Vote for Ben and his teammates to play in the 2013 NFL Pro Bowl!!

“I want to take a second to say thank you to all the fans who voted for me and helped me get back to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. It is an awesome honor to be voted by my peers and coaches, but even more by the fans and that’s all of you! I wouldn’t have been able to go if it weren’t for all of your votes (no matter how many times you voted, haha). I also want to say thank you for all of you who voted for my teammates, it will be awesome to throw to 2 of my receivers!” — Ben, in his thank you to the fans last year for his selection to the 2012 Pro Bowl.

The NFL is back in Hawaii for the 2013 Pro Bowl.

The annual contest of the AFC and NFC’s best will take place Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 at Aloha Stadium. You can watch it on NBC at 7:00 PM.

Balloting ends Dec. 17 after the Jets play Tennessee on Monday night.

The teams will be announced at 7 p.m. on December 26th on NFL Network’s “Total Access”.

The teams come from consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group’s vote counts one-third toward determining the 43-man rosters. Players and coaches will cast their votes between December 20th and 21st.

Offensive players on the ballot: Heath Miller, Antonio Brown (punt returner ballot as well), Emmanuel Sanders, Mike Wallace, Will Johnson, Marcus Gilbert, Max Starks, Willie Colon, Ramon Foster, Maurkice Pouncey and Rashard Mendenhall.

Defensive players on the ballot: Ryan Clark, Ziggy Hood, Brett Keisel, Casey Hampton, Larry Foote, Lawrence Timmons, LaMarr Woodley, James Harrison, Keenan Lewis, Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu.

Special Teams players on the ballot: Shaun Suisham, Drew Butler and Curtis Brown.

“We’re trying to get him to the Pro Bowl. He’s deserved it for a long time. Heath is a weapon and we have to continue to use him out in the field and in the red zone. Like I’ve always said, he blocks like a lineman and catches like a receiver. If we keep utilizing him it will be big.” […]

Ben spoke to the media after practice today –

“I think Heath Miller should be president. Forget the Pro Bowl. He’s president. I’m starting a campaign today! I’m going to be his campaign manager. He’s the best ever!” — Ben.

Highlights, including more on Heath Miller:


On whether he looks specifically for Heath down field –

I’ve always looked for him. He’s a comfort zone, a security blanket. He’s a great player. He’s a great teammate, maybe the best teammate I’ve ever played with on any level. That’s a high compliment, but he deserves it. He makes plays. You get down to the goal line, like that touchdown he caught – he catches it, gets hit by a bunch of guys but he holds on…you gotta enjoy throwing to a guy like that.


On whether he saw Heath’s “flex” after his touchdown last Sunday –

Yeah! (smiles) That’s how you know he’s ‘feeling it’. When he is in the moment, he flexes. You never see emotion from him. I think we saw it for the first time this year in Oakland. He caught the touchdown and looked right at their fans and flexed. That’s awesome. It’s fun and gets you going, because he doesn’t show emotion. When he does, you know it’s time to go.


On whether Heath Miller is the best tight end in the game –

Absolutely. All-around tight end. People are going to argue with numbers but all-around tight end – no doubt about it.


On whether he has seen film or highlights on Redskins rookie quarterback Robert Griffin, III –

How do you not see highlights? He’s putting up a great rookie year so far, great numbers, doing some really good things. They have a very unique offense around him the way that they run pistols and wishbones…all kinds of different formations. Our defense is going to have their hands full, but I’ll take our defense against anyone!


On the Redskins defensive secondary –

It’s good. I came into this league with DeAngelo Hall so I know what he’s all about and what he can do. They’re a very confusing defense. They like to throw a lot of different looks at you. I guess it’s good that I play every day against our Steelers defense because […]

During Ben’s interview with the media last night, he was asked if there was a special reason he held on to the game ball as he ran off the field.

His reply:

“That was the first time we’ve done the victory formation, I believe this year, to take a knee to end it, and I wanted to keep that. There’s a little boy that’s very sick that has been on my website, and has been checking in…and I want to send that to him.”


The little boy is 7-year old Richard Culliver, a BIG Steelers fan who is having the fight of his life with an inoperable brain tumor. He was featured in a story here last week.

His mom, Stephanie said he would be thrilled with the gift.

If you didn’t get a chance to read Richard’s great adventure at a recent Steelers game, you can do so here.

Update on Richard:

Richard’s parents took him to St. Judes Hospital a week and a half ago for testing and treatment. However, at this stage there isn’t much that can be done. He had surgery last Friday which included the placement of a shunt to alleviate some of the pressure and fluid in his brain. He has been sleeping quite a bit, but he and his family are still finding time to do many fun things, and taking exciting day trips together!

Please continue to keep Richard and his family in your thoughts and prayers.


— The Augusta SteelMasters fan club is doing a donation drive here. You can also check out their Facebook page here.

— Cristalena Potvinis, the family friend who alerted us to Richard’s story, is also doing a fundraiser with her business – every dollar raised by purchases will be matched by her and given to the family. You can view her site here.

— Cristalena is also selling gray (for Brain Cancer Awareness) rubber bracelets. Each bracelet has the words, “Richard-God Loves You and NEGU” (Never Ever Give Up) in support of Richard and his fight.

The bracelets will also help his family with his mounting medical bills. They are $3. per bracelet (which includes shipping).

Please make sure you email her with your name, mailing address, the quantity of bracelets you […]

“I’m proud of those guys. Always the thing we say is, ‘Next man up.’ I’m proud of the way those young guys stepped up. There never was a doubt they would do that.” — Ben, during his interview on the field.

From Joe Kay, AP tonight:

“Big Ben strikes again in Cincinnati”

The top two running backs were gone. So were two offensive linemen. All that the Steelers had left was Ben Roethlisberger, some backup runners and one of the NFL’s top defenses.

In Cincinnati, that’s plenty.

Roethlisberger threw for a touchdown, overcoming his end zone interception and costly fumble, and Pittsburgh’s defense clamped down on the Bengals’ Dalton-to-Green connection for a 24-17 victory Sunday night.

The Steelers improved to 12-2 at Paul Brown Stadium, where thousands of towel-waving fans make them feel at home. They have won their last five overall against their AFC North rival and 10 of the last 12.

“We put ourselves in too many holes. I take a lot of that on myself. We had to win one game. We had each other’s backs all day.” — Ben, during his post-game interview.

The Steelers’ 31st-ranked running game was missing Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman, as well as center Maurkice Pouncey and right tackle Marcus Gilbert. Plus, safety Troy Polamalu was inactive for the fourth time in the last five games with a calf injury.

That put a lot on Roethlisberger, who usually does well in his home state – 15-2 all-time in Cleveland and Cincinnati – but has rarely been so short-handed.

Didn’t matter.


You can read more from Mr. Kay here.

You can watch video of Ben’s post-game interview here.

You can watch highlights of the game here. And you can see a few photos here.



Game Stats:

Ben completed 27 of 37 passes for 278 yards, one touchdown and one interception.


Congratulations!

To Heath Miller, Steelers Digest Player of the Week!

“It feels good, but I’m more disappointed because I feel like we had two chances before that last one to close it out. We went out there and said, ‘offensively, let’s not put it on our defense, let’s close this thing out’. But I missed a throw to Antonio unfortunately, then got caught between throws and got upset with myself over that one. […]

“The first time around, you kind of surprise teams, they don’t know what to expect. The second time around, teams prepare for you, they’re ready for you. It’s always a little tougher because they can prepare for you and your tendencies.” — Ben, from his interview for the story below.

From Gerry Dulac this morning, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

“Against Steelers, Bengals counting on Dalton to exorcise sophomore jinx”

It wasn’t easy for Ben Roethlisberger to upstage his rookie season in the National Football League, not when he completed a club-record 66.4 percent of his passes, became the first quarterback in league history to be 13-0 as a starter and led the Steelers to the AFC Championship game.

But, at 23, Roethlisberger did just that, taking control of the offense in the postseason, leading the Steelers to three road playoff wins and becoming the youngest quarterback to win the Super Bowl.

Roethlisberger might be in the minority, but he believes it’s tougher for a quarterback to succeed in his second season — even though, for him, the ultimate prize was bigger the second time around.

Roethlisberger’s numbers as a rookie in 2004 were nearly flawless: He completed 196 of 295 passes for 2,621 yards and 17 touchdowns. His passer rating was 98.1.

But, even though he completed a lower percentage of his passes (62.7) and threw for fewer yards (2,385) in 2005, he had just as many touchdowns (17), had two fewer interceptions (9) and had a better passer rating (98.6) in his sophomore season.

Still, he thought it was more daunting, more difficult to achieve the numbers and victories he accomplished as a rookie.

“People want to jump on guys so fast as rookies, but I always say let’s wait till they do it for two or three years and see where they are after that,” said Roethlisberger, who has won two Super Bowls and been to a third in nine seasons with the Steelers…


You can read more here.

…but Ben isn’t one of them!


From Steelers.com this afternoon:

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger fully participated in practice on Friday after a minor ankle injury in practice on Thursday forced him to miss the last few minutes.

“This is a lot of overkill for nothing,” said Roethlisberger when answering questions about the injury following Friday’s practice. “I knew I would be fine. I was fine. I just rolled it, nothing big. It was good to get back out there and practice.

“It’s no big deal. I practiced today, am ready to go, I didn’t miss a play.”


You can read more from Teresa Varley here.

You can check out video of Ben’s interview here.



Quote of the Day:

“There’s a great quarterback there in Ben (Roethlisberger) who helps guys play better, and guys play better because of him because he extends the play and he knows that his guys know he’s going to get them the football. That’s what you want to have from your quarterback.” — Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, during an interview this morning.