From Rinatta Signorini at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

There was a time when Julie Gurnick was shy and quiet.

“She used to hide behind my legs,” said her mother, Irene Gurnick. “She wouldn’t talk or anything.”

And then she saw Ben Roethlisberger.

She hasn’t stopped talking since.

It’s been a whole team love affair that started in 2004 after Julie Gurnick’s parents took her to her first Steelers training camp practice at St. Vincent College in Unity. Since then, the Jeannette woman, 21, has amassed about 400 photographs with players — including quarterback Roethlisberger — and has created almost a science of getting autographs.

She has two large three-ring binders — but she needs bigger ones — packed full of 8-by-10 photographs of her smiling next to players at training camp, games and area stores. The pictures — the majority of them are signed — are organized by the players’ jersey numbers so she can easily flip to a page and tell a story. She can spout off what college that player attended, his position and make a good guess as to his height and weight.

“When I was 8, I didn’t know anything about sports,” said the 2014 Jeannette City High School graduate.

Gurnick has photographs with every player on last year’s roster except for former quarterback Zach Mettenberger, who was released by the team in May.

“As of right now, the only people I need pictures with are the rookies … and the first-year guys for the Steelers,” she said. “In the last three years, I’ve only missed three days of camp.”

Watch out, rookie linebacker T.J. Watt, you’re at the top of Gurnick’s list.

That has netted her signed jerseys, footballs, helmets and gloves from numerous players. She strategically planned her outfits for the first couple days of camp — a free safety Mike Mitchell T-shirt on Friday and her punter Jordan Berry jersey on Saturday.

But Roethlisberger is still No. 1.

“Me and Ben literally grew up going to Steelers camp together,” she said. “Literally, football is my life because of Ben. Just because he showed up for work that day.”


You can read the rest here.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do when I’m done. I’m hoping that it’s not any time soon. But when the time comes, I know No. 1 is to be the best father and husband I can be.” — Ben.

From Mike Prisuta for Steelers.com:

In the wake of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger contemplating retirement over the offseason, center Maurkice Pouncey has come up with a potential exit strategy for Roethlisberger at the conclusion of the season ahead.

“I’m pretty sure he wants to ride off on his nice, big horse or his big yacht with a Super Bowl win,” Pouncey said.

From Roethlisberger’s perspective, Pouncey got it half right.

“Let’s just say the Super Bowl is the plan,” Roethlisberger said today in a one-on-one interview with Steelers.com. “Let’s try and get that first and we’ll go from there.”

Pouncey is hoping Roethlisberger will play at least three or four more years.

Roethlisberger, 35, isn’t ready to commit to anything beyond 2017.

“I’m going to take it one year at a time,” he said. “In five years could we be having this same conversation? Yes. Could it be next year? I don’t know, and that’s why I’m not going to look past this year.”

Roethlisberger has thought about “all kinds of things” in terms of what he’d do next, but none with any degree of certainty.

As his family has grown and matured, Roethlisberger has acknowledged “new priorities come into play,” in terms of how long he intends to play.

He and his wife Ashley are the parents of son Benjamin Todd Jr. (4), daughter Baylee Marie (3) and son Bodie (1).

“I want to be able to play catch with my kids when I’m older,” Roethlisberger said. “I want to be able to go to games. I want to be able to coach them at home and do fun things like that.”

He perceives the season ahead, Roethlisberger’s 14th with the Steelers, as ripe with possibilities on offense assuming running back Le’Veon Bell eventually signs and wide receiver Martavis Bryant is ultimately fully reinstated from suspension.

“Yes, because we have a great offensive line,” Roethlisberger said. “I know Le’Veon’s probably the best back in the game, Martavis does what he does, ‘A.B.” (wide receiver Antonio Brown) is who he is. But […]

From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

The Steelers offense was one of the hottest topics on the first day of training camp, and it’s easy to understand why.

With weapons like Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell just to name a few, and a solid offensive line, how can you not sing their praises?

“We have been together for a long time,” said Maurkice Pouncey. “We have our superstar already in Antonio. He is always going to be him. Then there is Le’Veon Bell and the things he brings. And we have our Hall of Fame quarterback. It’s going to be fun to see all of that in action. The offensive line playing another year together helps. We’ll see how it all plays out. The defense also looked great in OTAs.”

While Pouncey gave the offensive line just a little love, Roethlisberger sang their praises and credits them with the offense being so strong.

“It starts up front,” said Roethlisberger. “We have the best line in the league. They are awesome. They are playing together well. They are one of the biggest reasons I am back, because they are so good and keep me upright. Everything starts with them. They are dynamic and awesome and the rest of us feed off of them.”

While the players keep hearing the talk about how good they are, they know none of it matters if it’s just talk. One thing is for sure in football, actions speak louder than words.

“We just have to make it happen,” said Ramon Foster. “We say all of this stuff about what we can and should do. Making it happen is going to be the biggest proponent in it. We can say we are going to go 19-0, but until that happens, until everybody is on the same page, none of that happens. That is what camp is for.”

Pouncey was quick to agree.

“We have the most talent wise, but it’s always easy to talk about things and tell people how great we are,” said Pouncey. “But we have to go out there and do it every single day.”


You can read more here.

“I feel if I commit to anything past right now, I’m cheating now. I’m looking forward to this season, and I’m going to give it everything I have and afterwards we’ll sit down and do some thinking again.” — Ben.

From Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Ben Roethlisberger will tie Terry Bradshaw for the longest tenure as a Steelers quarterback when he embarks on his 14th season.

The question now becomes, will it be his last?

Roethlisberger, 35, told the Post-Gazette Friday that retirement remains an option for him after this season, and that his wife, Ashley, would like to see him give up football.

In past years, he’s talked about playing a lot longer, but he mentioned the possibility of retiring two days after the Steelers season ended with their loss to New England in the AFC championship. He ultimately decided to come back this year but will not commit beyond it.

Why the change of heart from the past?

“Age,” Roethlisberger said, then laughed. “It’s just, it’s 14 years; that’s a long time. I think the average life expectancy in the NFL is 3 years, maybe 3½ now.

“I’ve been blessed to do this a long time. I think it’s just seeing my kids growing up, and in the offseason I love getting to spend time with them, and then I come here and football season just has to take up so much of your time. Even when you get home, I try my best to turn it off when I walk in the front door. I think I do a pretty good job of that, but it still consumes you in a way.

“Just all those things combined — being healthy, being able to play catch with my kids. I feel good mentally, I know this new study that came out that 90 percent [of NFL] players’ brains who were studied had CTE.

“There’s a lot of scary things, and I think my wife would be OK if I hung it up, too. But I still love the guys, I still love the game, so it was right for me to come back and give it everything I have this year.”


You can read more from his interview with Ben here.