…to bring you a few fun photos!


Pittsburgh Steelers ‏@steelers
What do you think, @AntonioBrown84 & @_BigBen7? Is this the next dynamic duo? #50atSVC




Nortolian Nicholson ‏@nortolian
@steelers, @L_Bell26 ,@_BigBen7,@AntonioBrown84 ….My kids are so ready to see y’all play this year!!




Pittsburgh Steelers ‏@steelers
Wait a minute… Is that you, @_BigBen7? #50atSVC



And the lil’ fans aren’t the only ones at St. Vincent having a good time!


Andrew Baugh ‏@baughaw
@_BigBen7 Ben has some moves.. #fancylegs



Check out all the latest photos from camp here (pages 1 & 2).

Q&A with Big Ben, courtesy of Steelers.com:


Is quarterback more fun to play than when you started?

It’s always fun to play quarterback. When you have a group of guys that you’ve played with for a while now, and the same group coming back, the coach lets you have a lot of fun with it and have a lot of influence. It’s fun to participate in. It’s fun to see the talented young guys we have.


Is the ceiling for this group of offensive players as high as any you’ve been around?

Potentially. I think it’s still always about staying healthy, as it is with any team. Staying healthy, and [we need to] keep wanting to get better, each guy individually. If each individual wants to get better, then collectively as a group we’ll get better.


You guys talked about the red zone issues early in the season that seemed to get better as the year went on. How would you like to see this offense evolve?

We just want to keep getting better in every phase of the game. Name a category, and we’ll say we want to get better at it. Whether it’s individually or collectively, as a group we need to get better and score more points, get better on third-down, red zone, first-down, second-down, everything.


Why is 30 points per game a realistic goal for this team?

It’s what our offensive coordinator set as a goal for us, so that’s what we’re going to try and do.


How important will Martavis Bryant’s development be?

It will be big. He’s put the work in. He looks good. He’s picking everything up. Last year we just kind of put him in there and gave him a couple of things to do, which he did really well at. Now we’re asking him to do more. We’re asking him to move around a little bit, front side, back side, and to know things better. I’m going to count on him in the no-huddle. Last year he’d ask everyone what to do. Now we feel more comfortable with him knowing what to do. Hopefully he’ll be able to translate that into playing faster.


13 days from your first game, what do you try to accomplish in these early practices?

Stay cool and really just staying healthy. We’ve got everyone back on […]

“You want to do it now, not because I feel I’m older. I feel great. I feel I’m playing well. My arm is great. I feel like we’ve got a great team.”

From Ed Bouchette’s interview with Ben today Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

At 33, Roethlisberger said he and his arm are in tip-top shape and that he is surrounded with perhaps the best talent he’s ever had from offensive line to Antonio Brown and his receivers and Le’Veon Bell at halfback.

“That group in front of me is as good as any in the league, and as good as any I’ve ever had. It’s great.

“Then you look at outside receiver. AB is as good as anybody in this league and arguably one of the greatest that I’ve played with. Just all around on offense, we have just a special group. It has a chance to be really good.

“There are a lot of young guys, kind of the unknown other than AB. But they have as much potential and talent from top to bottom as we’ve had here in a long time. To me the sky is the limit for them.”

While they may need more production on offense to overcome some defensive shortcomings that dropped them to a 21st-century low of 18th in the NFL in yards allowed, Roethlisberger believes they will improve as well.

“I feel they’re going to take what happened last year to heart. I know there’s some change there with coach [Keith] Butler and coach [Dick] LeBeau being gone and some new guys. But they’re really starting to come along. They’re a fast, physical group. It’ll be neat to see what they do this year.


You can read what else Ben had to say here.

Photo courtesy of Teresa Varley.



Ben also did a 1 on 1 interview with Mark Kaboly at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

When the Ravens’ Haloti Ngata broke Ben Roethlisberger’s nose with a chop to the face, Roethlisberger refused to come out of the game and didn’t miss a play despite a severely displaced septum and blood dripping down his face.
When Roethlisberger got his bell rung in last year’s playoff game against the Ravens, he missed three plays before returning to the field in a game that’s outcome had already been decided.

There is a legitimate reason why Roethlisberger refuses to […]

Now it’s time to get to work! Training camp is open for business!

From Nate Davis at USA Today Sports:

Ben Roethlisberger has never concerned himself with personal accolades. Yet the footprint of his ever-expanding legacy will only take on new dimensions when the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback reports for training camp with his teammates in Latrobe, Pa., this weekend.

And as he assumes the mantle of the longest-serving member of the Steelers roster for the first time in his career, Roethlisberger may also finally be breaking into that elusive club of truly elite NFL quarterbacks.

But Big Ben will tell you none of it is a big deal.

“For me, it’s always about winning. That’s always been my M.O.,” Roethlisberger, 33, told USA TODAY Sports. “People ask me all the time about what do I think about not being one of the five elites or the three elites or whatever it is.

“I don’t really care. As long as I can win football games and win championships, that’s all that really matters to me. At the end of the day, to me, that’s what you’re based on.”

He certainly has a solid base. February will mark the 10-year anniversary of the Steelers’ Super Bowl XL victory when Roethlisberger, then 23, became the youngest starting quarterback to win the Lombardi Trophy. Three years later, he added a second ring and narrowly missed a third when the team fell short against the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV.

Roethlisberger also may have sparked a seismic shift in the way NFL teams treat young quarterbacks.

After being thrust into the lineup early in his rookie year for injured starter Tommy Maddox, Roethlisberger proceeded to go 13-0 in the 2004 regular season, won his first playoff start and took the Steelers all the way to the AFC Championship Game a year after they’d gone 6-10 with most of the same key personnel.

He became the first quarterback to earn AP offensive rookie of the year honors.

“He ultimately changed the thought process as far as how you evaluate quarterbacks,” said Charlie Batch, Roethlisberger’s (now retired) longtime backup.

“Before, it used to be throw them into the fire, see what happens and hopefully you win some games. And then he comes out the gate undefeated. So when people now figure out what that bar is, they always look at him and say, ‘Well if Ben can do […]

…great friends, and an amazing time!


Just want to say thank you to everyone who came to Ashley’s surprise 30th birthday party at the lake. You all are amazing and made her birthday so special. We love you all!

Special shout out to Noah and his fiancé Jamie for being there! And to Tyrone Wells and his wife Erin for their friendship and their amazing voices at the party! — Ben



You can see a larger version of the photo here.