Excerpt from Part I of Ben’s interview with KDKA‘s Bob Pompeani, shown this evening during the station’s 6:00 pm broadcast:


Mr. Pompeani: “Twitter – very popular thing these days, but I notice you don’t Twitter. First of all, why not?”

Ben: “I’m sure it’s great for some players. That’s how they want to connect to their fans and stuff, but I think it’s an opportunity for you to get in a lot of trouble because it’s right at the palm of your fingers. In a time of passion, in time of emotion and not thinking, you could say whatever you want and you can’t take it back. The second you hit send or however it works, the whole world knows about it and I think that’s very dangerous, and I also think that in an athlete’s life and in a person’s life of celebrity status or whatever, you’re looking for your privacy. I don’t understand how people complain about their privacy, but yet, they’re tweeting what they’re eating and what they’re doing, so it’s just kind of counterproductive if you ask me.”


You can read more from his interview here.

You can watch video of his interview here.


Note: Part II of the interview can be seen Friday evening during KDKA’s 6:00 pm news telecast.


Now we do have a Twitter feed for website updates that you are welcome to follow, as well as a website page on Facebook for you to “Like” and/or comment on!


And for all those that have already asked, Ben was wearing a t-shirt from Brett Keisel’s “Da Beard Gear” collection! You can check out Brett’s online store here.

From Scott Brown’s camp report at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

The first-team offense looked sharp during a two-minute drill that was one of the highlights of practice. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger needed just three plays to get the offense into the end zone after it had started on its own 40-yard line. He hit tight end Heath Miller on a seam route and then dumped the ball off to wide receiver Arnaz Battle for a short gain.

That set up the pass in which Roethlisberger looked right and then left, finding Tyler Grisham, who had slipped behind the secondary, for a 40-yard touchdown.

“My arm feels good,” Roethlisberger said. “Physically, I feel pretty good, and I think a lot of the guys feel pretty good as well. I think we’re right where we would normally be.”


You can read more from Mr. Brown here.

More from Scott Brown this evening on Baron Batch’s injury here.



The Examiner‘s Cristina Rivers reports on team leadership at camp:

Leadership from veterans isn’t a new thing for the Steelers. In fact, every year at training camp, veterans have taken opportunities to advise, demonstrate and prep younger players.

Ward said, “Looking at our wide receiving corps…great talent, we have no experience.” Meanwhile receiver Tyler Grisham has also stepped up his game. Although Grisham isn’t the tallest receiver the Steelers have to choose from, Roethlisberger has shown that he finds him an appealing target.

Roethisberger admits that having the veterans lead the younger players with such a strange off-season is a blessing in disguise. “It is unusual circumstance we are in,” he said. “We have veteran guys who have been here and done that before. The off-season was almost beneficial to the guys. It’s something where we can step up and be ready to go.”


You can read more from Ms. Rivers here.



Also Today:

Pittsburgh Magazine‘s Sean Conboy on ESPN’s new Quarterback Rating System (QRS):

Their intent is noble, considering the current gold standard for measuring quarterbacks is the antiquated Passer Rating, an incomplete system devised in […]

From Ed Bouchette’s column this morning at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

[Heath] Miller has set up in the backfield as a receiver more than ever, continuing an experiment that began last season. Grisham has been a favorite target of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in camp, continuing another trend from a year ago, and likely will take departed Antwaan Randle El’s spot among the group of wide receivers.

Miller’s teammates believe he is the most complete tight end in the league and, at 6 feet 5, can be more productive as a receiver if need be.

“It’s really just taking a halfback out and getting an extra receiver in,” Roethlisberger said. “So I think we evolved a little bit. We did it a little bit of it last year but you’re going to see a lot more of it. We have different packages. We have to get him in there, we have to use him.

“He’s the best full tight end in the game. Nothing against Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates and those guys, but they’re receivers playing tight end. Heath is the best because he can also block. He blocks defensive ends sometimes; we ask him to do that, and pick up blitzes. That’s why he’s so special, he can do whatever we want. He’s an extra lineman and a receiver. I see a big year ahead for him.”


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

You can read Teresa Varley’s training camp report from today here.

You can watch video of Ben’s interview with the media today here.

You can see the latest training camp photos here.



Also Today:

Lots of Lil’ Fans and a big fan too!

A few new photos have been added to both the Lil’ Fans album and the Fan Photos & Stories album.

Thank you to the Beall family (that’s 7-month old Benjamin and his big sister Kendall in the photo), the Labolito family, the Lydon family, and the Ritter family for sending in photos of your lil’ fans.


And thank you to Sami for sharing your photo with Ben at training camp!


If you would like to share your photos, please […]

Just added: new photos from training camp!

Fans Sarah Swenson, Billie Jo Yakubik and Renee Stredney attended camp this weekend and took quite a few photos of #7 to share with the rest of Steeler Nation!


You can view them all here (pages 1 – 4).


*Thank you so much to all three ladies!



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



Also Today:

“NFL’s Top-Three Headed Monsters”

From Vinnie Lyer, the Sporting News:

Ben Roethlisberger, Rashard Mendenhall and Mike Wallace, Steelers. Although Big Ben is well established as a top NFL quarterback, Mendenhall and Wallace have only recently broken out as 1,000-yard performers, and along with it, have given Roethlisberger and the entire offense a renewed energy.


You can read more here.

“It’s kind of refreshing to come into camp to just, you know, focus on football and focus on what I want to do in this ‘second half’ of my career, if you will. It’s kind of a fun time right now.” — Ben, from the interview.

From an interview with Ed Bouchette in today’s edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

There is no news, and that is significant. The Steelers quarterback has been a hot newsroom topic for too many of his previous seven training camps in Latrobe, and it is a relief to him, his teammates and management that the storms have subsided, that every major news organization in America has not descended onto the tiny college campus to focus on Roethlisberger for a change.

He has noticed.

“I know, it’s been nice,” Roethlisberger said during an interview with the Post-Gazette in a Saint Vincent dorm. “Walking off the field, normally they’re swarming me — and they’ve been swarming other people. It’s been very refreshing.”

He is 29 years old, married for two weeks and entering his eighth NFL season with the luxury of hearing more football questions these days than in previous training camps.

Roethlisberger has formed a bond with his linemen; many were in his wedding party. He sounded no alarms about a unit that, despite its critics, has played in two Super Bowls in the past three years.

“I think our line is as deep as it’s ever been,” Roethlisberger said. “We have guys who can bounce around to different spots. I just hope the guys can stay healthy because I don’t know when I had the same five guys to start and end the year.”


You can read the full interview/article here.

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!