There is no grant announcement this week for the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation, so fan Vicki Lebakken sent this story for us to share in it’s place…

From Erin Tracy at the Modesto Bee:

Ike is a $9,137 investment for the Modesto Police Department.

But to the Pershalls, he is a member of the family, a reminder of a father and husband who was lost.

The Modesto City Council on Tuesday will consider, at the police chief’s suggestion, to sell Ike to Sgt. Mike Pershall’s family for $1.

Pershall died Aug. 22 when he was struck by a suspected drunk driver while riding his bicycle off-duty in east Modesto. Pershall had been Ike’s handler for two years.

Modesto Police Chief Galen Carroll said his desire to essentially give Ike to Pershall’s family might not be popular among everyone – the dog is 3 years old and most K9’s work until they are 8 or sometimes as old as 10 – but he feels it is the right thing to do.

“It is not a good deal for the police department to lose the dog,” Carroll said. “But there is also the human factor of, you have a wife and two kids who just lost their dad, and that’s the family dog. What is the right thing to do?”

Modesto Police Canine Association president and K9 handler Daniel Starr said the association “absolutely, without a shadow of doubt, supports giving Ike to Pershall’s family.”

“We spend more time with our dogs than we do with our wives and kids … so there is a bond there that no one understands unless they are currently or have been a K9 handler,” Starr said. “But the dogs spend a significant amount of time with our wives and children as well, and there is a significant amount of comfort they bring (to our families) because they know the dogs protect us while we are at work.”

Starr said the association was created in 1999 to pay for the ongoing veterinary care, kenneling and ultimately death costs of retired canines. It’s been the practice in the department to sell those canines to the handler for $1.

“The work that is performed by the dogs and their handlers as well as the bond that is formed is incredible.”— Ben.

The sale absolves the city of any […]

Recap from Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown have a chemistry that makes the Steelers’ quarterback think of some of the best duos ever to play the game.

When he thinks of their chemistry, he thinks of the likes of the 49ers’ Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, the Cowboys’ Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin, and the Steelers’ Terry Bradshaw and John Stallworth and Lynn Swann.

“We have amazing chemistry,” said Roethlisberger. “I would like to think we may go down as one of the best quarterback-wide receiver duos of all time. That would be an awesome honor because of the guys that I consider that are up there.”

But even the best relationships can cause some frustration, something that played out on Sunday against the Ravens.

On Wednesday, though, that was all in the rearview mirror for Roethlisberger.

“We are over it now,” said Roethlisberger. “We have moved on to Jacksonville. It’s Wednesday, it’s Jacksonville week. This is a really good defense. We don’t have time to think about anything else other than that right now.”

Yes, it is a good Jacksonville defense the Steelers will face on Sunday at Heinz Field. The Jaguars have the NFL’s top-ranked pass defense, allowing just 147 yards passing per game.

They also have 18 sacks, through just four games, and five interceptions. This is a defense not to be messed with.

“They have a million and a half sacks, forced fumbles,” said Roethlisberger. “Their secondary, they paid a lot of money to. They lock people down. Right now we aren’t sure what we are going to do. It’s that good of a defense. Luckily we aren’t playing today or tomorrow. We have time to get into the film room and figure things out. This will be a very good test for us.”

It will be a test with an offense that is starting to find their rhythm. The first quarter of the season is over, the time when a team feels things out. Now is the time an offense gels, and Roethlisberger expects to see more of that.

“It’s a feeling out, especially when you have Le’Veon (Bell) coming back, not being there early. Martavis (Bryant) not here all last year, and new guys, JuJu (Smith-Schuster), […]

“Century Club: 100-year-old loves ice cream, trains and Big Ben”


From Kevin Kirkland at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today:

George Lunn once shook the hand of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But if you gave him a choice, he’d rather have a bowl of ice cream.

Mr. Lunn, who turned 100 on Sept. 17, sometimes eats ice cream three times a day. He traces his love back to the 1940s, when he ran the Maple Dell restaurant in Moon with his wife, Gladys. Burgers were 5 cents, soft-serve ice cream cones were a dime and milkshakes were 15 cents. They also had an ice cream cart at the bottom of Stoops Ferry Hill, also in Moon.

Mr. Lunn was born in Allegheny County Hospital on Sept. 17, 1917, the youngest of Frank and Dorothy Lunn’s five children. He graduated in 1935 from Coraopolis High School, where he lettered in football all four years.

After graduation, he worked at the Standard Steel Spring Co., making car bumpers for 35 cents an hour. He got a raise to 50 cents an hour when he became a foreman.

In 1939 he married Gladys Ebert and they had two boys: George Jr. of El Cajon, Calif., and David of Greer, S.C., with whom he lives.

In 1942, Mr. Lunn joined his father working for the Pennsylvania & Lake Erie Railroad. He enlisted in the Army but was released from his obligation because he was needed at the railroad. President Roosevelt visited a railroad station during the war and shook his hand. He retired in 1972 after 30 years of service.

A member of Simpsonville United Methodist Church, Mr. Lunn likes to watch birds and loves trains, cats, the Pirates and the Steelers, especially Ben Roethlisberger. He works out at the YMCA twice a week and was pleased to see his picture and birthday on a Smucker’s jelly jar.

Mr. Lunn was a member of the Coraopolis Volunteer Fire Department from the late 1930s to the mid-’50s.

In 1969, his wife passed away after 30 years of marriage. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer and moved to South Carolina, where he met and married his second wife, Ruth, in 1975. He was recently honored as the longest survivor of prostate cancer in America at 48 years.

Mr. Lunn has five grandchildren and nine great-grandchilden, many of whom joined […]

“Anytime you beat Baltimore especially in Baltimore it’s a good feeling…I felt pretty good with the game I called and the decisions I made” — Ben.

Just in case you missed Ben’s show today on Cook & Poni, here’s the recap, courtesy of 93.7 The Fan:

Coming off the teams 26-9 victory over the Baltimore Ravens, Ben Roethlisberger joined The Cook and Poni Show for The #1 Cochran Ben Roethlisberger Show and talked about the offense’s overall performance, why he thinks they took a step forward and what he thought of Antonio Brown’s “temper tantrum” on the sideline after not being thrown the ball.

“He got upset because he was open, which I can understand, sometimes that happens…it’s not like I intentionally missed him, it’s not like I intentionally didn’t throw it to him. I was doing what my reads tell me to do, I don’t even want to say I made a mistake, because I was reading the side I was supposed to read. It’s just unfortunate that it happened, and it’s unfortunate that he acted and reacted that way.”

Ben even took us onto the sidelines and shared what he said to Brown right after the play.

“I told him on the sideline, ‘AB, just come talk to me, ask me what happened, tell me that you were open.’ You know, if that were Heath Miller, I’d probably ask Heath on the sideline, ‘Hey Heath, were you open?’ and he’d probably tell me ‘No,’ because he wouldn’t want you to feel bad, that’s just who he was…that goes a lot further than throwing a temper tantrum.”

It wasn’t just Ben that Brown was mad at as he also had a moment with offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

“We all try to talk to him and it didn’t help. I think it’s bad in the sense that we have a lot of young guys that see that too. Juju [Smith-Schuster] sitting right next to him and looking at that, and what’s Juju thinking? Is he thinking that it’s ok to act that way? I don’t know.”

And it’s not just the young guys that Ben is worried about in this situation as he talked about the distraction it can be for everyone.

“I don’t know that he needs to react that way. He’s super human on the football […]

“For us to come out and just play football was a lot of fun!” — Ben.

Game Recap:

The Steelers got their offense running –

Le’Veon Bell rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns, and the Steelers beat the Ravens 26-9 on Sunday in a duel for first place in the AFC North.

Though held to a touchdown over the final 30 minutes, Pittsburgh (3-1) mounted enough of an attack before halftime to earn its first win in Baltimore since 2012.

Coming into the game, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was asked to identify the problem with a Pittsburgh offense that had produced only six touchdowns in 12 quarters.

“The quarterback needs to play better,” he said.

Roethlisberger went 18 for 30 for 216 yards and a touchdown. Bell did more than his share, carrying the ball 35 times to help the Steelers amass 381 yards in offense.

The Ravens (2-2), meanwhile, looked every bit like the 32nd-ranked offense in the NFL. Baltimore trailed 19-0 at halftime, generated only 154 yards through three quarters and stumbled through a second straight game with only one touchdown.

Joe Flacco completed 31 of 49 passes for 235 yards, was sacked four times and intercepted twice.

Baltimore closed to 19-3 in the third quarter after an interception by Ravens safety Eric Weddle. The turnover occurred only after a challenge by Baltimore coach John Harbaugh overturned the original ruling of a catch and a tackle.

After Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell missed a 44-yard field goal, Alex Collins promptly ran for 50 yards to set up a 16-yard touchdown pass from Flacco to Mike Wallace. The Ravens went for 2, made it, then lost the points after a replay showed Terrance West’s elbow hit the ground before the ball made it to the end zone.

In the fourth quarter, on a fourth-and-12 from the Pittsburgh 47, Flacco was picked off by Mike Hilton with 5 { minutes left, launching a rapid exit by many of the fans.

That led to Bell’s second 1-yard touchdown run with 2:26 to go.

The Steelers’ first drive of the game covered 84 yards, lasted nearly 10 { minutes and ended with a 30-yard field goal.

Boswell made it 6-0 with a 49-yarder midway through the second quarter after Roethlisberger connected with JuJu Smith-Schuster for 19 yards on a third-down play.

A fumble by Collins set up a […]