The following video shows the recent implosion of Texas Stadium. If you look closely, it kind of resembles the last four months of Santonio Holmes’ career.

I’ve been quiet about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offseason troubles thus far, in part because it seems what I wrote about Ben Roethlisberger four years ago…

It’s really difficult for any football fan to find out the hard way that your favorite team’s leader has all the common sense of 12-month-old. With colic.

…still appears to be true. Big Ben’s behavior over the last few months has suggested that his head has only gotten harder since his motorcycle accident. He got himself caught up in not one, but two cases of sexual assault, and while the Ocmulgee County District Attorney decided not to press charges against Roethlisberger for his stupidity in Milledgeville, it’s pretty obvious that the Steelers’ star quarterback needs to be smacked. We have a volunteer for this task, too.

But if Big Ben’s off-the-field woes were troubling, what are we to make of Santonio Holmes’ recent troubles, which led to the MVP of Super Bowl XLIII being dealt to the New York Jets for a meager 5th-round draft pick?

Clearly, there is more to Holmes’ dismissal from the Steelers than his public support for euthanasia on Twitter. The fact that he’s been accused of assaulting a woman in a night club — not the first time he’s faced an accusation of attacking a woman — and the fact that he’s been suspended for four games for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy and, perhaps more importantly, made no secret of his taste for toking, all played a role in this trade. Any one of these incidents separately might have been overlooked. All of them together made Holmes unwelcome in Pittsburgh.

It wasn’t a message to Roethlisberger, but a message to everyone. Anyone who wears the black and gold must uphold a certain standard of conduct. Holmes stopped meeting that standard. That’s why he’s a Jet now. As our pal MJD wrote, this deal simply had to be done. The Rooney family doesn’t put up with this nonsense. These are the Steelers, not the Bengals.

So why was Holmes traded while Roethlisberger remains? That merely comes down to the money invested in them. Holmes only had one year left on his contract, while Roethlisberger is two years into an 8-year, $102 million deal. Plus, receivers are far more expendable in the NFL than quarterbacks. You will recall the Steelers made no attempt to re-sign Plaxico Burress and still won Super Bowl XL without him. Sure, Burress also caught a Super Bowl-winning touchdown pass himself two years later, but then he subsequently shot himself right into prison. That’s the sort of headache the Steelers strive to avoid.

What does it mean for the Steelers on the field? If you look at it from purely a personnel standpoint, you can understand why JJ Cooper would suggest that the Steelers have lost their minds by trading Holmes. Hines Ward is getting older. Mike Wallace was a good 3rd receiver, but he still has a lot to prove. Limas Sweed bears a striking resemblance to Keary Colbert. Antwaan Randle El is back, but he clearly lost a step during his time in D.C. Why would Pittsburgh dump its best receiver in that scenario?

Simply put, Holmes started acting like he was bigger than the badge, and we all know what happens when a player does that. The Rooney would probably send Roethlisberger away as well if his contract didn’t make him impossible to trade. That contract is the reason we Steelers fans are stuck with a QB whom many will tag, unfairly or not, as a sexual predator. Listen closely, and you might hear Steeler Nation’s silent prayers for Dennis Dixon to save them from an ugly 2010 season — not to mention from the continuing sideshow of hate between Big Ben and Terry Bradshaw.

Meanwhile, Will Leitch reminds us that the Jets just became even more interesting in advance of their season on HBO’s Hard Knocks. Pro football in America remains as ugly as ever, but nobody denies that the NFL, like a big stadium implosion, makes for great television.