Pittsburgh Steelers

Hines Ward better stay out of trouble for the next 12 months ... 'cause the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver has been sentenced to a year of probation stemming from his 2011 DUI arrest.

TMZ broke the story ... Ward was arrested for DUI in DeKalb County, Georgia on July 9 ... after cops say he was driving his Aston Martin like a drunken maniac ... weaving in and out of his lane and hitting a curb.

Now, Ward has struck a plea deal with prosecutors ... in which he pled guilty to reckless driving and no contest to failure to stay in his lane (below) ... and in exchange, the DUI charge was dropped.

Ward was sentenced to 12 months probation, 80 hours of community service and ordered to submit to an alcohol evaluation and any treatment suggested by the evaluators.

He was also ordered to pay $2,000 in fines and court costs.

During the first quarter of the Lions game today, the announcer, Chris Myers was talking about a player who was on the Pittsburgh Steelers last season but now plays for Detroit. He said, "Going from two Super Bowls in Pittsburgh to the winless Detroit team -- that's like going from dating Beyonce to Whoopi Goldberg."

It took only one week -- but the ruthless Madden video game curse struck again last night.

After making one of the sickest interceptions you're going to see all year, 2010 Madden co-cover guy Troy Polamalu went down with a sprained MCL in his knee during the 2nd quarter of last night's Steelers-Titans game.

It's no coincidence ... no fluke ... he should've seen it coming.

Players who have graced the cover of the Madden video game box have been doomed since 2002 -- Marshall Faulk, Ray Lewis, Vince Young, Shaun Alexander ... and of course Michael Vick.

The photos appear to show several key members from the 2006 Super Bowl championship team -- including Joey Porter (front left), Ike Taylor, James Harrison, Max Starks, James Farrior, Brett Keisel and Najeh Davenport -- screwin' around with the high-power firearms while state troopers smiled in the background.

Ironically, a police spokesperson claims the players were there because the "Steelers camp" had requested a gun safety course.

Even the National Rifle Association won't defend this, telling the Philidelphia Daily News there were multiple "dumb and dangerous" safety violations. No kidding...

UPDATE: The Steelers just released the following statement:

"Steelers players are counseled at least annually on the importance of gun safety. We are not aware of any violations of law or NFL policies in regard to the visit to the State Police facilities three years ago. We recommend all of our players use extreme caution and good judgment if they choose to possess a firearm."

McNulty claims Roethlisberger assaulted her after she was called to his room to fix his TV in July 2008.

A woman claims Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger lured her into a hotel room, then sexually assaulted her, according to a new lawsuit.

Andrea McNulty claims in her civil lawsuit filed in Washoe County, Nevada, this year's Super Bowl winner asked her to come to his hotel room in July, 2008 -- and then forced her to have sex with him.

McNulty -- an employee at the Harrah's Hotel in Lake Tahoe -- is suing for sexual assault and battery, false imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress.

Ben denies all of McNulty's allegations. Roethlisberger's lawyer told ProFootballTalk.com, "The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the absence of any criminal conduct."

Roethlisberger was in Nevada at the time of the alleged incident for a celebrity golf tournament.

Coincidentally, Big Ben was photographed in Nevada this weekend for a different celebrity golf tournament, in which he shot a few rounds with Michael Jordan (see photo below).