“Officer Fritsch is heading to Indiana with Santo this weekend for the start of K9 training! We are very excited to have another K9 to help us in our efforts to combat the influx of drugs in our community. In addition, we are extremely grateful for the grant opportunity through the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation. Budgets are so tight and the funding from BRF aids in accomplishing our mission.” — Captain Ben Bliven, Wausau Police Department, to us on March 28, 2014.

Ben’s foundation had a busy 2013-2014 season, distributing more than $135,000 in grants to K-9 units around the country. We are so pleased to share with you these updates from some of the agencies that received those grants:


From WSAU News in Wisconsin:

Wausau Police officers have a new K-9 helper. Captain Ben Bliven says the new four-legged officer was brought to Wausau last weekend for his initial orientation. “Santo is our newest addition to the police department. He is a two-and-a-half year old German Shepherd, and his partner will be Shawn Fritsch, who is our newest canine handler.”

Santo and officer Shawn Fritsch will be leaving this weekend for Denver, Indiana to train for six weeks before going on patrol together.

It costs police departments anywhere from ten to thirteen thousand dollars to acquire new K-9’s. Bliven says Santo was purchased with a grant they received from a professional football player’s foundation that focuses on police dogs. “We were able to purchase Santo with the funding that we received from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation grant that we received back in December.”


You can read more here.

Wausau PD
@WausauPD has a new K9, Santo. Thanks @_BigBen7 for the grant for our newest drug-fighting force! #Steely_Santo

“Welcome SANTO to our department. Ofc Shawn Fritsch picked him up from Denver, Indiana, Von Liche Kennels on Sunday. Thanks to the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation for the funding to help improve our community.” — Posted by the Wausau (MI) Police Department on their official Facebook page, March 26, 2014.

From Officer Reuter, Fort Lee (NJ) Police Department in an email sent on March 27, 2014:

Hello,

My name is Police a Officer John G. Reuter and I am with the Fort Lee Police Department in Fort Lee NJ. My department […]

And registration for Ben’s Football Camp is in full swing!!

“My boys had a great time today at camp! My youngest getting to ask Ben a question and my oldest son Andrew catching a 50 yard bomb over the outside shoulder (come on Ben! ;-)) made for lifelong memories. I wish I was there to see it in person, but through the wonders of YouTube, I was able to watch it from Afghanistan. I hope Paul Chryst and Todd Haley were watching! Thanks for having the camp! Keep up the good work!!” — CDR Mark Ziegler, SC, USN

Summer is not far behind so sign your child up now to join Ben in June for some football instruction and fun at his Annual Football Camp. The Camp is sponsored by ProCamps Worldwide and you can save $20 on the registration fee now!


The Camp is open to boys and girls, grades 1 through 8.

Ben will be joined by a selection of the top prep and college coaches from the area.

Each day, the campers will experience various stations, specializing in fundamental skills of football.

Individual groups will be small to assure that each camper gets maximum instruction.

Ben will give daily talks highlighting the finer points of the game of football and beyond. Parents and guests will be able to listen to camp guests in designated areas at each location.

And you never know which of Ben’s friends will show up to help out #7! Kids that attend Ben’s Camp have had the opportunity to meet and get instruction from Brett Keisel, Charlie Batch, and Coach Tomlin.

You might even get an appearance by Benjamin Jr!


Dates: June 16th & 17th, 2014

Times: 09:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Place: Seneca Valley High School, Harmony, PA

Cost: $199. Use the code BigBen7 for $20 off the registration fee.

“I would like to express my thanks to Ben for hosting his camp the last 2 days! He made a dream come true for my son (and myself). I would also like to extend a very special thanks to Brenda (Ben’s mom). My son, who’s only 7, was very nervous and too scared to go on the field. Brenda was walking by and noticed us and stopped. She talked to him and then noticed her […]

Let’s Go Bucs!!!

August 28th, 2013: Benjamin Jr. enjoys his first Pirates game.
Wishing the best of luck & success to the Pittsburgh Pirates throughout the 2014 season!

And with just a couple more days to spare…

We’re starting off with a story from last summer’s training camp because we couldn’t pass up this big smile – or the reason it was put there:


Christan Melnik is a second grader at Center Township Elementary School in Butler, PA.

2013 was our third year going to training camp. We always try to make it to the night practice at Latrobe Stadium and have never even got close to getting Ben’s autograph. But last summer, with the last open practice moved to St. Vincent, it gave us a better opportunity. We had just arrived at the field, and were sitting along the fence line when I saw Ben headed our way. I encouraged Christian to squeeze his way along the fence and hold his ground and just hold up the football as high as he could. There was a lot of pushing by the bigger kids, but Christian scored an autograph from his favorite player, #7. He clutched that ball all day, it now sits on our mantel above the fireplace.

I keep promising Christian we will make it to a football game at Heinz Field some day before he gets too much older, I’m not exactly getting any younger either. Hopefully, it’ll be one of those lifelong memories between grandfather and grandson that we will never forget. — Tom Melnik, proud grandpa.



Christian is joined this month by some other Lil’ Fans – of the very lil’ variety:


From left to right is RJ Brim, Veronica Roden and Ruby Oakes! Oh, and we also have a #7-wearing dog named “Ben RoethlisBeagle”! You can see him here!



We also have a couple of big fans who made Steeler Nation worldwide during their March travels:


Jasmine Burt showed her Steelers spirit while traveling by boat on the Seane in Paris, and Matthew Leach showed his while traveling by camel in the country of Oman!


You can see all the latest fan photos in Ben’s gallery here, including more fans representing #7, some great artwork, birthday wishes for Ben, and a lucky NFL fan’s day at the Bruce Arians Inaugural Arizona Celebrity Golf Classic!

Just want to send out thoughts and prayers for Jim Kelly and his family during this tough time. I hope that everyone else out there can say a prayer for him. Stay strong JK we all know how tough you are!! — Ben

February 25, 2011: Posing with Jim Kelly in Buffalo, NY after dining at “Pete’s Place”.
You can post prayers for Jim Kelly on Facebook here, and on Twitter here.

March 25th, 2004 – Ben’s Pro Day workout

“It’s a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to play in the NFL. Everything I get to do, meet all these coaches, see Al Davis, visit with Warren Moon, it’s a dream coming true. It’s hard to believe. I have to pinch myself and make sure it’s true.” — Ben, on both the experience and the opportunity to play in the NFL, March of 2004.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Mark Curnutte:

QB Ben packs ’em in for pro workout –

Scouts or assistant coaches from nearly all 32 NFL teams made their way to Oxford. Two head coaches, Green Bay’s Mike Sherman and the Giants’ Tom Coughlin – along with Giants’ general manager Ernie Accorsi and three of the club’s scouts – were there, too.

Charting each of the players’ moves with stopwatches and clipboards, scouts watched them lift weights, jump, sprint and run agility drills before congregating in Yager Stadium for the main event: Ben throws.

And Roethlisberger, a sure-fire top-five pick rated along with Mississippi’s Eli Manning as one of the top two quarterbacks in the draft, did not disappoint.

He threw long and short, soft and hard, down the middle and toward the sideline – showing off his impressive arm and timing on the deep out pattern.

Roethlisberger ran 4.76 seconds in the 40-yard dash. And he clocked an 11.8 – considered fast for a quarterback – on a three-cone agility drill.

“He’s probably going to be gone before we pick, but I always want to cover our bases in case something happens – he falls or we move up,” Sherman said. “I thought he had an excellent workout. He did everything here he does on tape. You have to watch the game tape to really appreciate what kind of quarterback he is and what kind of leadership skills he has.”


You can read the rest of Mr. Curnutte’s 2004 article here.

“Whatever team gets him is going to be enlisting an athlete who can throw and move. His strength is throwing on the run. They talk in Oxford about the time last season when the quarterback scrambled to his left, shucked off a tackler, and scrambled in the opposite direction. A tight end was sprinting across […]