…thanks to Big Ben!


What started out as a “thank you” tweet from CJ yesterday, has turned into a full fan story today that he wanted to share with Steeler Nation:

Back in Ben’s rookie year, my mom, dad, sister, and our close family friend Cat went down to Latrobe for training camp! I was really excited about the Steelers drafting Ben earlier that year and he was the main player that I really wanted to see. Although I was only 7-years old at the time, I studied Ben like Adam Schefter, and all the major sports analysts would. When we drafted Ben I was happy because he was a big, strong-armed quarterback.

I was really excited to think that I might meet him! We got there and actually met a whole bunch of players like Jerome Bettis, Willie Parker, and James Harrison, but it was near the end of practice and I still hadn’t seen Ben. Then he came up the steps and I ran up to him as fast as I could and said, “Ben! Ben! I’m a big fan!” as the excitement poured out of me. To my surprise Ben picked me up in front of everyone and said “I’m a big fan of you too, buddy!”. I asked him to sign the cast on my wrist and he did! It was the best moment ever!

I have to admit, that first year when Ben came in the game after Tommy Maddox was hurt and led us to a 15-1 record I felt like a good luck charm every time they scored because I would point with my cast towards the TV! lol.

Then the worst happened, at least for a 7-year old! My wrist healed, my cast came off, and my mother threw it away, even through all the hissy fits and temper tantrums I threw (because mom’s do stuff like that!). My autograph was gone!

This summer, and ten years after my first autograph from Ben, my mom bought our family six tickets to the preseason game vs the Giants. While we were in town for the game, my mom started up a conversation with someone at a restaurant, and after she told him the “story of […]

For Super Bowl XLVIII (or could it be known as the “Storm Bowl”?)!


From CBS Sports today:

In a little more than five months, Super Bowl XLVIII will be held in East Rutherford, New Jersey at MetLife Stadium. For as long as there has been football it has been played in cold weather, but this will be the first time in 47 years that the big game will be played outdoors in a region known for freezing temperatures in February.

How cold? Farmers’ Almanac, which hits newsstands Monday, describes it as “bitterly, piercing and biting.”

Instead of using complicated computer models, the Farmers’ Almanac relies on planetary positions, sunspots and lunar cycles, a method that has remained unchanged since founder David Young published the first almanac in 1818.

Modern scientists don’t put much stock in sunspots or tidal action, but the almanac says its forecasts used by readers to plan weddings and plant gardens are correct about 80 percent of the time.

Last year, the forecast called for cold weather for the eastern and central U.S. with milder temperatures west of the Great Lakes. It started just the opposite but ended up that way.

The almanac predicts a big storm to hit between Feb. 1 and Feb. 3, prompting managing editor Sandi Duncan to note, “It really looks like the Super Bowl may be the Storm Bowl.”


You can read more here.

From Steelers.com‘s Bob Labriola this morning:

“In one half of playing time against the Kansas City Chiefs at Heinz Field, Roethlisberger completed 13-of-19 for 166 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions for a passer rating of 113.0. And had Emmanuel Sanders been able to control the ball through the catch on what could have been a 34-yard touchdown, Roethlisberger’s numbers would have been even better. And on that particular play, the ball was perfectly thrown.”


You can read more from Mr. Labriola here.



From Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

If last season taught anything from the performance and production standpoint, it’s that … well, Ben needs to be Ben. It’s his offense. He’s the star, and this is how he’s most comfortable. He can’t be a couch covered in plastic to avoid the next spill. He can’t be bounded up in a box behind the line, required to release or relent within 2-3 seconds. He’s got to be used in the way he’s most effective, most intimidating.

Don’t underestimate that last point. In all the times I’ve interviewed the Steelers’ opponents on game week, Roethlisberger’s unpredictability dominated the conversation. Even when he was hurt. Even when the team was reduced to that one dimension. They feared the unknown.


You can read more from Mr. Kovacevic’s column here.



Favorite tweets during the game:

NFL on ESPN @ESPNNFL
Ben Roethlisberger is Houdini on a football field. #EscapeArtist


Dale Lolley ‏@dlolleyor
Pure Roethlisberger there. Makes Hali miss, steps up in pocket, finds Dwyer for TD, takes big hit. #Steelers


Jeremy Mansfield ‏@I_am_Jman
One thing for certain….@_BigBen7 is a beast. #Steelers #Chiefs


Mary Calabrese ‏@luvsun21
@_BigBen7 Love your smile! It’s great to see your favorite QB love the game so much!


And one from a Chiefs fan:

Jesse Cordova @cordova_jesse
I don’t know if there is a more frustrating QB to watch your team play than Ben Roethlisberger



You can see photos from last night’s game, and one special photo taken by Merril Hoge before the team took the field, here.

“It’s definitely different. I wish I knew the offense even better than I do, just because I feel I know my answers will be even more right. I do the best I can to talk with Todd, to know the answers, so I can help these guys because they come to me and ask. And even if they don’t come and ask, even in practice, if I see something, I’ll come up to them and say, ‘Do this,’ or ‘I’m thinking do this.’ It helps to have that growth in this offense.” — Ben

From Gerry Dulac at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today:

In the second week of training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, rookie receiver Markus Wheaton ran the wrong route, causing Roethlisberger to throw the ball to the spot where Wheaton was supposed to be. As the No. 3 draft choice came back toward the huddle, Roethlisberger barked loud enough for all to hear, “If you don’t know the play, just ask.”

A feisty Roethlisberger?

No. Just a new one. A different one.

Kind of what the Steelers had been hoping to see from their quarterback, who is 31 and entering his 10th NFL season.

“He’s definitely got a chip on his shoulder,” offensive coordinator Todd Haley said. “Nobody liked the way we came down the stretch last year. He’s the quarterback, he’s at the controls. He’s in a great mental and physical place right now, and he just keeps getting better.”

For the first time since he entered the league in 2004, Roethlisberger is now the oldest and most-experienced quarterback on the team. He no longer has Charlie Batch or Byron Leftwich around in the meeting room to discuss the nuances of the offense and dissect and understand opposing defenses. They are no longer there on the sideline to discuss what is happening on the field during a game.

Roethlisberger is now the voice of experience, the player who is being asked the questions about the offense, not the player who might be seeking answers. He is the player responsible for making sure the new quarterbacks — Bruce Gradkowski, Landry Jones and John Parker Wilson — know what they’re doing and providing them with the right answers about the offense.

It is not by accident…


For more from Mr. Dulac’s column, click here.


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