From the Colorado Parks & Wildlife website today:

Colorado Parks and Wildlife will be adding a third certified K-9 to its pilot program and it is all thanks to the generosity of NFL two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

CPW already has two K-9’s in a pilot program to see how dogs can be used for law enforcement and wildlife management. Last Thursday, Samson, an 18-month old Belgian Malinois, began his month-long training to become a certified law enforcement K-9 that will partner with Ian Petkash, wildlife officer for the Lake George District.


Petkash received a $12,000 grant from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund back in November when Roethlisberger’s Pittsburgh Steelers played in Denver. The funds CPW received will be used to purchase and train Samson.

“This K-9 will not only aid in the apprehension of those who seek to exploit wildlife, but will also be trained in canine hard-releases on bears and mountain lions that have come into conflict with people,” Petkash said. “This non-lethal tool will serve to keep wildlife wild and keep people safe. Furthermore, the K-9 will serve as an ambassador for wildlife management to Colorado’s public. On behalf of the wildlife and the people of Colorado, I want to thank the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation for providing this opportunity.”

CPW enlisted Johnson’s K9 out of Colorado Springs to search for and purchase the dog, which was obtained from a private breeder in Texas. Johnson’s K9 will also be administering the training for Samson and Petkash.

Samson’s responsibilities will focus on assisting Petkash with law enforcement detection work as well being used as an experiment on hard-releases for bears and mountain lions.

Samson will be trained to detect the scent of nine different wildlife species – bears, deer, elk, moose, mountain lions, pronghorn, trout, upland birds and waterfowl. He will also be a tool used by wildlife officers in the negative reinforcement of bears and mountain lions that CPW relocates following conflicts with people.

The other two K-9’s already enlisted in CPW’s pilot program are Sci, a Dutch Shepherd partnered since 2015 with wildlife officer Philip Gurule in Area 14, and Cash, a black Labrador partnered with wildlife officer Brock McArdle in Area 4 since 2017.


Certified with the […]

He’s a guy my career hinges on because he means that much to me…as long as he’s around, I’ll be around.— Ben.

From Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

ESPN reported Saturday the Steelers will try to restructure and extend Roethlisberger’s contract. That’s not exactly shocking news.

He has one year left on his current deal. He is 36 but still playing at high level and led the NFL in passing yards this season. Quarterbacks are playing into their 40s these days. The Steelers know they need Roethlisberger to win. He said he wants to play “for as long as they’ll have me.”

But there’s a little more to the Roethlisberger story than just signing him to an extension.

“They can come to me tomorrow and say we want to get your deal done. I’ll say, ‘Get Pouncey done first.’ That’s only because I want to make sure he’ll be here.”

Pouncey also will be entering the final year of his contract next season and is due for an extension this upcoming offseason.

“No offense to anyone else, but I don’t want to play with another center,” Roethlisberger said. “I voted for him for MVP. I couldn’t do anything without him.”

The good news is Pouncey has no plans to retire. He just finished his ninth NFL season but still is 29. He was voted second-team All-Pro by The Associated Press, the only Steelers player to be honored.

Pouncey and Roethlisberger have been teammates since Pouncey’s rookie year in 2010. The Steelers current offensive line has been together, for the most part, for four seasons, although it could lose Ramon Foster, who is a free agent and on the wrong side of 30, and Marcus Gilbert, who has started just 13 of the past 32 regular-season games because of suspension and injury. It also could lose line coach Mike Munchak to a head-coaching gig.

“I’ve been spoiled to have that same group,” Roethlisberger said. “I don’t think that happens very often in the NFL. I think I’m the luckiest quarterback in the league. I think they’re the best in the business. They are the engine that drives this team. It’s so much fun to play with them. I pray that we can keep them all together. That whole room is special.”


You can read the rest here.

Highlights from Ben’s final show of the season on 93.7 The Fan:


Ben on the “AB story” –

“He is such an incredible talent and I’ve been blessed to have him as my teammate and truly a good friend, one of my better friends on the team….That’s the kind of baffling thing to me is people are making a big deal about a walk-through on Wednesday, that there was a blow up, a fight between he and I, I don’t know anything about that…If there was a blowup or something I should as heck didn’t see it. This big deal was made about that, and I’m not really sure where that comes from. I talked to AB on Thursday morning – because after the walk through AB left on Wednesday. And on Thursday morning I talked to AB and everything was great and fine and then this story just keeps growing. So like I said, I consider him to be one of my closest friends on the team, so I’m not really sure where some of this blowup is coming from.”

When asked about “other teammates” complaining about the situation to the media –

“I think we’re frustrated because we want AB to play because he makes us all better. He had an amazing season this year, and like I said, he makes me who I am, so it makes all of us better. So it’s really, I think communication is the biggest thing for a lot of us.”

Asked if it will be “interesting” moving forward with the AB story –

“It is. And I’m obviously not the, I’m not the coach, or the owner. So I’m not sure what’s going to happen. Like I said, I love Antonio and I wish him nothing but the best and I hope he’s back here with me. Because he makes me better.”

Ben on whether it bothered him that he was not voted as team MVP –

“No, not at all. I voted for Pouncey. But I think JuJu is very deserving. I think there were a handful of guys that were deserving of the award – T.J. Watt, JuJu, AB…I always think the line is the most valuable group, but maybe I’m biased (laughs). I think James Connor did some great things. To me being a captain is a higher honor. And I think to say […]

The Steelers won their last game of the regular season, but sadly, did not make the playoffs.

“I’m trying not to reflect right now, but it’s hard not to. But I think the biggest thing, I just got done seeing my linemen, so I think pride in my guys, pride in guys that stepped up today that had to move around in different positions…like James Washington! His big catch along the sideline – the big play that he had – was the exact same call that he missed in Denver. The exact same call. We’re standing on the sideline with Randy Fichtner and he said, ‘Who do you want, JuJu or James?’, and I said, ‘I want James.’ He came in the huddle and I said, ‘Hey, we’re going to do the same play we did in Denver and I want you to make the play’. And he did! And to me that’s just…I’m so proud of him!” — Ben, during his post-game press conference.

From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

The Steelers did what they needed to do on Sunday, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals, 16-13, at Heinz Field.

After the Steelers won, Heinz Field remained packed, including players from both teams on the field watching the end of the Browns-Ravens game on the scoreboard, an emotional rollercoaster of big plays by the Browns at the end but it wouldn’t be enough as a Baker Mayfield interception on fourth down ended it all.

Ben Roethlisberger, who finished the season with 5,129 passing yards and became just the seventh quarterback in NFL history to record 5,000 passing yards in a season, was disappointed after the game but also had pride in the job his teammates did.

The defense was dominant all day, holding Bengals quarterback Jeff Driskel to just 95 yards passing and sacking him four times, while allowing just 125 yards on the ground, most of that coming in a 51-yard run by Joe Mixon.

Matt McCrane, who was signed on Friday after Chris Boswell was placed on injured reserve, hit three field goals, including the game-winner from 35 yards out.


You can read Ms. Varley’s full recap of the game here.


Now Ben doesn’t like me to post about his personal milestones, but I’m doing it anyway: