Ben was a call-in guest earlier today with Bob Pompeani on 93.7 The Fan. Some of the highlights:


He talked about Jerome Bettis & the HOF –

“Well, to me, and obviously I’m going to be a little more biased, but it’s more than just about the football player. I mean Jerome is the Pittsburgh Steelers….in my era, Jerome IS Pittsburgh. His stats speak for themselves, he has done so much on the football field. But as a leader of the community, and of the young men who came into that locker room, me, he has done so much and meant so much for the game of football, for the city, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. For me it’s a no-brainer [that he should be a Hall of Famer].”


He spoke of K9 Officer Rocco –

“It’s so sad. I’ve got many friends that are K9 officers and officers in general. Some people look at this as just a dog, well you know what? It’s way more than that, it’s an officer. I talked to Officer Phil Lerza last night, I talked to him after the incident wishing him and Rocco the best. Then obviously Rocco passed away, and I talked to Phil yesterday and last night a couple times to let him know we’re thinking about him.

“You know, it’s more than just a partner. It’s one thing to have a human partner that you deal with at work only This is a partner that goes home with him, it effects his family – his kids, his wife – that’s a family dog as well. It effects more than just one person. It’s truly sad what happened. Rocco served very well here for eight years and did a great job. I just told Phil that we’re thinking about him and wishing him the best and we’ll do what we can as a foundation to help him out.”


Ben was also asked about kickers in the HOF, the NFL’s playoff format, and the offenses vs defenses in the Super Bowl tomorrow.


You can listen to the podcast here.


*Thank you to Mr. Pompeani and to Mr. Mike Vukovcan of KDKA.