Final score: Patriots 55, Steelers 31

“They would have had to drag me off. I’m not going to quit. I’m going to stay out there and fight to the end.” — Ben, on staying the in the game until the end.

Ben spoke to the media after the game about the goals going forward, players continuing to fight, and staying in the game till the end.


You can watch/listen to his interview here (video).



Much respect:

“Roethlisberger is tremendous, it’s almost like playing that backyard streetball!” — Patriots Cornerback Kyle Arrington on WEEI Radio today.

“When someone has a wish and that’s what’s so great about Make-A-Wish, they grant pretty much everything other than going to the moon. But you can do pretty much anything you want. To come hang out with us, and just to see the fun and to see guys like Anthony get the picture with everybody and go in our locker room and just to hang out. I know we were talking about how his friends are going to be jealous and his brothers and everything like that. To me, that’s what it’s all about. It is so special.” — Ben

From Teresa Varley at Steelers.com today:

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger loves when he has the opportunity to put a smile on the face of a child who visits the team through the Make-A-Wish® foundation. The reaction he always gets from the kids is one of pure joy, making the day of a young fan that definitely can use a boost.

On Friday he did even more to help, presenting a check to Make-A-Wish® Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia for $30,000, a donation from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation. Roethlisberger made a similar donation last year and said hearing from the kids who had their wishes granted as a result made it extra special.

“I got a packet and an envelope with a bunch of letters in it from Make-A-Wish kids whose wishes got granted,” said Roethlisberger. “I could just see the smile on their faces as I was reading the letters. It means so much to me and my family and the foundation to be able to help out Make-A-Wish.”

Roethlisberger presented the check to Judith Stone, President and CEO of Make-A-Wish® and eight-year old Anthony Cook. Cook, a huge Roethlisberger fan who had his wish of going to Disney World granted and in turn has given back by donating the money he received from the tooth fairy and getting a good report card to help other kids.

The wide-eyed Cook was in awe meeting Roethlisberger and some of his teammates, watching practice and then heading into the locker room.

“It felt really good to meet Ben,” said Cook, “I was really excited. We went in the locker room and he made me find his locker.”

Roethlisberger also gave Cook the torn jersey he […]

Breaking News: A little monkey has escaped from the Pittsburgh Zoo on Halloween night and is reportedly causing much mayhem at the home of the Roethlisberger’s!

Happy Halloween Steeler Nation, from our little monkey! — Ben & Ashley

It’s a Black and Ghoul…er…Gold night across the Nation!


A couple of #7’s:


Kendall Cawthorn heads out to do some Trick or Treating wearing her football hero’s jersey while being escorted by her every day hero, her dad Steve.



A couples night out:


Left: Cynthia Filmore as Coach Tomlin and her boyfriend, Michael, as the best TE in the business! Right: Michelle Stiehler as Troy, and her husband, Al, as the EXTRA-LARGE bottle of Head & Shoulders shampoo!



A “Throwback Thursday” Halloween:


That’s Hannah and Jake Prokopchak heading out for Halloween, circa 1998, and with their parents today!



And a “four-legged” Halloween:


Left: Duce, named after the Steelers’ Duce Staley, wants to know if any of the humans in his neighborhood are handing out cats on Halloween? If so, he’s going to need a bigger Trick or Treat bag! Middle: Emma waits at the door in her #43 jersey for the night’s Trick or Treaters. Right: Kismet is going the “formal costume route” – wearing a gold tie with the uniform in hopes of getting a big haul to hide in the backyard!



We have a lot more Halloween photos to share with you right here!


*Thank you so much to everyone who sent in their photos!

Today, Ben announced that his Foundation in association with The Giving Back Fund, will be distributing a grant to the Massachusetts State Police in honor of the Steelers upcoming game against the New England Patriots on Sunday, November 3rd.

The Massachusetts State Police will use the grant to purchase a new K-9 that they plan to have on the force by the end of the year.

Lieutenant Joseph King, commanding officer of the Massachusetts State Police K-9 unit, said, “The canine that we purchase with this money will be well trained, well cared for and will help our troopers in keeping the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts safe for many years to come.”

This marks the seventh season that the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation has distributed grants to K-9 units. The mission of the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation is to support K-9 units of police and fire departments throughout the United States with a particular emphasis on support for service dogs in Pittsburgh, PA. Roethlisberger and the Foundation also strive to support Make-A-Wish.

The Foundation distributed more than $135,000 in grants to K-9 units around the country during the 2012 NFL season and has distributed in excess of $1 million since 2007.


You can learn more about Ben’s foundation here.

*Photo: That’s K9 Jari posing in a new vest donated by Massachusetts Vest-A-Dog!

“Every game for us right now is a must win and an important, pivotal game for the season.” — Ben, on whether this Sunday’s game against the Patriots is a “must win”.

Big Ben met with reporters today before practice. Among the topics he was asked about was whether more plays were being called for Antonio Brown, the timeout called during last Sunday’s game, the calling of plays and his input, and facing Tom Brady and the Patriots.


Some of the highlights:

Re: Facing the Patriots:|

It’s always a tough place to play. They are a good football team. It’s a good crowd. It doesn’t get any easier for us this week.


Re: Scoring some early and its importance:

Yeah. Absolutely. That’s kind of been one of our problems on offense. We haven’t started fast enough and scored points early. We kind of put ourselves in a hole, typical fashion this year. It’s hard to get out of it.


Are more plays being called for Antonio Brown? Are you looking for him more?

Yes and yes, and probably more yes’s. He’s a playmaker. We design plays for our playmakers, whether it’s screens or down the field stuff. Then, when things break down, he makes plays. He gets into areas. He has great hands, even if you throw a bad ball. Last week he made a really good catch on one of those scramble plays. I think a lot of factors contribute to that.


Is he still pushing to get more balls?

All of them are. Everyone except Heath Miller. Heath never asks for more passes. [Smiles] Like you just said, knowing that he’s getting more balls and more catches, he’s making plays. I think when you are losing, people make bigger deals out of things than what is really there. It’s not like he is going and complaining or crying or things like that. He’s going up and asking for plays because he wants to make plays to help us win games.


Re: Talking with Coach Tomlin about the timeout situation last Sunday:

We talked. Like I said, I’ll take the blame for that incident on Sunday. It won’t happen again. He preferred me, in that situation with that much time, to save the three timeouts and take the penalty yards. He also saw where I was coming […]