The second grant of the 2010 season from The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation will be distributed to The Kody Snodgrass Memorial Foundation, known as 832 K-9’s Deputy Dogs, near Tampa Bay, Florida.

The Foundation is seeking financial assistance to provide accelerated training for bloodhounds, specifically in response to child abduction.

“The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation has enabled this organization to bring more children home,” said Foundation Chairperson Angela Snodgrass. “Our mission is to save lives, and by increasing the level of training given to these miraculous bloodhounds, we also increase the success rate of finding the lost.”


From their website:

“The Kody Snodgrass Memorial Foundation, Inc. is dedicated to providing law enforcement with exceptional bloodhounds trained for police work at little or no charge. The Foundation, known as 832 K-9’s Deputy Dogs breeds, raises and trains registered bloodhounds, providing the expert training necessary for these dogs to become valuable partners in the law enforcement community.”

You can read about Officer Snodgrass (above with his partner Jimmy in 2001) who is the inspiration for this mission here.


This NFL season, The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation will be distributing grants to police and fire departments in Pittsburgh, and in the cities and surrounding communities of each regular season away-game where the Steelers play.


You can learn about the Giving Back Fund by contacting Stephanie Sandler at (310) 649-5222 or visiting their website here.


For more info on Ben’s Foundation, check out the Foundation page on this site!


Also Today:

Congratulations to Charlie Batch and the Steelers for their 38-13 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers!

The Steelers are now 3-0 as they prepare this week to play the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at Heinz Field – 1:00 pm.


Quote of the Day:

“The league does not want us to be 4-0 with a mad Ben [Roethlisberger] coming back, I’ll tell you that. We are playing with a lot of confidence as a team, offensively, defensively, special teams. I know Ben right now is itching to hurry up and get back to be here with us.”   — Hines Ward, during his post-game comments, on the Steelers being 3- 0.

“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 Roethlisberger


Ben announced today the first grant of 2010 from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at the Giving Back Fund.

The grant will be distributed to the Hendersonville Police Department, located near Nashville, Tennessee.

The department is seeking financial assistance to purchase a canine trained for the dual-purpose of narcotics and patrol duties.

This NFL season the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation will be distributing grants to police and fire departments in Pittsburgh, and in the cities and surrounding communities of each regular season away-game where the Steelers play.

The Steelers face the Tennessee Titans in Nashville this Sunday, September 19th at 1:00 p.m..

Earlier this summer, the Foundation invited police and fire departments in those nine cities to submit proposals detailing their needs.

“The Hendersonville Police Department greatly appreciates the support and assistance from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation grant,” said Hendersonville Police Interim Chief James L. Jones. “This grant will assist our department in continuing to provide K-9 services to the citizens of our community. The forming of partnerships between law enforcement and the private sector is an excellent way to provide enhanced services to communities across the nation.”

For more information about Ben’s Foundation or The Giving Back Fund, please contact Stephanie Sandler at (310) 649-5222 or visit www.givingbackfund.org.

RJ’s father, Johnny Dabovich, sent photos of the jeep that he not only restored but had painted with an incredible Steelers mural done by artist Kenny Banks in Colorado!

Johnny’s story:

I’ve been a Steelers fan since the age of 7, I’m now 44. Growing up in New Mexico and now living in Colorado, it’s hard to collect anything with ‘Steelers’ on it. So when I had the chance to paint a vehicle black and gold I jumped on it.

My 11-year old son RJ is a huge fan of Ben, His entire room is covered with Steelers memorabilia. We went to Pittsburgh to watch the AFC Championship game but RJ was bummed he didn’t get to ever meet a player, hopefully will get out there again during training camp so he can meet Ben or other players.

RJ would be pumped if he knew Ben saw his jeep.

I restored the jeep to have fun in the mountains and go off road, when it was complete I asked Kenny Banks to put a mural on the hood and some kind of a pattern down the side. He said he always wanted to do something big but he always had to paint what the customer wanted and nobody would have the patience to complete a big project. I told him that as long as it had something to do with the Steelers he could run with his idea.

So 18-months later, this is what the final project looks like. I always joke with Kenny that he ruined my jeep, cause now it just sits in the garage.

The pictures really don’t do it justice. It won a car show here in Pueblo for best of show first time out. Most people see it for what it is and complement it, but there are those dumb Bronco fans that mock it.

You can see more photos of Johnny (and RJ’s) jeep here.

*Thank you to both Johnny and RJ!

Ben sat down with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review‘s Scott Brown to talk about the changes in his life and his legacy:

Some excerpts…

Scott Brown: How do you assure fans that the new Ben is here to stay, that this isn’t part of a script for someone who is trying to save his career?

Ben: Actions always speak louder than words. And I’ve known from day one this is not going to be an overnight process. You’re not going to win people back overnight. You’re not going to win all of them back, period. But, like I said, my actions will speak volumes over the next days, weeks, months and years. I really believe that and I think people will (believe it), even the hard-headed ones that won’t give me a chance. Over the years of seeing me and seeing that it’s not just talk, more people will come around.


Scott Brown: You said you are more at peace with yourself. Why?

Ben: It’s a calming feeling when the Lord runs your life. And it’s something I’ve always known as a church person, but I’ve never really believed it. I think I’ve known it but never believed it. And now I know it, and it’s a great thing.


Scott Brown: When athletes talk about finding religion, it produces its share of eye-rolling. Do you expect that reaction from fans?

Ben: It’s OK. I’m not going to be going out there and trying to push it on people and make it seem like all of a sudden I am this great person. That’s not who I am. That’s not what religion and faith is all about. You’re not going to see me getting cross tattoos and wearing cross necklaces. That’s not what it’s about. So if they want to roll their eyes, that’s fine. Because I know where I am at and God knows where I’m at, and that’s all that really matters.


You can read the entire interview and see the video here.


Also Today:

Ben spoke to KDKA today about his plans during his suspension –

“I’m going to work out as much as I can try, and do the best I can to stay in shape football-wise, and conditioning, and lifting, and working out, throw as often as I can without wearing my arm out,” said Roethlisberger.

And when the Steelers take the […]

Final Preseason Game…

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Roethlisberger started his third consecutive preseason game, played the first two series and once again led them to three points, the third time in three games he has done that. This time, though, Roethlisberger did it against Carolina’s second-team defense. Roethlisberger completed 4 of 6 passes for 39 yards before he gave way to Leftwich with 53 seconds left in the first quarter.

You can read the full story here.


From Steelers.com:

Roethlisberger came out working in the no-huddle offense to start things. He was forced to scramble up the middle for one-yard to start the drive and Rashard Mendenhall went off left guard for six yards. On third and three Roethlisberger was able to pull in Maurkice Pouncey’s high shotgun snap, but couldn’t recover and was sacked for a 10-yard loss.

On third-and-17 Roethlisberger hit Arnaz Battle for 16-yards, with his knee ruled down before getting the first down. The Steelers went for it on fourth-and-one and Mendenhall delivered with a nine-yard run up the middle. Roethlisberger connected with Heath Miller for 13 yards and Mendenhall continued to move the ball with carries of four and five yards.

Mewelde Moore moved the chains going off left guard for four yards. A holding call negated an 11-yard run by Moore and an incomplete pass gave the Steelers second-and-20 from the Panthers 25-yard line. Roethlisberger hit Moore for seven yards and Battle for three, but they weren’t able to convert the first down. Jeff Reed got them on the board with a 33-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.


You can read their full game summary here.


From ESPN’s AFC North Blog:

Steelers quarterback Byron Leftwich sprained his left knee in the second quarter Thursday night as Pittsburgh beat the starter-less Carolina Panthers 19-3.

Leftwich (4 of 6, 39 yards) was hurt on an 18-yard completion to Emmanuel Sanders as running back Mewelde Moore and safety Marcus Hudson collided near him with 10:25 remaining in the first half. Leftwich immediately clutched his knee in pain.

While Dixon talked to reporters, Roethlisberger — leaving the Steelers’ locker room for the last time in at least a month — leaned close and offered words of encouragement.

Roethlisberger […]

“I have learned a lot over the past several months about myself as a person. I am committed to continuing on this path of being the type of person my family raised me to be, and exceeding what is expected of me as the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

For more news from today, see the post below.