Well, being in Pittsburgh and seeing him practically weekly now for the past 2 years, if not more frequently somehow, I can safely say he's not cocky and I'm not really sure where any of the anymosity comes from other than Dressel's observation earlier...
He's been incredibly humble and supportive of his teammates above and beyond his own personal "glory" on the field. He's very easy to talk to in person (from what I've met of him myself), and very chatty. He's actually somewhat a Star Wars fan too (not my own finding out on this, just what I've heard) and he's been generous in the community here. If that's cocky, so be it, but I've seen absolutely nothing that would make me want to dump on his character like that.
"Cocky" doesn't sit well with the Rooney's or the Pittsburgh fans... Burress was "cocky", and he's not here now. From what I've seen of Roethlisberger he's not even confident all the time in his ability to take charge of the game, though he says he's coming along, so I think quite differently on the man.
Riding a motorcycle is anyone's perogative... Riding without a helmet is too in this state, so whatever anyone's opinion may be on it, it's the law that he is allowed to. I hope he sees the light though and that he wouldn't step on the field without his helmet so he shouldn't fly down the highway without one either. The accident was completely the other person's fault (by early reports) as well, so it never SHOULD have happened, but stuff does and here we are. Sounds like he's not worse for wear really so he should be thankful and wiser now, I hope.
Bradshaw told him to wait'll he's 30 and his career is over to do this stuff... I agree. Then again, he's a grown man and I hope he at least wears his helmet during his riding hobby.