Week 1: Steelers 21, Browns 18
“Big Ben now has more wins in Cleveland than every Browns QB since 1999”
From Ryan Wilson, CBS Sports:
Just to be clear: Big Ben plays for the Steelers
On Sunday afternoon, rookie second-round pick DeShone Kizer became the Browns’ 27th starting quarterback since returning to Cleveland in 1999. The team had previously — and unsuccessfully — used first-rounders on the likes of Tim Couch, Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden and Johnny Manziel.
But in 2004, the Browns could’ve ended the run of futility and saved themselves and their embittered fan base 14 more seasons of misery. All they had to do was draft Ohio native Ben Roethlisberger with the sixth-overall pick. Instead, then-coach (and former University of Miami coach) Butch Davis went with tight end Kellen Winslow, who two games into his rookie season broke his leg in a motorcycle accident. And three years after that, was out of Cleveland altogether.
Roethlisberger, meanwhile, has two Super Bowl rings and remains one of the league’s best passers.
We mention this because Roethlisberger and the Steelers eked out a 21-18 Week 1 win at FirstEnergy Stadium, which now means Roethlisberger — who, we reiterate, plays for the Steelers — now has more wins in Cleveland than any Browns quarterback since the team returned to the NFL in 1999.
Roethlisberger is now 22-2 against the Browns all time, and 11-2 when playing in Cleveland. Derek Anderson, who played for the Browns from 2005-09 and was the last quarterback to lead the team to a winning record (10-6 in 2007) trails Big Ben with 10 wins in Cleveland.
And it sounds like Big Ben’s motivation, in part, comes from the fact that the Browns passed on him more than 13 years ago. This tweet, prior to the Steelers-Browns matchup last November, remains evergreen.
“Two quarterbacks had already been picked (Philip Rivers and Eli Manning), so as a competitor, I felt underestimated,” Big Ben told ESPN.com at the time. “When Cleveland passed on me, technically my hometown team, that was it. I couldn’t wait to have a team and play the Browns at some point. Funny how it works out I’d go to Pittsburgh and play them twice a year.”
Roethlisberger finished 24 of 36 for 263 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against the Browns on Sunday.
You can read more here.
Ben, […]
Congratulations #7!
Congrats to @_BigBen7! A great QB. https://t.co/cCSqq4TdtC
— Francis Tarkenton (@Fran_Tarkenton) September 10, 2017
A different kind of Fan Friday
First grants of the 2017-18 season for the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation
Today, Ben announced the first grant awards of the 2017 season from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund.
The Foundation will be distributing grants to the Lorain Police Department and the Medina County Sheriff’s Office, both just outside of Cleveland where the Steelers will play the Browns this Sunday, September 10th.
The Lorain Police Department will use the grant funds to update their K-9 training equipment, while the Medina County Sheriff’s Office will use their grant to purchase safety equipment for their K-9s.
“The Lorain Police Department would like to thank the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation for their generous donation, which will help ensure our K-9 program continues to serve our community as well as surrounding communities for years to come.” — Police Chief Cel Rivera, Lorain Police Department.
During the 2017 NFL season, the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation will be distributing grants to K-9 units of police and fire departments in the cities and surrounding communities of each regular season away game for the Steelers. The Foundation will also distribute several grants to the Pittsburgh area and will consider a grant to a non-NFL market city in the United States if the Steelers advance to the playoffs. Ben invited police and fire departments across the country to submit proposals detailing their needs.
This marks the 11th season that Ben’s foundation has distributed grants to K-9 units.
The mission of his foundation is to support K-9 units of police and fire departments throughout the United States, with a particular emphasis on support for service dogs in Pittsburgh, PA. Ben and his foundation also support Make-A-Wish.
The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation distributed more than $150,000 in grants to K-9 units around the country during the 2016 NFL season, including $76,000 in the Pittsburgh community. The Foundation has distributed in excess of $1.65 million since 2007.
“We are fortunate to be one of this year’s grant recipients from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation. Our K-9 program has become an integral part of the Medina County Sheriff’s Office. If not for the generous citizens of Medina County and others such as the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation, our K-9 program would not be possible or have the success that it has achieved.” — Sheriff Tom Miller, Medina County Sheriff’s Office.
“Our department is grateful for the support […]
“Ben schools rookies on ‘Steeler tradition'”
From Mike Prisuta, Steelers.com:
As he readies for the season, Ben Roethlisberger is doing his best to make sure the rookies surrounding him are ready to be Steelers.
“It was kind of twofold,” Roethlisberger explained regarding how the stalls of outside linebacker T.J. Watt, running back James Conner and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster all wound up in Roethlisberger’s corner of the locker room at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “I wanted the young guys around so I could try and pass on some things that were passed on to me.
“And, they’re rookies so I never anticipated them being at their locker very much, so I get more room.”
Roethlisberger, entering his 14th NFL season, will be playing in his 186th regular-season game when the Steelers visit the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Watt, Conner and Smith-Schuster will be appearing in their first.
It’s up to them to know their assignments and their responsibilities.
Roethlisberger has taken it upon himself to make sure the three are up to speed on “Steeler tradition, the Steeler way.
“For T.J. being next to me it’s obviously different,” Roethlisberger continued. “I can’t talk to him about offensive things that I can talk to James and JuJu about. But I want to tell stories about guys I played with, about how we play, how we practice, anything that I picked up along my way.”
Roethlisberger is doing for Watt, Conner and Smith-Schuster what Jerome Bettis once did for a young quarterback from Miami, Ohio.
“I know he did it for a lot of people but he was a guy that I was close to and just enjoyed playing with and passed all those things along to me,” Roethlisberger said.
It’s not all story time this week.
With the regular season days away, Roethlisberger has noticed “the excitement, the attention to detail, the sense of urgency, all those things are turned up a little bit,” in practice.
“You have a game plan,” he said. “The execution is different than just calling a no-huddle play or whatever. You have to be dialed in because it’s a run-pass check. There are just a lot of details that you need to be on.”
They get to “Steelers 101” when they can.
“We did some of it today a little bit, asking them who their teams […]
Look out world!!!
