Ben, Heath Miller and Brett Keisel pose in the Steelers locker room today just before they suited up for their roles as the Gotham Rogues in the movie, “The Dark Knight Rises”.



The home team Rogues, coached by Bill Cowher, will take on the Rapid City Monuments at Heinz Field, which has also been transformed for it’s role in the movie!


For a larger version of the photo, click here.



And:

From Michael A. Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this afternoon:

Steeler Nation went Rogue this morning, as extras cheering for the new hometown team, the Gotham Rogues, for a scene being filmed for “The Dark Knight Rises” at Heinz Field.

The Rogues are playing the Rapid City Monuments in a fictional game at the stadium.

Decked out in the Rogues’ colors of black and gold, thousands of fans cheered as some Steelers, including Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward, appeared, playing members of the Rogues. Bill Cowher returned, prowling the sidelines in his first coaching gig since leaving the Steelers after the 2006 season. Kevin Colbert, the Steelers director of football operations, is reuniting with Cowher as an assistant coach for the Gotham Rogues.


You can read more from Mr. Fuoco here.


For more movie news, check out Friday’s post below!

Ben was a guest on WDVE -102.5’s Morning Show today!





Also Today:

“Batman, meet Big Ben!”

From Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this afternoon:

Roethlisberger and about a dozen of his veteran teammates will take part in the filming of Dark Knight Rises playing — what else? — football players at a familiar venue for them, Heinz Field. The production, which has been filming in Pittsburgh, moves Saturday morning to the Steelers home, where thousands of extras playing fans have been recruited. The Steelers will return to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe for a real football practice under the direction of coach Mike Tomlin Saturday afternoon.

The Steelers quarterback has become close with Thomas Tull, the film’s executive producer who joined the Steelers ownership group two years ago.

“I’m kind of getting everybody together,” Roethlisberger told the Post-Gazette today. “I heard it’s going to be a neat thing at the stadium. I don’t think it will be a big part, it’s not like we’re chasing Batman down or anything. It’s something neat that in 10 years or 20 years we can tell our kids we were in a movie. Thomas does movies big and I’m sure it will be a big-time movie and something fun to be part of.”

Among teammates expected to join him are Hines Ward, Willie Colon, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Wallace, Heath Miller, Aaron Smith, Ryan Clark, Troy Polamalu, James Farrior and Casey Hampton.


You can read more from Mr. Bouchette here.


From the Associated Press about their movie roles:

About a dozen Steelers are playing members of the Gotham Rogues, the home team taking on the equally fictitious Rapid City Monuments in a new Batman movie currently filming in Pittsburgh. Thousands of extras playing fans also have been recruited for Saturday’s shoot for “The Dark Knight Rises” at Heinz Field.


You can read more here.

You can see photos of the field transformation and costumes for the players here.

You can also read about Coach Cowher’s role in the movie here.



And:

Check out some great photos from fan Lexi Fanty of her trip to Steelers training camp yesterday right here.

“Steelers have a great opening to their 2011 training camp”

From Christina Rivers, independent contract journalist for the Examiner:

If you’ve never attended a Steelers training camp at Saint Vincent College, you’re missing out on one of the most exciting camps in team history.  The media frenzy on opening day was one thing, but the crowd of loyal fans standing along the sidelines, in the bleachers or across the lawn was impressive.  Moving-in day on Thursday saw players with items for their dormitory rooms, baggage and reporters nearly jumping at the chance for an interview.

The atmosphere, not unlike a family reunion, had many players greeting each other with hugs and handshakes.  Since Super Bowl XLV, most of the players haven’t seen each other except for those few who worked out together unofficially while the NFL lockout continued for nearly four months this year.

Christina also breaks down camp by player position:

If there is any doubt that Ben Roethlisberger isn’t a leader and won’t be the starting quarterback this season, they should be put to rest.  Even though Roethlisberger was recently married, he didn’t look like he was on a honeymoon on the field. His passing was clean and sharp for the most part, and during an early scrimmage he showed he can still scramble gaining over 20 yards and a first down. Batch is still a great leader and isn’t shy about helping out those in camp. Byron Leftwich showed why he will most-likely be Roethlisberger’s backup this season….


Check out Ms. Rivers’ full column on training camp here.



Quote of the Day:

“Unfortunately I got traded and myself and Ben parted ways, but we had a great deal of fun leading our team to the Super Bowl, just winning game after game, Monday night games, Sunday night games, Thursday night games, no matter where we played at, we were always ready to play for each other.” — Santonio Holmes, from an ESPN Radio New York interview about working with Ben.

According to Ben’s agent, Mr. Ryan Toller this afternoon, Ben has agreed to restructure his contract to help the Steelers get under the salary cap.

The Steelers organization has not yet confirmed the deal.

Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote earlier today that, “the team is attempting to restructure the contracts of five players to get under the $120 million salary cap by Thursday. If they do so, the team may not have to release any more players.”



This weekend:

ESPN‘s Monday Night Football commentators Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski will host “Year of the Quarterback SportsCenter Special: The Total Quarterback Rating” on Friday, August 5th at 8:00 PM.

The one-hour program will formally unveil ESPN’s new quarterback rating system. The program will also include insight from current NFL quarterbacks Matt Cassel, Joe Flacco, Matt Hasselbeck, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Tim Tebow and Michael Vick.


You can read more here.

“We were the last two of our draft class (2004), and Max’s locker was next to mine for seven-eight years now. So I saw his jersey, I grabbed it and wore it in honor of Max” — Ben

From USA Today‘s Gary Mihoces this evening:

For practice Sunday, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger wore an oversized jersey No. 78 in tribute for former Steelers OT Max Starks.

Starks played for the Steelers at 6-8, 345 pounds.

“It’s his practice jersey. It’s little big. It kept riding on my neck,” said Roethlisberger.

“First and foremost, he was a very good friend,” said Roethlisberger. “Like I said, our lockers were next to each other. So we spent a lot of time together, everything from hearing him snore (during naps) to us complaining about things to just all the things we’ve gone through.

“So very good friend, good teammate and I’m not going to (rule) out the possibility that he might come back. Who knows?”


You can read more from Mr. Mihoces here.

You can see photos from this weekend here.



From Inside Pittsburgh Sports‘ Dale Grdnic:

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger fired a wide-receiver screen to split out Mike Wallace on the opening play in 11-on-11 drills that quickly broke open for a long gain. Roethlisberger followed that with a short across the middle that tight end Heath Miller pulled in among several nearby defenders for a first down.

Roethlisberger, who wore a No. 78 practice jersey to honor former Steelers left offensive tackle Max Starks, continued to be sharp in moving the ball down the field….


You can read more from Mr. Grdnic here.

You can see a few fan photos from today here.


If you would like to share your photos from training camp, please email me (BigBen7website@gmail.com)!



Division Rivals – Quote of the Day:

“Kindle made it through the three-hour practice in full pads without incident, which is very good news for all concerned. He was a premier pass rusher in college and would be a major asset to a Ravens team that had a franchise-low 27 sacks […]

Excerpt from WPXI‘s “Camp Notebook” this evening:

2:45 p.m. – The Steelers have begun making their way onto the field. They are still not allowed to wear pads.

Some of the first guys out here are Heath Miller and Byron Leftwich. They’ll be practicing on the far soccer field today because the normal ones are very wet from yesterday’s storms.

The biggest cheer from the crowd came when Ben Roethlisberger and James Harrison walked down the steps HOLDING HANDS!

It may be the heat, but the crowd is extremely small for the first Saturday of camp.


WPXI does a great job of taking you through the whole practice day here.

You can check out a larger version of the photo above on WPXI’s slideshow here.



Also Today:

Teresa Varley, of Steelers.com – Steelers Training Camp Diary

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Steelers ‘interested’ in Burress

Damon Hack, of SI’s “Inside the NFL” – Postcard from camp: Steelers