February 9, 2013 - Miami University Hall of Fame Induction Weekend

Bengals fan and MU alum Dan Plettner not only had the opportunity to attend the Hall of Fame Induction Dinner last Saturday, but also the opportunity to meet and chat with Big Ben.

He was kind enough to share his story with us:

I had a splendid experience at Ben Roethlisbergerâ€™s Miami University Hall of Fame Induction Dinner on Saturday evening. Ben was inducted alongside his posthumous coach, Terry Hoeppner. Benâ€™s emotions and words were a great tribute to Coach Hoeppner.

I had brought a football for which I frankly am still working toward a decent historical knowledge. I went up to Ben shortly before dinner and told him I had something I thought he might like to see. He smiled immediately as he saw the Redhawks logo on the ballâ€™s finish and then he began examining the ball pretty closely.

I am still uncertain whether the football was actually used in practice and/or gamesâ€¦ and whether it was definitively ever touched by Ben in 2003, but I loved the ball 10 times more the moment Ben remarked about the ball to the effect, â€œthis ball has a lot of history.â€ Another former player at the event informed that the ball was a new model/style in â€™03.

I enjoyed a normal conversation with â€œBig Benâ€ and he seemed to find my challenge of being a proud Miami alum simultaneous with being a Bengals fan pretty humorous. After talking, when I informed him that Iâ€™d be honored if he choose to sign the ball he graciously reached for my pen and took his time to choose a place to autograph it. After thanking him, I felt like a little kid and discretely walked the football around the perimeter of the room (rather than taking a direct route back to my table) so as not to â€œopen the floodgatesâ€ for others to approach and ask for his autograph just before the dinner commenced.

Later, listening to the speeches from Ben (which truely honored Terry Hoeppner) and Terryâ€™s wife really fully made me appreciate my good fortune for observing a special night in the history at Miami University.

It also helped me to appreciate Ben on a level different from what Iâ€™ve seen during his playing career. Ben showcased humor as a nice compliment to heartfelt emotions, even joking about a fictitious â€œBrianâ€ who had been accidentally introduced (instead of Ben).

Ben, if you ever happen to read this: thank you for helping me to cherish your contribution to Miami University Athletics.

Best Always,
Dan Plettner

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File information
Filename:	Dan_Football~1.jpg
Album name:	erin / Miami of Ohio - Photos
Rating (2 votes):
Filesize:	180 KiB
Date added:	Feb 13, 2013
Dimensions:	592 x 362 pixels
Displayed:	1994 times
URL:	http://www.bigben7.com/photos/displayimage.php?pid=8196
Favorites:	Add to Favorites

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February 9, 2013 - Miami University Hall of Fame Induction Weekend