The Ben Roethlisberger Show
Ready for a recap from 93.7 The Fan?
Coming off a 28-12 victory against the Browns that got the Steelers into the playoffs, Ben Roethlisberger joined “The Cook and Poni Show” on Sportsradio 93.7 The Fan for the “#1 Cochran Ben Roethlisberger Show” to talk about their first round matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday at 8:15 p.m.
Roethlisberger opened things up by talking about when he started checking in on the Bills-Jets score as the Steelers needed a Buffalo victory to get into the playoffs.
“That’s about when I found out was late, I wasn’t paying attention to the scoreboard. I had enough to worry about with what was going on on the field with us,” Roethlisberger said. “Towards the end, once we got up by two scores, the fans were kind of cheering and stuff and then you were kind of checking in with people on the sidelines. They were kind of giving us a heads up of what was going on.”
With the team now locked into the sixth seed, Roethlisberger was asked if the message to the team is to make the most out of a second chance – thanks to the Bills.
“We want to make the most out of any opportunity we get no matter if it’s us or whoever. We just wanted to get in, that’s always the goal is getting into the postseason because you throw records out the window, you throw where you play out the window, you throw everything out the window because it’s a one-game season,” he said.
Looking back at the victory over the Browns that got them into the playoffs, the offense struggled at times. Ben analyzed their effort and if they were happy with it.
“We did some really good things, obviously the things that kill us are turnovers,” Ben said. “On the opening drive, Antonio [Brown] fumbles, you don’t expect that. I throw two interceptions…We did still capitalize on some drives. We had some long drives, some good third down conversions. We got ourselves out of some backed up situations. All in all, I think it was a pretty good day, but we have to be better.”
To make up for the loss of [DeAngelo] Williams, the pass game […]
“Thank you Ben!”
We received this email from a Browns fan, after he saw the photo of his son receiving the game ball from Ben on the website’s Facebook page –
Ben, first off I would just like to say that was a class act you giving the game ball to a fan.
I am a Cleveland fan and I took my kids to the game yesterday. They are both big Steelers fans!
You made my son, Caden, the happiest fan ever by giving him the game ball! That is something he will never forget.
After we left the game, he said, “Dad, I didn’t tell him ‘thank you’ for the ball!”. I told him I would try to contact you to let you know he loves it and to say thanks.
Also if you could thank Antonio Brown – he signed a jersey for my other son, Chace, before the game yesterday. It was a great day for both of my boys and it was real class for both of them to do that.
I can’t say ‘thank you’ enough to both of them, and to the Steelers organization — and that is coming from a life-long Browns fan.
Once again that was real class, and I appreciate it and I will have to cheer for you guys a little bit now. — Good luck in the playoffs, Jared Clonch.
That’s Caden receiving the game ball from Ben above & showing off his prized possession below left. Chace is on the right showing off his autographed Antonio Brown jersey!
Their Aunt Danielle took to Twitter last night:
Danielle Clonch @_dmclonch Akron, OH
So awesome! Thank you @_BigBen7 for making my nephew’s day!!!
Jared, thank YOU for sharing the photos and allowing us to post your email! Very classy move by you!
UPDATE on January 6th: Jared asked that we add this to the post –
“I didn’t realize when I wrote the email that it was going to turn into something this big. We would like to thank Steeler Nation for all of the great comments (on Facebook) in which we have read all of them and will continue to read as they post! Very classy fans as well! Good luck Ben! Hope you throw for 500 yards against Cincy and a couple touchdowns to A.B.!” — […]
Complete Playoff Schedule
From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:
The Steelers take on the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Wild Card game on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 8:15 p.m.
Here is a complete look at the NFL Playoff schedule:
NFL WILD CARD WEEKEND
Saturday, January 9
AFC: Kansas City at Houston (ESPN, with simulcast on ABC) 4:35 PM (ET)
AFC: Pittsburgh at Cincinnati (CBS) 8:15 PM (ET)
Sunday, January 10
NFC: Seattle at Minnesota (NBC) 1:05 PM (ET)
NFC: Green Bay at Washington (FOX) 4:40 PM (ET)
NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
(For the Divisional Playoffs the divison champion with the best record will host the lowest seeded Wild Card survivor.)
Saturday, January 16
AFC: Cincinnati/Houston/Kansas City at New England (CBS) 4:35 PM (ET)
NFC: Minnesota/Washington/Green Bay at Arizona (NBC) 8:15 PM (ET)
Sunday, January 17
NFC: Washington/Green Bay/Seattle at Carolina (FOX) 1:05 PM (ET)
AFC: Houston/Kansas City/Pittsburgh at Denver (CBS) 4:40 PM (ET)
CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
Sunday, January 24
AFC: 3:06 P.M. (ET) on CBS
NFC: 6:40 P.M. (ET) on FOX
SUPER BOWL 50
Sunday, February 7 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Kickoff 6:30 P.M. (ET) on CBS
Week 17: Steelers 28, Browns 12
The Steelers are headed to the playoffs!
Nothing says it better than this great photo from Gregory Shamus at Getty Images…
Ben hands off the football to a young fan after defeating the Browns this afternoon.
You can check out more photos here.
You can watch Ben’s post-game interview here.
And you can read Teresa Varley’s playoff report here.
Foundation: Grants to 3 different Ohio Police Departments
Today, Ben announced the tenth, eleventh & twelfth grants of the 2015-16 season from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund.
It will be a very Happy New Year for the Aurora Police Department, Cleveland Metroparks Ranger Department and the Richmond Heights Police Department, all in the Cleveland area where the Steelers will play the Browns on Sunday, January 3rd.
Aurora PD has just recently re-established their K-9 unit with the addition of K-9 Nero (in the photo) and plans to use the funds to finish Nero’s training and outfit him with a bulletproof vest.
“The Aurora Police Department is extremely grateful to the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation for their generous contribution toward the purchasing of K-9 Nero who will make a great addition to our department. On behalf of all of law enforcement, we are grateful to have organizations such as the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation that provide continued support to law-enforcement entities across the country.” — Aurora Chief of Police Brian Byard.
Richmond Heights PD is also hoping to re-establish their K-9 unit and will continue fundraising efforts.
Meanwhile, Cleveland Metroparks Ranger Department will utilize the grant to update the “hot-n-pop” system in one of their K-9 vehicles. The system allows for remote door operation and heat alerts, ensuring the safety of the K-9 when left in the vehicle.
During the 2015-16 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 for each playoff game in which the Steelers compete. Ben invited police and fire departments across the country to submit proposals detailing their needs.
This marks the ninth season that the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation has distributed grants to K-9 units. Ben’s mission 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. Roethlisberger and the Foundation also support Make-A-Wish.
The Foundation distributed more than $130,000 in grants to K-9 units around the country during the 2014-15 NFL season […]
Ben: “It starts with me”
From his radio show this morning on 93.7 The Fan:
With this being such a shocking and disappointing loss, Roethlisberger was asked if he or the team would be dwelling on the game or if they are singularly focused on their big matchup with the Browns in the season finale.
You got to move on,” Roethlisberger said. “Obviously, Sunday night was bummed, yesterday was pretty bummed, but after you get done watching the film and you have your meetings and you talk about the game, you have to move on. I’ve played this game for a long time and, especially at the quarterback position, you have to have short-term memory both good and bad. So, we move on because this week is the biggest week of the season for us. We have to play great football, we have to bounce back.”
While he has moved on and is focused on the Browns this week, Roethlisberger was asked what the feeling was in the locker room immediately following the loss and what he said to his teammates.
“I would say there was a gamut of emotions. Disbelief, anger, just kind of bewilderment and couldn’t understand that that had just happened. We were all kind of disappointed in each other. I think we were disappointed in ourselves and that was my comment to the guys. I said, ‘It starts with me. We need to look at ourselves in the mirror and really start there with how we point the thumb, not the finger.’”
You can read more & listen to excerpts from his show here.