The Allegheny County Law Enforcement Officers Memorial (LEOM) is an organization that honors police officers who were killed in the line of duty in Allegheny County.

The Memorial to these brave men and women stands on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, just outside of Heinz Field.

But the LEOM realized that there was one important law enforcement member that was not honored – something that came to light after the line-of-duty death of K-9 Officer “Rocco” in January.

In fact, there have been four Police K-9’s in Allegheny County who have been killed in the line of duty:

K-9 Officer “Jup” in 1991; K-9 Officer “Joker” in 1997; K-9 Officer “Ulf” in 2008; and K-9 Officer “Rocco” in 2014.

“When the original Memorial was designed we did not include a K-9 partner for our officer. That was short-sighted of us. Our K-9 partners are part of our Law Enforcement Family. They live and work with their partners, and serve as members of our Police Departments.

“I truly believe that the K-9 Officers work for the praise and love of their human partners. They are fearless in their actions and protective of their partners to a fault.” — Cmdr. Donna Best, President of the Law Enforcement Officer Memorial.

The LEOM is working with the City of Pittsburgh Department of Art and the Sports and Exhibition Authority to have the addition of a K-9 partner added to the existing memorial on the North Shore.

They are working with local artist Susan Wagner to design a K-9 statue to add to the Memorial. Susan designed the original statue of the officer named, “Ever Watchful” (photo above).


Their hope is to have it completed by early next August for the 100th Anniversary of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) National Conference which will be held in Pittsburgh.

But they need your help in bringing to fruition the addition of a K-9 Officer to the existing Memorial!

You can make your check or money order payable to LEOM K-9 Memorial and send your tax deductible donation to:

Greater Pittsburgh Police FCU
1338 Chartiers Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15220

Please join with Ben in helping them honor our brave K-9’s […]

…go out to two of our Steeler Nation families!


In July of 2012, Julia Pollock was delighted to receive a personal video message from Ben. Julia had been battling breast cancer since 2010, which had then spread to her spine and brain. She had been in the hospital for 52 days when she received the surprise message:

“I want Ben to know that his video email meant the world to me not just because I bleed black and gold and watching him every Sunday makes my week but because I’ve ALWAYS known him to be a man with a good heart.” — Julia, July of 2012.

Her father, Alan Nagy, asked us to share his email with all those that had been praying for her:

“My daughter Julia developed cancer two years ago and was given 3 to 6 month to live, while Julia was in the hospital she received a personal video from Ben giving her words of encouragement, she cherished that video and when she was having a rough day she would watch that video and it would always bring a smile to her face, and as parents we were so grateful for that but I’m saddened to say that Denver’s #1 Steeler’s Fan has lost her battle with cancer. Julia passed away on Saturday the 14th [of June], after betting all the odds for her prognosis, and survived two years longer then the Doctors expected. Our daughter Julia was such a sweet and loving person, she touched the hearts of many.

“She will be missed by all who knew her and loved her. This up-coming season will be very hard without her, but when the new season start, I will still see my beautiful daughter Julia in spirit, jumping up and down cheering for her beloved Steelers, so Steeler Nation know that a true Steeler fan in Denver may be gone, but her memory and love for her Steelers will continue for seasons to come. We will miss her so much.”


Rest in Peace Julia.



In February of 2013, Tyler Hallsey was diagnosed with Pontine Glioma – a tumor surrounding the brain stem. On September 3rd of 2013, his father shared his story and photos with us after Tyler had the opportunity to attend a Steelers pre-season game with his family, […]

From Peter Schrager at FOX Sports this morning:

No NFL postseason contender — not the Broncos, the Patriots and likely not even the Seahawks —wanted to see the Steelers make the playoffs last year, but Pittsburgh came awfully darn close in the end.

There are high expectations in Steel City, and in the 40th-anniversary season of the 1974 team that won the franchise’s first Super Bowl, the fan base is looking for a much better result than 8-8.

The Steelers enter the season undoubtedly younger and faster than they were a season ago. The team was uncharacteristically active in free agency this offseason, adding veterans Mike Mitchell, Cam Thomas, Lance Moore, and LeGarrette Blount while maintaining a level of consistency by signing deals with veterans Jason Worilds, Heath Miller, Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor. Rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier is expected to contribute right from the start, with recent draft picks Jarvis Jones, Cameron Heyward and David DeCastro expected to take on bigger roles.

Pittsburgh’s roster, solid just about everywhere, has two question marks at the offensive tackle positions. This is nothing new for Ben Roethlisberger, a grossly underrated quarterback who’s played behind questionable offensive lines for the bulk of his NFL career.

Tomlin is one of the best coaches in the league, Roethlisberger is a gamer, and the defense should be faster and hungrier than it was a season ago. The core unit is back, with key additions all over the field. No one wanted to face the Steelers at the end of 2013. I can’t imagine foes wanting to line up against them in 2014, either.


You can read more & watch the roundtable discussion (video) here.

….rolled into one!

Ashley Bright recently became aware of Ben’s website through Twitter, and wanted to not only share a photo, but finally get the chance to thank Ben!

Ashley Bright ‏@ambright6
@_BigBen7 – Chance to say Thank You!! For a lifetime moment for an 8 year old boy! 2010 in Denver, Co.! Thank You!!

And more from his email to the website:

My son’s name is Caden Hines Bright (notice the middle name) – He was 8 years old at the time! It was a pre-season game in Denver, Colorado in August of 2010! Ben was warming up about 20-yards away. After the warm-up, he ran right towards us! I am the man that is going crazy with excitement because he came right up to my son (in the yellow cap)!


The pictures were from the Denver Post as they covered the whole thing! That’s why they are so good!

We are lifetime Steelers fans that live in Wyoming! We have the football in a plastic case in Caden’s room! He was the most popular person that day among all the Steelers fans!! It was his first NFL game, albeit a preseason game!!

Thrilled to reach out and thank Ben for this lifetime moment!! — Ashley Bright

“That day was one of the greatest days in my life and thanks to Mr. Roethlisberger for giving me the football!” — Caden Bright

And a little bit about this Steeler Nation family:

On the day Mr. Bright emailed, he and his family were anxiously awaiting the arrival of a little orphaned boy with special needs from China! They were offering their home and their love to this youngster through an organization called Project 143.

He sent photos when Le arrived!


“Here is a photo of Caden and Le! In the second photo is my daughter Kirsten and son Caden standing with Le. Our family gave him Steelers sunglasses right away!” — Ashley Bright



Thank you to the Bright family for not only sharing their photos and story from 2010, but also the photo of the newest member of their family as well as the Steelers family!

This is the third of three plays nominated as the most memorable play in team history.


From Scott Brown, ESPN AFC North blogger:

Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes played pitch and catch so effortlessly that it seemed as if they were in a backyard.

The two were, in fact, on one of sports’ biggest stages, and the Arizona Cardinals were powerless to stop them at the end of Super Bowl XLIII.

A Larry Fitzgerald 64-yard touchdown reception had given the upstart Cardinals a 23-20 lead with 2 minutes, 30 seconds left in the game. After a holding penalty moved the Steelers back to their own 12-yard line, Roethlisberger and Holmes went to work.

They connected three times in moving the Steelers to the Cardinals’ 6-yard line with less than a minute to play.

A first-down pass from Roethlisberger to Holmes in the back left corner of the end zone looked like it would give the Steelers the go-ahead touchdown. But a leaping Holmes could not hang on to the ball.

“When I threw it and it looked like he had it, I was celebrating and I just remember, ‘Oh man,’ but coming back to the huddle I was encouraging. He wasn’t down at all,” Roethlisberger said recently. “He was disappointed he didn’t catch it, but there was no worry about going to him on the next play.”

Roethlisberger did just that.

After eluding the Cardinals’ pass rush and going through his progression of reads, Roethlisberger spied Holmes in the opposite corner of the end zone where he had almost made the game-winning catch a play earlier.

Three Cardinals defensive backs were also in the area, but Roethlisberger threw the pass anyway.

“When it came off my hand, I thought the defender (cornerback Ralph Brown) in front was going to turn around,” Roethlisberger said. “I really thought it was intercepted when I let go of it, but it ended up just over his hand and where [Holmes] could make a play.”

Roethlisberger had thrown the ball where only Holmes could make a play on it. And Holmes turned in one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history when he leaped for the ball and then got both feet inbounds by inches after pulling it in.


You can read more from Mr. Brown, […]