The Ben Roethlisberger Show
“We turned the ball over six times which is crazy to even think you have a chance to be in a game, an NFL football game with six turnovers?” — Ben.
Recap provided by 93.7 The Fan & CBS Pittsburgh:
Ben Roethlisberger says Sunday’s game against Cleveland was a “crazy game all around” and it felt like a loss to him.
“Anytime you don’t win a football game it feels like a loss so it was tough coming home and then yesterday was tough. You know you didn’t lose but you also didn’t win so it definately hurts.”
Roethlisberger says the biggest thing he takes away from Sunday is all of the turnovers.
“It’s such a negative in that sense but there’s also a positive that we were still in the game and I told our defense after the game , thanks to you guys for keeping us in it and special teams for helping us not lose it.”
While Ben is disappointed to not come away with the win he says there are good things to take away from Sunday’s tie – like the play of James Conner.
“Running the ball, catching the ball, doing some great things out of the backfield, and I think with all the different looks we were getting upfront from the Browns and I think our communication was great, no pre-snap penalties on a road game like that, hostile environment, so there definitely some good things to take away from it.
A lot of people point to his lack of playing time in the preseason for the mistakes Ben made during the game Sunday, but he doesn’t think that played a factor.
“I think the first interception, the first interception was me just getting a little anxious to get the ball to AB. The guy made a great play!”
On the second interception, Ben says he just misjudged where Antonio Brown was going to be and that has nothing to do with playing in the preseason or not. The third interception just went through Jesse James’ hands with the weather affecting that one and the fumble in OT, “When guys come behind you and you can’t see them I don’t care how many reps you get, you’re not going to be able to do much about that.”
In the second quarter Ben took […]
Nothing but love for #7
From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:
There was a point last season when Ben Roethlisberger uttered the words, “Maybe I don’t have it anymore.”
As we all have learned, the words couldn’t be further from the truth.
Roethlisberger proved time and time again last year that yes, he certainly still has it, and entering his 15th season in the NFL, he just keeps on shining.
“I am telling you, No. 7 is magical,” said Ramon Foster. “He is a Hall of Fame quarterback. Every organization doesn’t have those. We are very, very lucky.
“Ben is the guy. He is a gamer. Whether he is playing pool, whether he is shooting basketballs in the garbage can. I think our offense starts and ends with him. To have us all collectively up front with a general like him behind us, the sky is the limit for us.”
Maurkice Pouncey, an offensive captain along with Roethlisberger, knows how good the team has it with him as their quarterback.
“The things he does, the way he operates himself, the way he throws the football,” said Pouncey. “You don’t appreciate it enough when you are playing. When we are all said and done, and sitting at the house and all the younger guys are playing, we know we had the opportunity to play with one of the best ever.”
If there is one player who has benefitted the most from Roethlisberger’s talents it’s Antonio Brown, and he is thankful to have him as his quarterback.
“Mentally physically, spiritually, he is gifted in all three phases,” said Brown. “Physically there is nothing he can’t do, nothing he hasn’t seen, nothing he hasn’t faced. He is the general. He has been doing it for 15 years. He is a Hall of Fame player. There is no one else better playing.”
You can read more from Ms. Varley’s Steelers Report & watch video of her interviews here.
And the award goes to…
Today Ben announced the first grant award of the 2018 season from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund.
The Foundation will be distributing a grant to the North Royalton Police Department, just south of Cleveland where the Steelers will play the Browns on September 9th.
The North Royalton Police Department will use the grant funds to purchase a K-9 as well as a vest and kennels for the dog as they prepare to re-establish their K-9 unit.
During the 2018 NFL season, Ben’s Foundation will be distributing grants to K-9 units of police and fire departments in the cities and surrounding communities of each regular season away game for the Steelers. The Foundation will also distribute several grants to the Pittsburgh area. In late Spring Ben invited police and fire departments across the country to submit proposals to his foundation detailing their needs.
This is the 12th season that Ben’s foundation has distributed grants to K-9 units. His mission is to support K-9 units of police and fire departments throughout the United States, with a particular emphasis on support for service dogs in Pittsburgh, PA.
The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation distributed more than $170,000 in grants to K-9 units around the country during the 2017 NFL season, including $82,000 in the Pittsburgh community. The Foundation has distributed in excess of $1.92 million since 2007.
“The City of North Royalton and The North Royalton Police Department would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation for awarding our Department this grant to fund a K-9 unit. This addition to our Police Department will assist us in continuing our mission of providing a safe community for visitors and residents. We truly appreciate the support shown to the Law Enforcement Community across the country by Mr. Roethlisberger and his Foundation.” — Bruce G. Campbell, North Royalton’s Director of Public Safety.
In commenting on why the mission of the foundation is so important to him, Roethlisberger 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 the dogs and their handlers as well as the bond that is formed is incredible. We’re just thrilled to do our small part.”
For more information about Ben’s […]
Ben: ‘Linemen are more important than any skill position player’
From Teresa Varley at Steelers.com:
On Sunday afternoon Ben Roethlisberger will embark on his 15th season in the NFL, and it doesn’t matter how many snaps he has taken in his career, he still feels the nerves.
“I ask these young guys if they are nervous and they tell me no and I call them a liar because if I am 15 years in and nervous you should be nervous too. That is natural. You should be nervous. You should be excited. This is football. This is what we have grown up doing, this is what we love doing. We are out here in camps, minicamp, training camp, sweating and bleeding, putting so much on the line for Sunday. To be out there with each other. I think we are all excited and I am no different.”
Who will be out there on Sunday on the field with Roethlisberger still is somewhat of a gray area as Le’Veon Bell has yet to report and sign his franchise tender. While Roethlisberger would like to have all of his weapons at his disposal, he also knows it’s more than one player that makes the offense tick.
“He is one of the best in the business. Any time you have a guy like that, you want him on the field with you,” said Roethlisberger. “I think we are a very good offense. Football is the ultimate team sport. One person doesn’t make or break you. I’d like to say the linemen are more important than any skill position player, including myself, on this team. This offense is more than one guy.”
A guy that will likely be called upon Sunday will be second-year back James Conner. Conner carried the majority of the load for the ground game in the preseason, and the progress he made since his rookie season is readily noticed.
“James is a year better than he was last year at this time,” said Roethlisberger. “I think we are all kind of excited for what he can bring to this offense, this team. We’ve got a lot of weapons. We’d like to have him out there, but we’ve got guys who can make plays for us.”
Roethlisberger even called out Conner as being his ‘security blanket’ in the offense, the guy he can go to when […]
‘Big Ben’ carves his own path in Steelers history
From Dave Hannaman at The (Findlay) Courier:
By the time Ben Roethlisberger joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2004, men with Hall of Fame names like Bradshaw and Harris and Swann and Lambert and “Mean Joe” had carved out an impressive history for the organization.
As the new kid out of Findlay High School and the Mid-American Conference, Roethlisberger was determined to not only add to the legacy, but put his own stamp on it as well.
“When I got to Pittsburgh, it was Terry Bradshaw. Everybody said, ‘This is what you have to live up to,’” Roethlisberger said.
“I said, ‘No, I don’t need to be Terry Bradshaw. I need to be the best Ben Roethlisberger I can be.’
“Terry Bradshaw was a great quarterback and had a great career. But the message I always wanted to make was, ‘Don’t try to fill someone else’s shoes; believe in yourself and make your own path.’”
Fourteen years later, Roethlisberger’s size 13 cleats have churned out a Hall of Fame-caliber career highlighted by two Super Bowl championships (2006, 2009) in three Super Bowl appearances. His 148 career wins are the seventh-most of any quarterback in NFL history and his .676 winning percentage (148-71) is fourth-highest of any NFL quarterback with at least 100 career wins.
Not bad for a guy who was the starting quarterback just one year in high school, and in college didn’t attend an FBS power school that played in front of a national prime-time audience every Saturday.
Truth be told, Roethlisberger credits that small-market, Midwest background for much of his success.
“It’s the work ethic. It’s blue collar. It’s what this area is all about. That’s why Pittsburgh worked so well for me. It has that same kind of work ethic,” Roethlisberger said in June during a celebrity softball game he set up in Findlay to raise funds to benefit Findlay High athletics and the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation. Over the years the foundation has contributed around $2 million to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, as well as K-9 and service dog units for police and fire departments throughout the U.S.
“I’m from Findlay, Ohio. I’m not knocking Findlay, Ohio, but it’s not the biggest city in the world,” he said. “I went to Miami of Ohio. I’m not knocking Miami of Ohio, but it’s not the biggest (college) […]