From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

Thanksgiving in 2020 might not look anything like what families have become accustomed to over the years.

While it will still be a time for counting our blessings, it will likely be with much smaller gatherings than have been the case in years past.

But regardless of the size of the gathering, there are still families struggling to put food on the table, something that has been the case through the years, but hitting new levels this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That is why Steelers players have continued to do their part to give back, including Cameron Heyward, Maurkice Pouncey, James Conner and JuJu Smith-Schuster. The players combined with local agencies to provide turkeys and Thanksgiving meals to more than 950 families in Pittsburgh, Erie, Pa. and Long Beach, California.

Because of the pandemic the players weren’t able to be on hand for the distributions, something Heyward and Pouncey have always done in the past, but they know the most important thing is everyone being able to safely get what they need during such a tough time.

Pouncey has been working with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank since 2012, providing over 1,600 turkeys over the years. Since he couldn’t be there, he and the others provided prerecorded video messages for the recipients of the food, sharing their love and good wishes to the families.


You can read more here.

“There has always been a need to reach out and help. There have always been people who are struggling and in need of food and especially during these times, people who have normally been okay have found themselves in […]

Did you catch Ben’s post-game interview?

“It feels good. I believe in those guys up front, and they’ve gone up against some really good defenses, dome good d-lines, some crazy blitzes and different things. I love those guys to death, and I wouldn’t want anyone else in front of me”. — Ben, on his Offensive line keeping him upright.

“He’s getting better each and every week. If this team continues to go down the path it’s going down, he’s going to be discussed as an MVP. To say you’re surprised, no. To say you should be greatly impressed, yes. How could you not be?” — Coach Cowher.

[Ben] has thrown 22 touchdowns, putting him on pace for a career high; been intercepted just four times, which would be his fewest in a decade; and has had a 100-plus passer rating in seven of the nine games in 2020. What’s more, he has surprised everyone — including the doctor who performed his surgery — with how quickly he has bounced back from an injury that could have ended his career. At age 38, he already has exceeded everyone’s expectation.

“I was pretty optimistic he would feel like he could throw with much less pain than he had in a while,” said Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the Los Angeles-based orthopedic surgeon who performed surgery on Roethlisberger. “I didn’t realize how well he would be able to throw.”

There is still one last hurdle to overcome for Roethlisberger, though it’s one he knows may never disappear: He still gets concerned every time he is hit on his elbow.

“I hear people say, ‘Oh man, Ben is holding his elbow again.’ Well of course I am,” Roethlisberger said. “I had major surgery. If my left elbow gets hit, I’m not going to be holding it and be worried about it. I just had potential career-ending surgery on my money-maker, if you will. Every time I land on it or get hit on it, of course I’m going to be scared for a second or nervous for a second.

“People say, ‘Why is [Dr. Jim] Bradley looking at your elbow all the time?’ ” Roethlisberger added, referring to the team’s orthopedic surgeon. “Well, because we all invested […]