“To be the first one outside of law enforcement to win this award, it’s an awesome honor. The award means a lot to my foundation.” — Ben

From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

Ben Roethlisberger was honored on Friday afternoon at the 13th Annual Amen Corner Senator John Heinz Law Enforcement Awards Luncheon at the Sheraton Hotel at Station Square.

Roethlisberger became the first non-law enforcement individual to be honored by the Amen Corner, receiving the award for his contribution to K-9 units of police and fire departments in the Pittsburgh area and throughout the country through his foundation.

The luncheon annually honors a select group of police officers for their heroic actions, with 10 officers from the Western Pennsylvania area honored this year. Each of the law enforcement officers will receive a statuette, modeled after the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial near Heinz Field.


Congratulations on this honor, Ben! It is well deserved. Zeus is wagging his tail from Heaven!


You can read about the Heroes that were honored yesterday here.


*Thank you to Mr. Stokey, WTAE news anchor & sports director, for the photos!



Also Today:

Congratulations to Heath Miller, recipient of the 2013 Ed Block Courage Award!

“He is the best. There was never a doubt that he was going to come back. I know Heath, I know him too well. He works so hard and his passion for the game to come back is like nobody else I have seen. I have always said he is the best tight end in the game and he is one of the best, if not the best teammate I have ever played with in my entire life in all sports. I love him to death and am so proud of him that he won the award.” — Ben, from Steelers.com

The award is presented annually to a Steelers player who has fought back from an injury or tough circumstances to return to the field. He will receive the award on November 5th at the 21st Annual Arthur J. Rooney, Sr. Courage House Luncheon which is held at Heinz Field.


You can read more & get ticket information for the luncheon here.

You can check out more on Heath here!

Today, Ben announced the fourth grant of the 2013-14 season from The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund.


The Foundation will be distributing a grant to the Sacramento Police Department, northeast of Oakland, where the Steelers will play the Raiders on Sunday, October 27th.

Sacramento PD plans to apply the grant to the purchase and training of a new dog, K-9 Rex. Rex is a 17-month-old Belgian Malinois that will be teamed up with Officer Aaron Thompson.

During the 2013-14 NFL season, The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation will be distributing grants to K-9 units of police and fire departments in the cities and surrounding communities of each regular season away game for the Steelers. The Foundation will also distribute several grants to the Pittsburgh area and will consider a grant to a non-NFL market city in the United States for each playoff game in which the Steelers compete. The foundation invited police and fire departments across the country to submit proposals detailing their needs.

This marks the seventh season that the Ben’s foundation has distributed grants to K-9 units. Their mission 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.

Ben 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.

Sergeant Steve Oliveira of the Sacramento Police K-9 unit said, “The Sacramento Police Department is proud of its dedicated personnel, including four-legged K-9 members that help protect the citizens of Sacramento and our officers. We highly value our K-9 partners that enable us to do our jobs better in a variety of circumstances where humans alone may not be as successful. We are extremely appreciative that the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation chose to honor our K-9 Unit with a grant toward the purchase and training of the newest member of our department, K-9 Rex.”


You can learn more about Ben’s foundation here.


*That’s Sgt. Oliveira and his K9 partner Sig in the photo above.

Big Ben met with reporters today before practice. Among the topics he was asked about was the use of the wildcat in last Sunday’s game, the running game, field goals vs touchdowns, traveling to the West Coast, and the play of teammates Derek Moye and Fernando Velasco.


Some of the highlights:

The “Black Hole” is a place that can be dangerous for teams, especially from the East Coast.

It’s a great environment. Crazy fans, a lot of history there.

That’s what makes it neat going there, the fans, the history, the things you see on TV and you hear about from other fans and players.


I hear you don’t like the wildcat.

[Laughs] It’s not that I don’t like it. If it helps us win, I’m all for it. I just told Coach, I get actually physically tired running out to wide receiver all the time [laughs again].


Can they take a free shot at you out there?

They can. I’m a little bigger than those defensive backs. I wouldn’t want them to try it. [Laughs]


Are you watching for that when you’re out there?

No, last week I think it was so confusing – I know a couple times the defensive back over me didn’t know what to do, if he should cover me, if he should run in. So, I’ll be alert for it. If a guy comes up and he looks like he’s about ready to hit me, I’ll protect myself.


When was the last time you caught a pass?

I don’t know. It’s been awhile, but I’m ready.


There was a Forbes poll released (1,100 people 13 yrs and older were surveyed) of the most hated players in the NFL. You were number four. Seven of the 10 were quarterbacks. Is there something to that?

I think a lot of people don’t like us because we’re usually the ones that help beat their team, so it is what it is.


Does that bother you at all? Or don’t you really care?

No, I don’t really care.


How much is the emergence of the running game Sunday going to help this team?

A lot. I’ve always [talked] about being balanced and I think if we can continue to be balanced and really utilize Le’Veon [Bell], Felix [Jones] and Jonathan [Dwyer], it helps keep defenses on their toes with play-action, and […]

Followers of both our Twitter and Facebook pages know this is a regular, weekly feature. But this is one of those Warrior Wednesday photos that needs to be shared with the site’s regular readers, who may just remember the story behind it…and enjoy it all over again!

“We Welcomed Our Hero Home yesterday!!! Thank you again to Big Ben for giving our boys such a wonderful experience at youth football camp this summer while Mark was deployed!! It was a GREAT time for our family!!! Go Steelers!!!” – Déna Ziegler

Remember the Ziegler family?

It all started on June 17th, when CDR Zeigler’s wife, Déna sent an email to the website to thank Ben for making her sons’ first day at his football camp such a thrill.

She mentioned in her email, which was posted to the website, that her husband was currently deployed to Afghanistan and this camp was a gift from him to their boys.

While reading the comments posted to his website that evening, Ben saw Déna’s and the next day called both of her sons out of the large group of campers to throw each of them a pass. As it turned out, one of the boys was celebrating a birthday that same day – Steven, shown at left in a victorious moment with Ben after catching his pass!

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” said older brother Andrew Ziegler. “He’s my hero. I didn’t dream of it happening.”

Neither did their dad! But he was able to see the excitement for himself later that night when his wife posted a video from camp online for him to watch!

“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 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!

Thank you to Ben, Ben’s family, and all those who work so hard to put on the camp. You made two, no 500+, kid’s day! My wife and […]

Ben was in the studio and on the air in his regular time slot this morning at 11:00 AM as part of 93.7 The Fan’s Vinnie & Cook Show.

“We’re getting better every week,” he says. “And that’s the key. You find a way to win games when you need. Even when you’re not playing your best, you find a way to win. That’s what we didn’t do early on, but we’ve done that the last two weeks. I hope we just keep getting better, truthfully.” — Ben

Some highlights:

Not only has the offense gained traction, it has also shown an ability to adapt to opposing defenses. Ben says it’s no accident.

“We are on the same page, but what’s different this year is the ability and the willingness to be open to change,” he says. “By all of us. To me, that is the biggest difference and the biggest change. It’s the willingness to hear things and to change them. Not to just say, ‘OK, yeah, I hear you’ and not actually change it.”

Overall, Ben is pleased with the results over the past two games.

The Steelers will face the Oakland Raiders this week without running back Isaac Redman, who was released on Monday.

“We hate to lose a brother and a teammate,” Ben says. “The guy’s been around for such a long time. It was a shock to me. He’s a good player, a good teammate, hard worker. If his health is good, I would bet that he’d be back in the league.”


For Ben’s thoughts on the offensive line, the Wildcat package, the red-zone struggles, and the lengths the NFL is going to preventconcussions, check out the entire interview here!


*Thank you to 93.7 and Vinnie & Cook!



Also Today:

Ben was a call-in guest on The Rich Eisen Podcast!


You can download and listen to his interview here (at 37:43 into the podcast).



Also, Happy Birthday to Heath Miller today!!

Dr. Ronald Cypher was in the stands for Ravens vs Steelers yesterday and not only captured the action during the game…


but also the secret handshake between #7 and #99 before the game! Well, so much for keeping it a secret!


You can see more great photos from Dr. Cypher here!