CBS Sports senior writer Clark Judge looks at the Steelers’ strengths and needs going into 2011:

Pittsburgh is one of the feel-good stories from 2010, a team that overcame a raft of adversity to graduate to Super Bowl XLV.

The surprise, of course, is that the Steelers didn’t close the deal. Ben Roethlisberger hadn’t lost a Super Bowl, and the organization was six for seven. But lose they did when Roethlisberger failed to recreate the last-minute magic that makes him one of the league’s premier quarterbacks.

Now it’s up to the front office to make something happen, and there are few teams I trust as much as Pittsburgh when it comes to the draft. These guys know talent, one reason the Steelers are one of the most consistent and successful franchises anywhere. In an era where dynasties aren’t supposed to exist, the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to excel…year after year after year.

One reason is that they have a franchise quarterback who knows how to win.


Starting with the QB:

Roethlisberger isn’t just a franchise quarterback. He’s a franchise quarterback who’s been to three of the last six Super Bowls, winning two of them. Not bad, eh? It gets better. He’s only 29 and just completed one of his most efficient seasons anywhere. But Roethlisberger absorbs a lot of hits, so it’s always good to have a backup around. Charlie Batch turns 37 this season, so a young guy to groom isn’t a bad idea.


You can read the rest of Mr. Judge’s Draft analysis for the Steelers here.

“The kid made some great plays. Ben Roethlisberger had a 35 quarterback rating, yet helped win the game for them. He might have won the game for them with two big throws. With all else being said, the game that Mendenhall had, it came down to Ben Roethlisberger making two huge plays against us.” — New York Jets coach Rex Ryan during his press conference on January 24, 2011 after the Steelers won the AFC Championship Game.

From Michael Bean at the site, Behind the Steel Curtain:

Ben Roethlisberger’s spectacular 2010 season in the fourth quarter and on third down –

“You all are web savvy enough to find most NFL statistics on your own. Pro Football Reference is certainly an incredible resource for traditional stats, while Football Outsiders and Cold Hard Football Facts tackle more advanced metrics with aplomb. Nevertheless, I bet I can provide you with a few interesting Steelers stats from the 2010 season. This will be the first of several posts that analyze specific team and individual statistics from the 2010 season that are often less discussed for a variety of reasons.

“Let’s begin with Ben Roethlisbeger’s passing numbers in two key situations — in the fourth quarter and on third down. Now, being great in the fourth quarter or on third down isn’t enough. Not if you lay an egg in other quarters or downs. But obviously both categories are significant. You get a chance to make up for mishaps on first and second down; you have to punt it away if you falter on third down. Same applies to quarters one through three. So long as you’re not disastrous in the early stages of game, you can always make up for it in the fourth and final quarter. So, though they don’t correlate directly to team success, it’s hard to argue that successful performance by your quarterback in the final 15 minutes and on third downs is paramount to a team’s success….”

Interested?

If so, you can check out the rest here.

“I have had the opportunity to see first-hand how important the dogs are to these men and women who risk their lives every day to protect us. It’s incredible to see the strong bond that is formed between the dogs and their partners both on the job and at home.” — Ben.

Today, Ben announced the final grants of the 2010-2011 season for the Ben  Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund.

The Foundation will be distributing over $51,000 in grants to seven different police K-9 units in the Pittsburgh area.

The police departments receiving funding this year are the City of Pittsburgh, Center Township,  Greensburg, Indiana Township, Swissvale, Westmoreland County, and the Borough of Gallitzin.

This will complete the fourth cycle of The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation, during which it distributed more than $100,000 in grants to K-9 units across the country.

In addition to the announcement of the Pittsburgh area grants, the foundation also distributed grants to police and fire departments in the cities and surrounding communities of each regular season away game for the Steelers during the 2010 season. The Foundation had invited police and fire departments in the nine cities to submit proposals detailing their needs.

Greensburg Chief of Police Walter J. Lyons said, “The police K-9 unit has been and continues to be a valuable tool in community policing activities, criminal apprehension, tracking, and drug cases. The support given by the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation is critical to maintaining a first class police K-9 unit.”

Center Township Chief of Police Barry D. Kramer said his department, “greatly appreciates the generosity of the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation. The Center Township Police Department will do our best to take this opportunity to develop and implement a K-9 program to make our community a safer place.”

The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation is also blessed with several generous sponsors that have enabled it to expand it’s K-9 grant program, including American Eagle, Kerzner International Resorts and the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office as well as from caring individual donors from around the country.

In commenting on why the mission of the foundation is so important to him, Ben said, “We’re very fortunate to be in the position that we are able to help these K-9 units. The work that is performed by […]

This is one of those articles that somehow got lost in all the excitement of Super Bowl week, but it’s still a good read one month later!


From the Green Bay Press Gazette‘s Pete Dougherty:

Neither Ben Roethlisberger nor Aaron Rodgers was voted to this year’s Pro Bowl, but there’s a good argument they’ve been the NFL’s best two quarterbacks down the home stretch of this season.

Both have many of the qualities teams look for at that position, but what separates them from almost all the other elite quarterbacks in the league is their ability to scramble and make plays on the move.

Among the top quarterbacks this season, they’re more athletic and mobile than Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan. Only Philadelphia’s Michael Vick was more mobile, but by the end of the season, he’d proven to be not nearly as good as Roethlisberger and Rodgers from the pocket.

Roethlisberger and Rodgers are the two quarterbacks left standing in part because of their ability to scramble and turn potential sacks or throw-aways into first downs and big gainers.

“I’d say (Roethlisberger is) one tough man,” an NFL scout said last week. “He’s big, he’s hard to bring down, you hit him, you think you have him wrapped up. He’s very similar to (former Minnesota quarterback Daunte) Culpepper in his heyday with the Vikings — you tackle the guy, you think you’ve got him and you bounce off him. You have to gang tackle the damn quarterback.

“The Jets game (in the AFC championship), they kept letting him break containment, and that’s where he was making all the plays. That’s a problem. Rodgers gives you the same. That’s where the mobile quarterback is the difference-maker…”


You can read the rest here (go ahead, it’s the off-season!).


*Thanks to Mike Hammond for the link!



Speaking of February…


Garrett Cagle celebrated his 7th birthday on February 6th. He had a Steelers-themed birthday party and wore his favorite #7 […]

“She was always ‘Ben’s little sister’ but she’s made a name for herself. It’s really neat to see how she took it to the next level. It’s great to see her have so much success.”  — Ben.

From Mike Baldwin in The Oklahoman this weekend:

The day she arrived at Oklahoma, Carlee Roethlisberger was known as Ben’s younger sister.

It was expected territory when your older brother is the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers and has won Super Bowls.

Carlee, though, has made a name for herself on OU’s women’s basketball team, which closes out the regular season Saturday at Texas Tech.

This week Ben flew to Oklahoma City to attend Carlee’s last two home games at the Lloyd Noble Center. Ironically, Ben’s 29th birthday was Senior Night three days ago. Carlee is 21.

“We were pretty far apart in age growing up, but we’ve gotten closer as we’ve gotten older,” Ben said. “I wanted to see these last two games, especially be there for Senior Night.”

Carlee never downplayed the relationship. On Senior Night she told the crowd she’s proud to be Ben’s “little sister.”

“No one wants to live in someone’s shadow their whole life,” Carlee said. “But when the shadow is as big as his, and he’s done such amazing things, you’re so proud of him. We’ve always been competitive. He’s always pushed me. Big brothers don’t let your head get big. That’s their job.”

Carlee smiled when informed Ben sometimes is asked how his sister is doing at OU.

“That’s awesome. Hopefully he gets a kick out of that,” Carlee said. “Maybe he’s gotten a little taste of what I’ve gotten my whole life.”


You can read more here.

Update: You can see video from the Sooners WBB Senior Night Ceremony here.

7-year old Cooper and his big brother, 11-year old Brett had the opportunity to meet Ben in Norman, Oklahoma on Sunday, February 27th.

Ben was in town to attend sister Carlee’s games as her Oklahoma Sooners finish out their final home games of the season.

According to the boys’ grandmother, Cheryl Kent, Cooper is a “huge” Ben fan as well as a big Steelers fan and has been since he was 3-years old. “He knows everything there is to know about Ben,” said Cheryl. “He can even give you details about the Super Bowl when they beat Arizona, he was 5 at the time.”

Cooper wears his Big Ben jersey and carries his football to every OU Women’s Basketball game in hopes that he will see Ben! Cheryl said that on Sunday “luck was on our side, he was there!”

Cheryl snapped a photo of her grandsons with Ben after the game.

“Ben was so kind to autograph Cooper’s football and meet the boys after the game! His small act of kindness made a little fan the happiest little boy in the world. I am so impressed at how nice Ben was and how he went out of his way for these two little boys.”


*Thank you so much to Cheryl for sharing the photo and the story!


You can see a larger version of the photo in the Lil Fans album here. There is also another photo of Cool Cooper in the same album!



Speaking of Lil’ Fans….

“I just can’t say enough how great Ben was with the kids. We had Heath Miller, Brett Keisel & Chris Hoke come and work with the kids and they were great, too. However, when Ben showed up, it was absolutely electric!!” – Anita Doddroe, whose son attended the Camp in 2010.

Join Ben this summer for some football instruction and fun at his Football Camp for kids, sponsored by ProCamps Worldwide!

The Camp is open to boys and girls, ages 7-14.

Campers will participate in daily games, stations, and skill contests. Each camper will […]