for the Steelers, I'm not talking just on the field, I'm talking off the field."

Already, he said, family members can tell a difference in him since the Georgia incident.

"My dad said to me about a month ago, it's good to have my son back," Roethlisberger told WTAE. "That killed me because my dad's been my best friend. For him to say that to me really let me know I wasn't who he raised me to be."

Westwood has one-stroke lead Lee Westwood took advantage of no wind and a rain-softened course to shoot a 7-under 63 that equaled his best PGA Tour round and gave him a one-stroke lead in the suspended first round of the St. Jude Classic. The world's No. 3-ranked player tuned up for the U.S. Open by tying the TPC Southwind course record for the back nine with a 29. Casey Wittenberg shot a 64, and Padraig Harrington had a 65. Defending champ Brian Gay opened with a 73 along with Jordan Spieth, the Texas teen who became the sixth-youngest player to make a PGA cut at the Byron Nelson last month.

Feng leads State Farm LPGA Classic

Shanshan Feng made five early birdies and shot an 8-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Juli Inkster and Na Yeon Choi at the State Farm LPGA Classic. Meena Lee, Alena Sharp, Anna Nordqvist, M.J. Hur and Song-Hee Kim were two shots back on a crowded leaderboard at Panther Creek Country Club

AROUND THE HORN

College basketball: A public memorial service for John Wooden will be held June 26 at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, where Wooden coached the Bruins to several of their record 10 national basketball championships under him.

Figure skating: The 2006 Olympic silver medalists, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, are retiring from competitive skating.