Ben Roethlisberger had the big, splashy NFL superstar wedding last weekend you expected him to have.

The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and Ashley Harlan were married in a tony Pittsburgh suburb amid the requisite tight security, with guests being whisked around in limos the size of bullet trains with tinted windows, and everyone connected with the wedding taking the oath of omerta not to reveal details to the media. 

Just last year, of course, Roethlisberger was the poster boy for goonish behavior toward women, especially during the early-morning hours in small-town college bars.

If your 21-year-old daughter was in the joint and Roethlisberger and his beered-up pals swaggered in, you hoped she'd have enough sense to quickly finish her drink and head for the door.

But now Big Ben is married, which could go a long way toward rehabilitating his image -- at least if the two lovebirds stay together for longer than a cup of coffee.

Although much of the guest list was hush-hush, the Associated Press reported that James Harrison was present, which you'd imagine would make for some uncomfortable moments at the reception, especially when the open bar got going and the night wore on.

You'll recall that Harrison, the fierce Steelers linebacker, took some shots at Big Ben in a recent Men's Journal article, dissing him for throwing a couple of picks against the Green Bay Packers in the Steelers' February loss to the Green Bay Packers.

"Hey, at least throw a pick on their side of the field instead of asking the D to bail you out again," Harrison was quoted as saying about his quarterback. "Or hand the ball off and stop trying to act like Peyton Manning. You ain't that and you know it, man. You just get paid like he does."

Hoo, boy. Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed that day.

Harrison back-tracked (a little) when the article came out, using the time-honored excuse about his quotes being taken out of context, not truly indicative of how he felt about Roethlisberger, etc.

But no one was really buying that. And yet somehow Harrison STILL made it Big Ben and Ashley's nuptials, which might be one of the biggest upsets of the NFL off-season so far. 

If that doesn't indicate Roethlisberger is a forgiving man, nothing does.

Getty photos of Ben Roethlisberger and James Harrison