A beautiful evening for a wonderful cause!
The Arians Family Foundation 2nd Annual Georgia Celebrity Golf Classic is in full swing tonight with a Welcome Reception at Reynolds Plantation. Proceeds from this Golf Classic benefit CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates).
Posing with my new best friend, Breelynn at the reception tonight for the Arians Family Foundation Golf Classic Reception. Her brother is a Cowboys fan!! — Ben
And from the Arians Family Foundation via Twitter:
Arians Foundation @AriansFF
@_BigBen7 supporting our foundation tonight at our #AriansClassic welcome reception. @TraciArians @reynoldsgolf
You can learn more about the Arians Family Foundation here.
“Thank you to Ben & Ashley”
Courtney Dadejko wanted to share her family’s story of a surprise meeting at a Pittsburgh-area restaurant:
Hamilton Family Reunion/Memorial 2014
Our grandmother passed away in February of 2014, and we were all able to get together for a memorial service for her on what would’ve been her 90th birthday. We had a very long day putting her to rest and remembering her life on the day of her birth, June 21st during a family reunion.
The older cousins decided to unwind at the Latitude 40 restaurant, and to our surprise we all got, what we thought, was a present from her…that’s right, Big Ben and his beautiful wife were outside on the deck! What a wonderful treat for all of us on such a sad day!
We have Steelers fan family members from all over the country in this photo, Washington, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Maryland and we all got to meet the great one together. I’d like to say thank you to Ben and Ashley for being so wonderful to us on what is for sure a day none of us Hamilton’s will ever forget! — Courtney Dadejko
*Thank you right back to the Hamilton Family for sharing their photo and story!
Big Ben: Biggest Cannon?
Nickelodeon announces their nominees and the categories for First-Ever Kids’ Choice Sports Awards to be hosted by Michael Strahan, live from Los Angeles on July 17th…
and Ben is up for “Biggest Cannon”!
From the press release via Reuters:
Nickelodeon announced the nominees and categories for the inaugural Kids’ Choice Sports awards show, in which the nation’s kids will choose their favorite athletes from among a wide range of kid-centric categories. Hosted and executive produced by Michael Strahan (LIVE with Kelly and Michael, Fox NFL Sunday) Kids’ Choice Sports 2014 will be telecast live on Thursday, July 17 (8 pm ET/PT) from UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
Not only are the top athletes in the world coming to Kids’ Choice Sports to play, but their biggest celebrity fans will come to compete alongside them. Beginning in June, kids will be able to cast their votes in 15 categories on Nick.com/sports.
The nominees for Kids’ Choice Sports were selected based on two methods: analysis of Q scores – which rank the most recognizable and well-liked athletes according to kids, and the input of the Kids’ Choice Sports Council – a group of professionals, athletes and others, from the world of sports.
The “Biggest Cannon”:
Some of the most incredible arms in sports belong to athletes from the worlds of baseball, football and tennis. This category honors the outfielders, pitchers, catchers, quarterbacks and tennis players with the strongest arms in the game.
The nominees:
Novak Djokovic (ATP)
Clayton Kershaw (MLB, Los Angeles Dodgers)
Cam Newton (NFL, Carolina Panthers)
Aaron Rodgers (NFL, Green Bay Packers)
Ben Roethlisberger (NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers)
Justin Verlander (MLB, Detroit Tigers)
Serena Williams (WTA)
Steeler Nation has also been nominated!
“Smells Like Team Spirit”:
A team is nothing without its fans – we’ve seen fans’ support pull a team out of a tough situation again and again. The nominees in this category represent the best fans in professional sports – the rally-caped, face-painted, “never give up on your team” fanatics who live for their team no matter what. Now we honor them by including them in the nominees for this category that will be accepted by a member of the team and a fan.
The nominees:
Detroit Red Wings Fans
Green Bay Packers Fans
Oakland Raiders Fans
Oklahoma City Thunder Fans
Pittsburgh Steelers Fans
Seattle Seahawks Fans
Steeler Nation Kids, you can vote for Big Ben and yourselves
Big Ben teams up with the Man himself
Ben participated in the 2014 Mario Lemieux Celebrity Invitational, held today at the incredible Nemacolin Woodlands Resort…and partnered with the host, Mario Lemieux.
Proceeds from this wonderful event benefit Mr. Lemieux’s foundation, which was created in 1993 to raise funds for cancer research.
Pittsburgh Penguins @penguins
#BurghPride MT @MarioLemieuxFdn: Mario Lemieux and @steelers Ben Roethlisberger get ready to head out! #66Golf
You can learn more about the Mario Lemieux Foundation, as well as donate to this very worthy cause here!
You can see more photos here.
*Thank you to both the Penguins organization and the Mario Lemieux Foundation for the photos!
Brooks: Ben Roethlisberger among AFC North franchise faces
Football might be the ultimate team sport, but the NFL is dominated by larger-than-life talents — those players who, through sheer force of skill and personality, seem able to single-handedly drive their squads. A player like that can become everything to his organization, defining its identity and dictating its fortunes. In other words, he becomes the face of the franchise.
From Bucky Brooks, NFL analyst at NFL.com today:
Whenever a quarterback leads a team to three Super Bowl appearances — including a pair of victories — he deserves to be in the conversation as one of the league’s true franchise players.
Roethlisberger has keyed much of Pittsburgh’s success during his decade with the team. Over the last few years, he carried an offense that struggled along the line and lacked a consistent running threat (until Le’Veon Bell began to produce as a rookie last season). Additionally, Roethlisberger has been a clutch performer in big situations, posting 32 game-winning drives and 23 fourth-quarter comebacks in 10 seasons.
Roethlisberger’s ability to provide poise when the Steelers need it most only confirms his status as The Man in The ‘Burgh.
You can read the rest of Mr. Brooks’ column here.
Sneak Peek…
from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation Invitational that took place at the Treesdale Golf & Country Club today:
The tournament host getting ready to taking his shot on a beautiful course on a beautiful summer day!
Always there to support their friend and his foundation – Brett Keisel and Merril Hoge.
Benjamin Jr. hangin’ out with his Uncle Coop on the course, but seemed more interested in a football rather than a golfball!
Big Ben did a little chillin’ on a hot day with Uncle Si….well, sort of!
Stay tuned…we have a lot more photos to come of both the tournament and the fundraising event that took place at Jergels on Sunday evening!
Proceeds from both benefit K-9 Police and Fire Units throughout the country, and Make-A-Wish®!
Also! If you missed Ben’s interview this morning on 93.7 The Fan‘s Cook & Poni Show, which was live from the tournament, you can read & listen to it here!
*Thank you to Tommy Iannarelli for all these great photos!