Today, [Santa] Ben announced the 13th and 14th grant awards of the 2017 season from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund.

The Foundation will be distributing grants to the Houston Fire Department and League City Police Department, near NRG Stadium where the Steelers will play the Texans on Christmas Day.

The Houston Fire Department will use the grant to purchase training and safety equipment for their K-9 arson unit.

“The Houston Fire Department’s Arson Bureau is extremely grateful to the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation. This grant will help ensure our canines can effectively serve the citizens of Houston. This grant will guarantee that our training continues to be above average and that our canines have the best safety equipment available. Because of our high call volume, the Houston Arson Bureau is the only city in the United States with two Accelerant Detection Canines provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF). “Humphrey” and “Lux” are an integral part of the Houston Arson Bureau and we honor their service to the City of Houston and thank the Roethlisberger foundation for their support.” — Houston Fire Department Deputy Chief Investigator Alison Stein.

The League City Police will use the funds to replace a soon-to-be-retired dual purpose police K-9.

“10-year-old League City Police K-9 Officer Chico will be retiring soon. Chico is one of four League City Police Department K-9 officers and is the most successful canine in the unit. The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation will be providing funding to purchase a new K-9, assuring a seamless transition and allowing us to maintain K-9 coverage across all four patrol shifts. Upon certification of the new K-9, Chico will be able to enjoy a well-deserved retirement.” –League City Police Chief Michael Kramm.

During the 2017 NFL season, the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation has been 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 and will consider a grant to a non-NFL market city in the United States if the Steelers advance to the playoffs. The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation invited police and fire departments across the country to submit proposals detailing their […]

From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

The Steelers will be without Antonio Brown on Monday when they take on the Houston Texans in a Christmas Day matchup, and Ben Roethlisberger knows it’s going to take more than one player to step in and fill the void.

“I will be honest, you can’t replace him with one man,” said Roethlisberger. “AB is not human. We will have multiple guys trying to fill that spot. We have guys that are excited, willing to try and fill those shoes. I think Justin (Hunter) is going to be one, Martavis (Bryant) will do some stuff, and JuJu (Smith-Schuster). Everyone really is going to have to step their game up, that includes me. I am going to have to be better.”

Roethlisberger said everyone stepped up big against the Patriots when Brown went down in the second quarter with a lower leg injury, and he is expecting more of the same this week.

“Guys stepped up and played different positions JuJu, Hey-Bey (Darrius Heyward-Bey), Eli (Rogers), Martavis,” said Roethlisberger. “I am really proud of the way those guys played.

“It’s tough. He is a special football player. He brings a lot of energy, a lot of smiles and laughs. We’ll just keep encouraging him to get back to us as soon as he can.”

While getting Brown rest is a key, there is still a lot at stake on Monday. A win, on Monday combined with a Jacksonville loss on Sunday, would give the Steelers a first-round playoff bye, something that can give everyone rest.

“It’s huge,” said Roethlisberger. “It always is for rest and it’s one less game you have to win in the playoffs.”

It’s going to be a challenge though. While the Texans might have a 4-10 record, they have a defense led by Jadeveon Clowney and Roethlisberger knows he is someone they have to be alert of all day.

“They are good,” said Roethlisberger. “Obviously when you’ve got Clowney running all over the field you are going to have to have eyes and understand where he is all of the time. He is a very, very special football player.”

And while looking out for Clowney is a key, Roethlisberger admits he doesn’t mind that he won’t see J.J. Watt on the field, and he said it with […]

…and several of his teammates!


The Steelers are tops in the NFL with eight players selected to the 2018 Pro Bowl.

From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

An early Christmas gift came for Steelers’ players when they were selected to the 2018 Pro Bowl. Eight players, the most the team has had since 2005 when nine were selected and the most of any NFL team this year, were voted in.

Le’Veon Bell, Chris Boswell, Antonio Brown, David DeCastro, Maurkice Pouncey, Ben Roethlisberger, Ryan Shazier and Alejandro Villanueva were all selected to the AFC squad in the annual game. All but Roethlisberger and Shazier were voted in as starters.

This is the 17th straight season the Steelers are sending multiple players to the Pro Bowl, and the 26th time in the last 29 seasons.

Ben Roethlisberger was selected to the Pro Bowl for the sixth time in his career. Roethlisberger has completed 340 passes for 4,025 yards so far this season, and has eclipsed the 4,000-yard mark for the sixth time in his career. He is averaging 287.5 yards per game and has thrown 26 touchdowns.

He is the AFC’s sixth leading passer with a 92.2 quarterback rating, but his 340 completions and 4,025 yards rank second in the conference.

“Ben, that’s my guy,” said Brown. “Ben’s our leader. Ben’s a Hall of Fame quarterback. He is so much fun to play with. He made some amazing throws. He makes them every day. He is a general, a warrior, a leader. I am glad I got to play with him for a lot of years.”

Roethlisberger was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Ravens in Week 14, when he led them to a 39-38 come-from-behind win. Roethlisberger completed 44 of 66 passes, both career highs and team records, for an incredible 506 yards. Roethlisberger threw for two touchdowns, and no interceptions, against a defense that was No. 1 in takeaways and ranked No. 1 in interceptions in the NFL going into the game.

Roethlisberger became the first player in NFL history to pass for at least 500 yards in three games, and his 506 passing yards is the 10th 400-yard or more game of his career, the fifth player in […]

Recap provided by 93.7 The Fan & CBS Pittsburgh:

It was the game of the year with quite possibly the most controversial call of the year as the Steelers fell to the Patriots 27-24 and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger joined us for The #1 Cochran Ben Roethlisberger Show to break it all down.

Ben walked us through the end of the game and how it all unfolded.

“I’m looking to the sideline to coach like, ‘Are we taking this timeout? What are we doing?’ Which is very typical. Obviously the only person who can communicate to me is Todd, and so I’m sure he’s asking Coach Tomlin and everybody.”

All of that led to the controversial overturn of the Jesse James touchdown and Ben told us what he was thinking as the refs looked at the play.

“I was on the sideline on a knee just getting my breath, taking it all in, praying. I had turned around and asked one of the TV people if it was good and they just nodded ‘yes’ that it was good…and then out of nowhere Coach Todd was like ‘Hey Ben, this might not be good, lets get a play ready to go.’ So I started walking back down a little bit towards where they were congregating and that’s when the official came out and said. it that it wasn’t good.”

So was it a catch?

“I think Jesse caught that ball.”

Now none of this would had happened if it weren’t for the ridiculous catch rule the league uses and Ben shared with us his thoughts on the ruling.

“Honestly it makes less sense to me,” Ben said after thinking about the play more. “I felt like he caught it. He brought it into his body and then reached out and then yeah, when he hit the ground it came loose, but I felt like the reach is credit of the football move…it’s a touchdown.”

Now, what happened on that play after that led to the game clinching interception for the Patriots?

“I’m yelling ‘clock-clock’…the line knows when they hear ‘clock’ you snap it and you just protect the inside.”

So Ben painted the picture for us of what happens once the rest of the offense thinks he’s going to just spike the ball. But what happens once you decide to run a […]