From Brooke Pryor at ESPN.com:

They called it a Van Wert 7.

In the post-corner route named for a northwest Ohio school that executed it to perfection, the receiver ran 12 yards, took an outside step to a post and took four steps. As soon as the safety turned his hips, he planted and came back out toward the pylon.



It was a staple in Findlay (Ohio) High School’s offense in 1998, the route that Ryan Hite and Ben Roethlisberger used Friday nights to pick apart defenses filled with undersized cornerbacks.

But Roethlisberger wasn’t the one throwing the ball.

He was on the receiving end of Hite’s passes — 57 of them that year to be exact.

Before he set records as a quarterback his senior year, before he became the Pittsburgh Steelers’ top draft pick out of Miami (Ohio), and before he won two Super Bowl rings as one of the NFL’s best signal callers, Roethlisberger spent his junior year of high school playing wide receiver.

It gave Roethlisberger a deeper understanding of the game he took with him the rest of his career — something he found again last season as he stood on the sideline following a season-ending elbow injury in Week 2.

“[Findlay] coach [Cliff Hite] was always like, ‘It benefited you as a senior playing quarterback from playing wide receiver your junior year,'” Roethlisberger said. “I never understood it at the time, but I think it does to a certain extent because you can see the other side of it.

“I was able to kind of see the bigger picture of being a quarterback just from being on the sideline last year.”

As Roethlisberger makes his long-awaited return Monday night against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium (7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN), he steps back on the field with a repaired elbow and a refreshed body.

Perhaps just as important, he returns with a new perspective, much like he got more than 20 years ago at Findlay.


You can read the rest here.

“I still love this game, I am still passionate for it. I want to go out and win for the fans, the city.” — Ben.

From his interview with the media this morning:

“I was driving in (to practice) today and crossed the Veterans Bridge and was thinking to myself, man, I am already nervous for this season,” said Roethlisberger. “You always have a little bit of jitters and nervousness for the first game. The way I feel now is more than how I have felt in a long time. I am sure it’s going to intensify as the week goes on, then Monday night I am sure I am going to be shaking like a leaf. It’s one of those things you get out there and hopefully it all comes back to me really quick.

“There is going to be rust, no doubt about it. Hopefully we can get it knocked off sooner rather than later. That is what makes it fun. If I wasn’t nervous, if I didn’t have that anxiousness, you shouldn’t be out there. If there is not a love for the game, if you don’t have that. Since I have those nerves already it shows I still love this game, I am still passionate for it. I want to go out and win for the fans, the city.”

Without a preseason, yes, there definitely will be some rust, but it won’t just be Roethlisberger. He will be working with a lot of new faces on offense, including some younger guys he is going to have to manage. But he said the first step is managing himself.

“I am more worried about myself than the other guys,” said Roethlisberger. “I have to manage myself as the quarterback, the guy who is handling the ball every play. Making sure we are in the right play. Not trying to do too much. It’s going to be on me to get myself under control, then help […]