With trade rumors swirling on the eve of the National Football League draft, one of Ben Roethlisberger's attorneys took to the airwaves Thursday and proclaimed that the quarterback wants to remain with the team he has led to two Super Bowl victories.

Now, attorney William David Cornwell Sr. said, Mr. Roethlisberger needs to focus on regaining the respect of his team, its fans and his peers following public scrutiny over rape allegations in Georgia.

"Ben wants to be part of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and we believe the Pittsburgh Steelers want Ben to be part of that organization," Mr. Cornwell said during a 10-minute interview on the "Mike and Mike" ESPN sports radio show.

After a long year of negative publicity that began with a suit filed last year in Nevada charging that Mr. Roethlisberger raped a Lake Tahoe resort hostess in his hotel room and continued with the accusations last month in Milledgeville, Ga., Mr. Cornwell tried to strike an upbeat, forward-looking note.

"Ben is going to meet the conditions and then some to earn back the right to get on the field and then earn the respect of his teammates, the fans, players throughout the NFL and the media. He's committed to do it. He's a winner. This guy's competitive, and they've put something in front of him and said, 'You can achieve this.' He'll get it done."

Mr. Cornwell did not respond to requests for an interview.

Mr. Roethlisberger, 28, has denied any wrongdoing in Nevada during a celebrity golf tournament in July 2008 and has countersued his accuser.

In the Georgia case, a 20-year-old college student claimed he raped her in a nightclub bathroom. Mr. Roethlisberger was not charged with a crime, the case was closed, and his legal team contends he did nothing criminal.

Asked what his client did wrong, Mr. Cornwell said, "It really is again difficult to put your finger on. Poor judgment is really ..." and then the host cut him off by rephrasing the question.

Mr. Cornwell then noted NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's view of a "consistent theme of alcohol" and ended by saying, "It's a number of things: the undertone of the sexual issues that may offend the sensibilities of some," including fans, the Rooney family, the Steelers and the NFL.

Mr. Cornwell, who is based in Atlanta, revealed during the radio show that the four- to six-week suspension meted out to his client by Mr. Goodell could have been far longer -- and that the player was angling for only two weeks.

"He used the term 'indefinite,' you know; an indefinite suspension was possible," Mr. Cornwell said, referring to a conversation he and Mr. Goodell had Sunday. "I understand that he may have expressed to the Rooneys that eight to 10 games was within the realm of possibility."

The suspension -- based on a contention that Mr. Roethlisberger violated the league's personal conduct policy -- is for six weeks, but it can be reduced to four if the quarterback completes counseling. He will lose between $1.9 million and $3.3 million.

Mr. Cornwell described his client as "disappointed" by the length of his punishment.

"I think the difficulty is, you know, that with all due respect, the media portrayal of the events in Georgia, while intense, was somewhat one-sided. And the discipline coming on the heels of that media coverage, you know, it seems like it's been lost in the story that he didn't commit a crime, his conduct was not criminal, recognizes that there's some judgment issues, but he's willing to be held accountable."

Mr. Cornwell said he and Mr. Goodell spoke several times about the Roethlisberger situation.

He described the commissioner as having "an open mind and, I think, based on our discussion, he came down to the four to six range. We had hoped that four would be the starting point and Ben would be able to work it down to two. The commissioner initially was not receptive to this conditional mechanism that he ultimately embraced."

Greg Aiello, an NFL spokesman, declined to discuss details about any conversation between the two men, who worked together in the league offices for several years during the 1980s and '90s.

He did note, however, that there was no negotiating Mr. Roethlisberger's punishment. Mr. Goodell's decision was unilateral.

"He gave the commissioner views, as did others. As we indicated, as Roger has said, he spoke to many different people about this. But he made the decision," Mr. Aiello said.

"We're not going to get into conversations that he had with David Cornwell. We're not going to dispute it. We're not going to respond to it."

A Steelers spokesman declined comment.

Ed Bouchette's blog on the Steelers and Gerry Dulac's Steelers chats are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.