“Ben Roethlisberger and 9-year-old cancer survivor bond over cleats”
From Jeremy Fowler, at ESPN.com:
Carson Boyle is such a Ben Roethlisberger fanatic that he once designed a “Ben Roethlisturkey” for a school holiday arts and crafts project. He collected football cards and scouted the Pittsburgh Steelers while other kids played in the snow.
Fittingly, when he got his hands on a set of signed Roethlisberger cleats last week, the 9-year-old protected them like a left tackle.
“He wouldn’t let hotel room service in our room,” said Jennifer Boyle, Carson’s mother.
The Boyle family, from Minersville, Pennsylvania, visited the Steelers last week thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Last November, Carson was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. After several surgeries, Carson has been cancer-free since January, but for a few more years, there’s a one-in-three chance the cancer will surface in his lymph nodes.
Carson’s wish was obvious to those who know him — meet Roethlisberger. So a limo transported the Boyles to the Steelers facility, where they met the coaches and players. They spent about 20 minutes with Roethlisberger, who had signed cleats waiting for Carson.
“To Carson, there’s nothing bigger than meeting him and getting something autographed,” Jennifer said. “He literally couldn’t even speak. He was speechless. The look on his face, he was just in total amazement that he was there. [Ben] was really, really nice.”
Carson did muster the courage to ask a few questions about Roethlisberger’s favorite team growing up (49ers) and his favorite player (Jerry Rice). Roethlisberger signed autographs for Carson’s brothers, too.
Running back DeAngelo Williams also stopped to talk with Carson for a while. Make-A-Wish had told the Boyles that Williams — an outspoken breast cancer awareness advocate — was great with kids.
“He spent probably as much time as Ben Roethlisberger,” Jennifer said. “Carson was shy, so he said, ‘Well, let me ask you some questions?’ Carson definitely started to warm up after that.”
After a rough few months of treatment, Carson is healthy and living happily, especially after this weekend, which included tickets to the Steelers-Browns game.
“He said this was kind of like a storybook — it had a really rough beginning and a really happy ending,” Jennifer said.
You can read more from Mr. Fowler’s blog here.
Congratulations to Ben!!
From Steelers.com today:
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his Week 10 performance, it was announced today.
Roethlisberger completed 22-of-33 passes for 379 yards with three touchdowns for a passer rating of 123.2, after entering the game in the first quarter against the Cleveland Browns due to an injury to Landry Jones. Roethlisberger’s 379 passing yards set a single-game NFL record for the most passing yards by a quarterback that did not start the game.
It marked his 41st career 300-yard game during the regular season and the 32nd time he tossed at least three touchdowns in a regular-season contest. Roethlisberger has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 36 straight home games, the second-longest streak among active players and the fourth-longest streak in NFL history. His three passing touchdowns also tied him for the 14th-most passing touchdowns in league history.
This marks the 13th time Roethlisberger has been named AFC Offensive Player of the Week and the second time of the 2015 season (Week 2).
The Ben Roethlisberger Show
Ben shared the airwaves once again with the Cook & Poni Show for his weekly show, which was pushed back to 1pm this afternoon from it’s regular 11am time because of a morning practice.
Recap, courtesy of 93.7 The Fan:
What was the plan going into Sunday’s game – was he expecting to play?
“I talked to coach on Saturday and he basically said, ‘if we can rest you, we’re going to rest you. If you feel comfortable, I feel comfortable with you being the number two in case of emergency.’ Obviously seven plays into the game, there was an emergency.”
How does the injured foot feel after playing the majority of Sunday’s game against the Browns?
“It’s definitely a sore Monday and Tuesday, the adrenaline wears off. No setbacks, just typical game soreness.”
Will he be ready to take on the Seattle Seahawks after the bye?
“Absolutely!”.
On working with Antonio Brown and their chemistry together –
“He is special. It’s not always the prettiest thing and that’s something that I harp on him about a lot. No improvising until I improvise. Be on your details, be on your P’s and Q’s and I need to know exactly where you’re going to be every single time. And like I said, I stay on him about it because he’s not always perfect, but the thing is that even when he’s not perfect or I’m not perfect we still seem to make things happen and it’s a credit to our chemistry. We work together a lot. We talk a lot and when he’s on his P’s and Q’s and he’s in the spot he’s supposed to be, there’s so much trust.”
That front flip into the endzone –
“You know, he gets caught up in the moment. I said listen, ‘if you get hurt, was it worth it? Whether it’s career ending or season ending, was it worth it?’ And he is so apologetic about it. He’s like, ‘No, I’m so sorry.’ I told him, “AB, that was probably one of the most athletic things I’ve ever seen anybody do…that was so impressive, don’t ever do it again.”
You can listen to more from Ben’s show here.
Week 10: Steelers 30, Browns 9
“You have to be ready when your number’s called.” — Ben
“All he needed was the phone booth and a cape.”— Ramon Foster on Ben’s performance.
“I drink a lot of milk!” — Ben, on his quick recovery.
From Bob Labriola, Steelers.com:
He wasn’t supposed to play, but Ben Roethlisberger saved the day for the Steelers.
For Clark Kent, it was the telephone booth, and when he emerged from it after changing clothes, he became Superman and was ready to save the day. For Ben Roethlisberger, it was nothing quite so dramatic, and there was no change of clothes required. The process simply involved exchanging a baseball cap for his helmet, and then the short trip from the sideline to the huddle was all that was required to go about the business of saving the day for the Steelers.
Just one week after spraining his foot in a victory over Oakland, Roethlisberger had healed sufficiently to participate in enough practice sessions during the week to earn the status as the backup quarterback to the game’s starter, Landry Jones, with Mike Vick being inactive. Roethlisberger as the backup didn’t last very long, because eight offensive snaps into the game, Jones sprained an ankle and turned things over to Superm … er, Roethlisberger.
From there it was pretty smooth sailing to a 30-9 victory over the Browns that raised the Steelers’ record to 6-4, with Roethlisberger completing 22-of-33 for 379 yards, with three touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 123.2. There also were four pass interference penalties called on the Browns that gained another 141 yards, and so Roethlisberger’s impact on the Steelers passing attack was in the neighborhood of 520 yards.
Roethlisberger is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week.
You can read more here.
And from Jeremy Fowler at ESPN.com:
Ben Roethlisberger notched a career milestone that even the ambitious quarterback couldn’t have expected.
After passing for 379 yards in the Steelers’ 30-9 victory Sunday over the Browns, Roethlisberger now owns the NFL’s best regular-season quarterback relief performance, eclipsing Wade Wilson’s 374 yards from 1990.
“I kinda surprised myself,” said Roethlisberger, who entered the game on the third series after starter Landry Jones limped off the field with a left ankle injury. “My foot was basically black […]
Fridays in November have been about making wishes come true!
On Friday, November 7th:
Make-A-Wish GPA & WV @MakeAWishPAWV
10 y/o Andrew is having a pretty great Friday.Thanks @Steelers @_BigBen7 @AntonioBrown84 & Heeeaaaaaath!
And on Friday, November 13th:
Teresa Varley @Teresa_Varley
Carson just had his wish come true thanks to @_BigBen7 @CoachTomlin and @MakeAWishPAWV #Steelers
Q&A with Ben after Thursday’s practice
From Teresa Varley at Steelers.com:
Shockingly it wasn’t the first question Ben Roethlisberger was asked during his media availability on Thursday, but fear not it was the second one.
Is playing on Sunday still a possibility?
“I hope so,” said Roethlisberger. “We’re going to try some different insoles, not necessarily shoes, but plates and things under there,” said Roethlisberger. “We’re going to try some stuff out today.”
Roethlisberger didn’t practice on Wednesday, but his plan to return to the practice field on Thursday played out, even if he was listed as a limited participant.
He knows Coach Mike Tomlin’s rule is if you don’t practice, you don’t play, but he is hoping in his case there will be some leeway if he is feeling good enough to play and gets at least some work in.
More from Ben:
On there being a concern for his stride when he throws:
“Well, I’ve already got a left knee and everything, it’s just the whole left leg. But, no. If I can’t do that, there’s no need to be out there.”
On if having the bye week is a silver lining if he can’t play this week:
“Yes. It obviously helps to have the bye week. But, my goal is to always get better as fast as possible, if possible. If I’m feeling good enough and if coach determines I’m doing well enough to be out there on Sunday, then that’s the goal.”
On if were you concerned it was something more than a sprain:
“Yes. I kind of sat there for a second and I went to get up, got help getting up, and I went to take a step. It felt like the middle of my foot was just broke in half. That’s when the doctor thought it could be, he was convinced it was a Lisfranc and that was kind of scary. But, we were blessed when we got back to the x-rays and saw it wasn’t that.”
You can read more & watch video of Ben’s Q&A here.