Well, it’s been another busy year for Benjamin Jr., who turns the BIG #4 today!!!

In fact, it’s been SO busy, we had to do 2 photo collages just to capture what he was up to this past year — and still didn’t get ’em all in!


Benjamin & Baylee took advantage of a snowy winter; A little March Madness with some buddies; Easter morning was pretty darn exciting; Enjoying some down time at the pool; Benjamin Jr. welcomes his new baby brother in May; Being silly with Baylee; Helping Daddy at his football camp; Hangin’ out with Pops; And catching lightning bugs with Daddy.



Benjamin & Baylee just bein’ buds at the lake; Waiting for popcorn on movie night; Picking up new puppy Remington; Ice cream with mom at the SoakZone; Having a great time in the colored balls; Look out, Benjamin Jr.’s behind the wheel; Rootin’ for Daddy on a Sunday afternoon; On stage at the Steelers Style Fashion Show; And sitting still for just one second for a Halloween photo!!


And we can’t forget two of our favorite videos –

Benjamin and Baylee played in the leaves a few weeks ago, and Benjamin also sang for us just a couple of weeks ago!


Whew! Talk about a busy year for a our birthday boy!! Here’s to another fun, happy busy year!!

“I know he won’t like me saying this, but he got a little emotional over it. He got a little teary eyed. We all respect him a lot.”

And on LeVeon Bell, who accounted for 201 yards of total offense today:

“He was awesome, but he’s only as good as the boys in front of him. They did a great job of opening up holes.”

You can hear more from Ben here.

…is celebrating her 80th birthday today!


Margie Dale lives in Pompano Beach, Florida, but was raised in Pittsburgh and is a diehard Steelers fan. Not only that, but according to her friend, Jim Rookey, she is Ben’s biggest fan and never misses a game.

…and with Thanksgiving less than a week away:


Six-year old Zane is a first grader at Elida Elementary School (the same school that Big Ben’s dad went to) in Lima, Ohio (where Big Ben was born)!

His teacher, Mrs. Fullenkamp, came up with a fun project called, “Disguise the Turkey”: her class could disguise a turkey any way they wanted so it didn’t get eaten on Thanksgiving Day! Yikes!!

So Zane, a HUGE Steelers & Big Ben fan, decided to disguise his turkey as Ben, “The best quarterback in the NFL!” That way, he could get away from the hunters like he gets away from defensive linemen! Zane, you’re a wise young man!


Thank you to Zane’s grandmother, Carol Cunningham, for sharing his awesome project & photo with us!!



UPDATE:

Zane has become a bit of celebrity at Elida Elementary School since his appearance on Ben’s website!

“He was so excited to see it pop up at school today when his teacher showed the class. Zane will also be featured in the Elida schools monthly newspaper that gets mailed out to the entire school district.” — Zane’s dad, Aaron Cunningham.

Zane, you do Steeler Nation proud!!

Today, Ben announced the eighth grant of the 2016 season from The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund.

The Foundation will be distributing a grant to the North Ridgeville Police Department.

North Ridgeville is a city of 31,871 located in Lorain County in Northeast Ohio, and is just 30 minutes from Cleveland, where the Steelers will play the Cleveland Browns this Sunday, November 20th.


North Ridgeville will use their grant to purchase and train a dual purpose K-9.

“The North Ridgeville (OH) Police Department would like to extend our sincere gratitude and thanks to the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation and The Giving Back Fund for being awarded a K-9 grant. The Foundation’s generous contribution to our K-9 program will provide the essential funds to purchase another K-9 for the citizens of North Ridgeville. We thank Mr. Roethlisberger and his foundation for their continued support of police K-9 programs throughout the country.” — Capt. Marti Garrow, Operations Commander, North Ridgeville Police Department.

Hey Steelers fans:

You can support future K-9 grants by joining Ben’s crowdfunding campaign on https://pledgeit.org/big-ben. Big Ben is pledging $1,000 per touchdown this season to his foundation. Supporters can increase the impact by pledging to donate any amount per touchdown.


For more information about Ben’s foundation please contact Charisse Browner at www.givingback.org.

The conditions in Cleveland won’t be ideal, but Ben Roethlisberger knows there are no excuses.

From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

The weather forecast for Sunday’s game against the Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland isn’t a pretty one, with a 70 percent chance of a rain/snow mix, winds around 30 miles an hour, and the high temperature expected to be around 37 degrees.

Ben Roethlisberger has played in those conditions in Cleveland before, and will prepare for it starting in practice this week. Roethlisberger said the key to throwing in windy conditions is to get a spin on the ball, and wearing a glove will help him with that.

“You have to spin the ball,” said Roethlisberger. “I am not a guy that when I throw the ball I spin it a lot. I will wear a glove this week in practice. If it’s going to be 30-mile an hour wind, I am going to have to wear a glove on Sunday. The preparation will be to wear a glove to help you spin the ball more.”

The Steelers will be searching for their first win in five games, and also want to turn around their road record where they are only 1-3 this season. Roethlisberger said there are differences playing on the road, but no excuses for not winning.

“It’s the comfort level of being at home, using the cadence,” he said. “When we get on the road it’s a lot louder. You have to use the silent count and that means head bobs from under center. Timing can be off a little bit.

“There is no real excuse. We need to step up. We pride ourselves in years past here being a great road football team. We need to do that and we are going to have to start this week.”

Despite the fact that the Browns are 0-10, Roethlisberger knows their defense is going to be coming at them.

“It’s basically like playing us with (defensive coordinator) Ray (Horton) over there, the 3-4,” said Roethlisberger. “Throwing different defenses, different blitzes, and different looks. Being able to identify who to block will be the key.”

One player to keep a particular eye on will be linebacker Jamie Collins, who was traded from the New England Patriots to the Browns three games ago.

“We expect […]