Today, Ben announced the first grant of the 2011 season from The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund.

The foundation will be distributing a grant to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, in Rockville, MD – just outside of Baltimore where the Steelers will play the Ravens on Sunday, September 11th.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office will use the grant to purchase four “K9 Storm” bullet proof vests, to help protect the department’s four highly specialized canine teams.

All members of the Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit are trained as dual purpose K9s for the detection of explosives as well as patrol functions. The grant will add another level of safety for the canines while they handle their duties both in and around the Montgomery County area, protecting the lives and property of the citizens of Maryland and surrounding states.

The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation is distributing grants to police and fire departments in Pittsburgh and in the cities and surrounding communities of each regular season away game for the Steelers in the 2011 season. The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation invited police and fire departments in the nine cities to submit proposals detailing their needs.

Montgomery County, Maryland, Sheriff Darren M. Popkin acknowledging the 2011 police K-9 grant stated: “The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation program recognizes the importance of well-trained K-9 teams as part our overall law enforcement efforts. Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office K-9 dogs are cross trained for search, patrol and explosive detection duties. The grant funds will provide our dogs with vests that protect them from attacks with firearms and knifes while engaged in their duties.”


For more information:

Check out Ben’s Foundation page here and the Giving Back Fund’s website here.

From Mark Kaboly, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review today:

Last year, after an offseason full of turmoil, Ben Roethlisberger’s teammates sent him a message by not voting him a team captain for the first time in three years.

His teammates sent a different message Sunday, voting Roethlisberger offensive co-captain for the third time in the past four years.

“Anytime you are voted captain by your teammates, it means a good deal to you,” tight end Heath Miller said, who replaced Roethlisberger as captain last year. “Ben has come back and has become the leader of this team, and that was indicative today.”


You can read more here.



Also Today:

From Scott Brown, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, a “short Q&A” with Ben:

Q: What does it mean to have the support to get voted a captain?

A: “It means a lot to be a captain of this team with all of the past captains and great players that have played here on this team.”


You can read more of the interview here.



And:

From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com this evening:

It doesn’t matter if they are ready or not, it makes no difference if it’s how they want to start the season. The bottom line is this – the Steelers open the 2011 regular season this Sunday in Baltimore and that means game on.

“We’ve got to be ready to play,” said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

“It’s a divisional game, any time we play a divisional opponent it means a little more for all of us. It’s the first game of the year, it doesn’t matter who we are playing, we are going to get up and get excited for it. You get a divisional opponent right from the get go. Both teams are in the same boat. It’s the first game for both teams. It’s a physical game. It you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. We consider them one of the best.”


You can read more here.

From the Steelers organization this afternoon via Twitter:

Team captains for the 2011 Season have been announced – Ben, Hines Ward, James Farrior, and Arnaz Battle.



From Mark Kaboly, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Roethlisberger and Hines Ward were named offensive captains, James Farrior defensive captain and Arnaz Battle special teams captain.

Roethlisberger was a team captain in 2008 and 2009, but was not voted for the position a season ago amidst his offseason legal troubles.

“He has done a great job of opening himself up to the team and keeping his nose clean,” Willie Colon said. “He is in a real good stable comfort place. He has taken on a leader more than a lot of us.”


You can read more here.


Congratulations to all four captains!

“He knows we have his back on and off the field, and a lot of us feel like that, so when you’ve got your brothers playing around you, it’s kind of like backyard football. That’s he how feels. We know how much he does for this offense, so the consensus this year is we’ve got to play our (butts) off because we know that he’s going to lead us to victory.” — Teammate and friend Willie Colon, from the interview.

Part II of Ben’s interview with Scott Brown is featured in today’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Excerpts from the interview:

Mr. Brown: How long can you continue playing with all of the punishment you have absorbed?

Ben: You know what, people have asked and honestly I don’t know how long until my body says no or the Lord says no. I’ve told my closest friends, I’ve told my wife, I’ve told my agent, “Don’t let me do what some of these other guys did, just keep forcing the issue.” When I’m done, I’m done. I don’t want to go to any other team. When I’m done here, I think I’m ready to walk away. I can’t think of a better team, a better franchise, a better city to walk away as a part of your whole life.


Mr. Brown: Why can this team win the Super Bowl?

Ben: We’ve got a really good, veteran group and a bunch of young guys on offense that just don’t know any better than to just play as hard as they can and as fast as they can. So I think we’ve got a lot of potential on both sides of the ball, and the sky’s the limit for us. We’ve had some good (offenses), but as a collective group this one is pretty daggone good because you can mix in a lot of young guys.


To read the full interview, click here.

The earlier interview can be read here.

ESPN‘s John Clayton ranked the NFL quarterbacks today:

I divide the league’s quarterbacks into three categories — The Elite, the Chad Penningtons and the Hit-or-Miss quarterbacks. This year, I have 13 elites. Although I am criticized for putting a Matt Schaub or a Joe Flacco in the same category as a Tom Brady or a Peyton Manning, I do it for a reason.

Elite quarterbacks are the ones who usually make the playoffs, so I categorize the elites as the ones who give their franchises the best chance.

The league has 12 playoff spots, and usually 10 or 11 of the elite quarterbacks fill those positions. To be elite, a quarterback must have 4,000-yard potential, complete 60 percent of his passes and score more than 20 points a game.

Mr. Clayton’s Top 5:

1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots

2. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

3. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts

4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

5. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers – Roethlisberger barely made the top 10 in the new QBR ratings. He concedes statistics to Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan, but he has two Super Bowl rings and a 10-3 playoff record. In fourth quarters and late in games, he’s dangerous.


You can read all of Mr. Clayton’s rankings here.



And from Sports Journal Business Daily this evening:

After winning Super Bowl XLV, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and LB Clay Matthews had the top two-selling jerseys on NFLShop.com from April 1-Aug. 30.

Rodgers, who owned the No. 2 best-selling jersey as of March, claims the top spot for the first time in his career.

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger saw the biggest jump among players in the top 20 in the previous rankings, moving from No. 16 to No. 5.

The Top 5 in jersey sales:

1. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers

2. Packers LB Clay Matthews

3. Steelers S Troy Polamalu

4. Eagles QB Michael Vick

5. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger


You can see the Top 25 here.


Thank you Steelers fans! The support you have shown has been amazing!

Scott Brown of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has an “exclusive” interview with Ben available on the newspaper’s website today.

Ben answers questions from Mr. Brown about discipline in the NFL as it pertains to the Personal Conduct Policy, the hits he takes on the field, and his thoughts on being selected as a team captain this year.

On the honor of being named captain:

“I always vote for Hines and Heath, and I think Willie Colon is a candidate,” Roethlisberger said. “If I’m not voted (a captain), it’s not going to hurt my feelings at all because we’ve got many guys that are capable and should be captains.

“Obviously it’s an awesome honor, but if I am a captain or not, I’m still going to be a leader and try to help these guys however I can — and this team.”


You can read the interview here.



Also Today:

Ben and all of his teammates and coaches were in attendance for the 2011 Steelers Kickoff Luncheon that took place at the Wyndham Grand in downtown Pittsburgh this afternoon.


You can watch video highlights here and see a few photos here.