Brett Keisel was a call-in guest today on the DVE Morning Show and among the topics he discussed was #7 wearing the #99 in training camp:

On what it meant to him seeing Big Ben wearing his jersey to training camp –

That was awesome of him.

Ben and I are great friends and we have grown up a lot together, and you know, for him to do that for me…it meant a lot to me.

It was tough not knowing what was gonna happen, and to see him non verbally make a statement for me, meant a lot to me.

I really appreciate him doing that. I love that guy.


You can read more at Brett’s website here, and listen to his interview here.



Looking ahead to Sunday –

“No quarterback ever beat the Browns as much as Terry Bradshaw. That is, until Ben Roethlisberger came along.” — Steve Doerschuk, Canton Repository.

More from Mr. Doerschuk’s column:

The pretend games are over. It’s time for the Browns to think about the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The contemplation begins with Ben Roethlisberger.

Big Ben casts a shadow over Cleveland’s hopes to end an 0-10 slump in season openers. The Findlay, Ohio, native’s record against the Ohio rival is 17-1, including 9-0 in Pennsylvania.

The Browns haven’t faced a quarterback with such frequency long before the move to Baltimore, when Terry Bradshaw was the Pittsburgh slinger.

On his way to Canton, Bradshaw gave the Steelers a regular-season record of 107-51. If Roethlisberger posts a 12-4 record in 2014 — Pittsburgh has finished 12-4 three times in the last six years — his career record will be … 107-51.

Big Ben has been a bad experience for the Browns.

Three years before the ‘04 draft took Roethlisberger to Pennsylvania, Mike Pettine was a high school football coach in the state. As he prepared to face Pittsburgh as the new head coach of the Browns, Pettine said that “about 30 teams” do not have quarterbacks who can elevate the rest of the team when the supporting cast is full of holes.

Asked where Roethlisberger fits into such a discussion, Pettine said:

“Everybody would basically say that it’s Brady and Peyton Manning … guys that have had different supporting casts through the […]

No problem!

We’ll give you the “don’t miss” tweets right here throughout the season!


Burt Lauten @SteelersPRBurt
Be sure to watch the @NFLonCBS pre-game show this Sunday as @CowherCBS sits down with @steelers QB @_BigBen7


(that’s tweet speak for catch Ben’s interview with Coach Cowher during the NFL on CBS pre-game broadcast on Sunday starting at 12 noon)



And:

If you missed Ben’s interview yesterday with the media, you can watch it here.


*Thank you to Mr. Lauten for the photo!

…and look what photobombed us!! haha — Ben & Ashley

Or maybe he was just giving his…uh, seal of approval for such a nice family photo?

…for the Steelers 2014 season!




From Teresa Varley, at Steelers.com:

O Captain, My Captain: On Monday, before taking the field for their first regular season practice, Steelers’ players voted on team captains. And when the votes were counted, four players were selected to represent the team at the coin toss each week, but far beyond that.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (offense), safety Troy Polamalu (defense) and kicker Shaun Suisham and safety Robert Golden (special teams), will all do the honors this year, with all but Roethlisberger first-time captains.

For Roethlisberger being a captain is old hat, this being the sixth time he was selected, but he appreciates it just as much now as he did the first time and will continue to operate the way he has.

“It’s an awesome honor that your teammates name you,” said Roethlisberger. “I’ve been blessed to be a captain the last couple of years. For the franchise and the storied tradition that it is here, it’s a great honor.”


You can read more here.

…after a busy summer for Big Ben and his family!


Ben: “Rule #1 is HAVE FUN!”

The ProCamps Ben Roethlisberger Football Camp was a one-day event with over 500 children in attendance. Both kids (including Benjamin Jr.) and parents had a blast!

*Thank you to parent Jose Acuna, who brought his son all the way from Mexico to attend Ben’s camp, for this great photo! You can enjoy more photos here.




Ben was the guest speaker at the Lou Holtz HOF Dinner.

“Thank You for your speech last night at the Lou Holtz Upper Ohio Valley Football Hall Of Fame. I was taken with how much emphasis and credit you give being from a small town and not forgetting your roots. Being from Martins Ferry, Ohio and being in a rich in tradition small town also really moved me, thanks for your professionalism and caring thoughts. you truly are a class act Ben!!!” — Mike Mayle




A Big Night for Big Ben and his foundation!

On behalf of The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation, I am extremely grateful to our sponsors, guests, friends and the Pittsburgh Steelers for their generous support. I was honored to have everyone there to support two worthy causes: Police and Fire K-9 Units and Make-A-Wish of Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia. I hope those that attended enjoyed the evening as much as I did. – Ben

Jergels was the place to be on Sunday evening, June 22nd as Ben’s family, friends, fans and sponsors came out to support The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation in style – with great food, music and wonderful live & silent auction items – all of which found new homes by the end of the evening.




And the next day…

Ben, his family and friends enjoyed a wonderful day of golf at the beautiful Treesdale Golf & Country Club for the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation Invitational! The tournament raised $120,000 to benefit K-9 Police and Fire Units throughout the country, and Make-A-Wish®!




Ben participated in the 2014 Mario Lemieux Celebrity Invitational.

The tournament was […]

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 (photo at left). Susan designed the original statue of the officer named, “Ever Watchful”.

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 […]