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.

From Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this afternoon:

Charlie Batch will start and Ben Roethlisberger won’t play when the Steelers conclude their preseason Thursday night in Carolina, Coach Mike Tomlin said today.

Tomlin said three other players won’t play because of injuries — cornerback Ike Taylor, wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery and rookie linebacker Chris Carter — and indicated several veterans might not play as well.


You can read more here.



Ben spoke to the media today:

“We’re starting to talk about Baltimore, looking at film and getting ready for that…the sky is the limit for this offense and for some of these guys. We can be as good as we want to be if we limit the mistakes and just play football like we know we can. I think we can be really good, but it is way too early to start talking about one individual or us as an offense. Honestly, I’ve said for a long time – I just want us to be balanced, that’s when we are at our best.”


You can watch and listen to his full interview here.

This Saturday, September 3rd…

Join Ben’s teammates Brett Keisel and Heath Miller for a Steelers Pep Rally at the Pittsburgh Zoo!

Fans arriving between 9:30 and 10:30 am will receive a raffle ticket for the chance to win Terrible Towels, autographed footballs and photos with Brett and Heath!

Brett and Heath will arrive at 11:00 AM.


The event is sponsored by KISS 96.1.


For more info, click here.



Brett Keisel – Mountain Man

Western artist Denny Karchner has made his newest work of art available for purchase.

The print, entitled, “A Wyoming Spirit, Brett Keisel” shows Brett posing along the famous Carter Mountain Range near Cody, Wyoming.

He is in full “mountain man” gear including a grizzly bear claw necklace and holding an original “Lancaster” muzzleloader rifle that was made in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It is almost 200 years old.


Find out more on this piece and others (including the Steelers photo above) here.

Find Denny on Facebook here.

For more on Brett, check out his official site here.

“It’s still another performance, in my opinion, where I’m happy that we scored but I still am a little disappointed that we haven’t done as well as I think we should have.” — Ben, during his post-game comments.

Ben  completed 11-of-16 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns, as the Steelers took down the Atlanta Falcons 34-16 tonight.

Antonio Brown caught both of Ben’s touchdown passes – 77 yards and 44 yards. He had four catches for 137 yards.

Crezdon Butler returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown in the victory.

The news was not all good for the Steelers though – both Byron Leftwich and Maurkice Pouncey left with injuries. Pouncey suffered a left ankle injury early in the game, and Leftwich left with a broken left arm.

Late in the third quarter, Leftwich scrambled to his right for six yards. Atlanta linebacker Stephen Nicholas took him down and Leftwich landed on the turf awkwardly. He got up holding his left arm down at his side.


From Bob Labriola, Steelers Digest:

In addition to playing well once again, Roethlisberger continues to say the kinds of things that leaders are supposed to say. When asked to assess the offense’s performance during a first half in which it scored 24 points, Roethlisberger said, “It’s still another performance, in my opinion, where I’m happy that we scored but I still am a little disappointed that we haven’t done as well as I think we should have. We had a couple breakdowns, some different things here and there that have stalled us as an offense. I feel like we’re doing some good things, but we’ve still got some work to do. That’s a good thing. I’d rather do that than be 100 percent right.”


You can read more from Mr. Labriola’s post-game report here.



From Joe Starkey, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

In Cleveland, new head coach/offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is busy teaching his offense to second-year quarterback Colt McCoy.

In Cincinnati, new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden started from scratch about a month ago with rookie quarterback Andy Dalton.

Here, veteran offensive coordinator Bruce Arians has reached the point where he believes eighth-year quarterback Ben Roethlisberger — who connected with Antonio Brown on touchdowns of 77 and 44 yards […]

“I love it, and so do the wide receivers. I like the change of pace. I like the up-tempo, and it’s hard for the defense to substitute.” — Ben, on using the no-huddle.

From Mark Kaboly, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

After a significant decrease in employing the no-huddle offense last year, the Steelers may dust it off against Atlanta on Saturday – to the delight of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Roethlisberger said he would like to see the offense pick up where it left off in last week’s 24-14 victory over the Eagles, with the added wrinkle of the no-huddle.

“We want to establish ourselves and what we want to do,” Roethlisberger said. “We may go some no-huddle, and if we do that then I would like to execute that well.”

You can read more here.

You can read an article entitled, “Falcons, Steelers ready for pre-season test” by the AP here.



Quote of the Day:

“Ben is in such a cool spot right now. He just seems right.” — Willie Colon, from an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s Ron Cook.