Arizona Cardinals Coach Bruce Arians challenged Big Ben to the #ALSIceBucketChallenge yesterday…



and not only did Ben accept the challenge today, he did a little a competitive challenging of his own:

BA, I accept your ALS Ice Bucket Challenge! I challenge Merril Hoge, Triple H, and Kevin Hart! — Ben

You can check out video of Ben’s challenge here!

And you can learn more about the #ALSIceBucketChallenge here!

“I just feel blessed to call him a friend.” — Ben of Jim Kelly.

From Joe Starkey, at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

The Steelers and Buffalo Bills are sharing practice fields this week in Latrobe. But for franchises separated by just 220 miles, they have shared precious little meaningful history.

But the cities’ most meaningful football connection might be one that binds a pair of iconic and similarly rugged quarterbacks: Ben Roethlisberger and Jim Kelly.

Their connection, at least from Roethlisberger’s end, goes back more than 20 years. It has taken on new meaning of late, given the personal transformations of each and Kelly’s harrowing but inspiring bout with cancer.

The relationship began in the form of a young Roethlisberger, 22 years Kelly’s junior, taping a No. 12 Kelly poster to his bedroom wall in Findlay, Ohio.

“I tease him about that all the time,” Roethlisberger says.

Fast forward to Roethlisberger’s first few NFL seasons, when his linebacker-like approach and laser-like precision late in games evoked images of Kelly in the Bills’ famed “K-Gun” 15 years earlier. Have there been any star quarterbacks in the past quarter-century who endured more punishment — invited more punishment — than these two?

They finally connected in person early in Roethlisberger’s career at Kelly’s golf tournament in Buffalo. Roethlisberger traveled early and stayed at Kelly’s house. They bonded immediately. Roethlisberger soon was making annual treks to Kelly’s lodge in Ellicottville, N.Y., where the two would hunt, fish, ride snowmobiles and talk shop.

“For a Hall of Famer to come down to my level, if you will, just meant so much,” Roethlisberger says. “He’s a guy I can call when things aren’t going well. I’ll get notes from him after games, good and bad: ‘Keep your head up.’ ‘Great job.’ To have someone like that I can call a friend? That’s first and foremost. And I think he’d say the same thing: He looks at me as a friend.”

The Kelly family (Jim, wife Jill, daughters Erin, 19, and Camryn, 15, plus a large extended clan) gifted the world by publicizing Jim’s battle. An image of Erin clutching her father’s arm in his hospital bed went viral. It and other photographs, articles and television pieces speak to the suffering, devotion and cruel tests of faith […]

Mike Prisuta @DVEMike
Snapshot from St. Vincent: Ben Roethlisberger seems to be enjoying his time on the practice field during camp.

From SI writer Andy Benoit, for MMBQ.com:

Over the years, football fans have pretty much agreed on which top-tier veteran quarterbacks fall on which tier. The first tier generally includes, in no particular order, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees. The second tier: Philip Rivers, Eli Manning, Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan. And then there are the talented but inconsistent gunslingers who float from one tier to another, guys like Tony Romo, Matthew Stafford and Jay Cutler.

The star quarterback people can’t seem to firmly slot is Ben Roethlisberger. Fans all agree he belongs on one of these tiers. In fact, he seems to fit on all three.

The truth is, Roethlisberger belongs on that first tier. He’s 2-1 in Super Bowls, has a career winning percentage of .669 as a starter and, most importantly, his on-field performance verifies his on-paper accomplishments.

Roethlisberger doesn’t quite look it, but upon close examination he’s one the most physically gifted quarterbacks in football—if not the most physically gifted. His ability to shed would-be sackers is one thing; his ability to do it multiple times and then gather himself enough to make not only a downfield throw, but a sharp and accurate downfield throw, is otherworldly. His unconventional playing style can make his golden arm easy to overlook.

While he’s always been great out of structure, Roethlisberger in recent years has also become very good within structure. The 32-year-old will never be a full-field progression read passer—he has too much natural inclination to improvise. But he’s no longer heavily dependent on his freestyling, thanks to improved awareness in the pre-snap phase.

Roethlisberger now operates in a Todd Haley scheme that emphasizes pre-snap decision making. Examples include Pittsburgh’s expanded shifts and motions, plus the quick receiver screens that have become a staple.

Roethlisberger’s relationship with Haley has been highly scrutinized, though both insist they’re on the same page now. Which is one reason we can expect the Steelers to rebound from a second consecutive eight-loss season. Some believe Roethlisberger actually had the best season of his career in 2013. If this club is to become a Super Bowl contender in 2014, he’ll need to be even […]

From William Perlman at the New Jersey Star-Ledger this morning:

As the players gathered at the 50-yard line after the Giants’ 20-16 win in the preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers Saturday night, Giants quarterback Eli Manning met up with Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and the two spoke at length and exchanged pleasantries.

The two were drafted in 2004.

“Can you believe it’s been 10 years already?” Manning asked Roethlisberger.

The two smiled and wished each other a good season.


You can read the rest here.



The Game:

Ben played only one series, a seven-play, 70-yard drive that ended in a Shaun Suisham field goal to give the Steelers a 3-0 lead. He was 1 for 2, with a 46-yard completion to rookie running back Dri Archer.

“I thought it was a good, solid first series,” Ben said. “Obviously, it helped that we had a huge play to Dri. But we moved the ball down the field and got points on the board.”

Bruce Gradkowski replaced Ben in the first quarter. He went 8 for 12 for 66 yards.

Second-year quarterback Landry Jones was 11-of-21 for 74 yards.

Although the Steelers ultimately lost to the Giants 20-16, Coach Tomlin took some positives away from the game.

“We had an opportunity to grow. We learned some things about some people. We’ll just take this as part of the process and move forward as a team.”


You can see photos from the game here.


*The game will be re-played on NFL Network today at 12 noon.

Ben stopped for an interview with the KDKA Morning News team when they checked in at Latrobe this week…

And the first thing that Larry Richart and John Shumway asked about were the little Roethlisbergers:

“Baylee is doing good, so is Benjamin. He’s being a good big brother – most of the time. Every once in awhile he gets a little jealous, but he’s good…He doesn’t slow down, we’re working on not running so much. Every day is something new – a new word, a new facial expression, whatever it is it’s just a joy to see.”


Ben talked about Steelers great Joe Greene, Coach LeBeau’s stories, their first Ravens game in Week 2, and how he is looking forward to this weekend’s upcoming game against the Giants:

“The guys get tired of hitting each other and it’s always fun to put the pads on and put the jersey on. For a guy like me, that’s been doing it for a while now, it never gets old putting that Steelers uniform on and for some of the young guys, it’s probably a dream come true.”


You can listen to audio of his interview, as well as catch interviews with Ike Taylor and Steelers GM Kevin Colbert all right here.



Tweet of the Week:

Antonio Brown @AntonioBrown84
“@Dukie__Breath: @AntonioBrown84 who’s your best friend on the team?” @_BigBen7



Check out:

Pittsburgh Dad’s latest episode from Steelers Training Camp here!

“Ben Roethlisberger thrives under pressure”

From Scott Brown today at ESPN.com:

I have long thought that Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t quite get his due as an elite quarterback from a national perspective.

One of only three active quarterbacks to win multiple Super Bowls, there is also documented evidence of how good Roethlisberger is under another kind of pressure.

Roethlisberger
Over the past three seasons Roethlisberger has been the best quarterback in the NFL when his pass protection breaks down.

Roethlisberger leads all quarterbacks in completion percentage (51.8), passing yards (1,837) and passing touchdowns (18) when throwing under duress or getting hit since 2011, according to ESPN Stats & Information.


You can read more from Mr. Brown here.

You can also watch video of a different kind of QB competition that took place at camp here.



“Ben likes what he sees from Bryant”

From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger likes what he has seen from receiver Martavis Bryant, but knows there still has to be a lot of growth from the rookie before the season starts.

“He’s shown a couple plays recently that are very encouraging, but he’s got a long way to go,” said Roethlisberger. “He’s a young guy but he shows the interest and the desire to want to be great and to learn and so we hope he just keeps doing that.”


You can read more here.



Thank you Ben!


“Huge shout out to Big Ben for taking the time to sign my Big Ben’s jersey – you made his year!” — Tom Richards


“Thanks for signing our stuff!!! We came from Hawaii to see training camp and you were the highlight!!! Mahalo!!” — Michael Foster


You can see all the photos from camp here.