Check out this Corn-on-the-Cob cutie!
Yes, Baylee is totally aMAIZEd!! Who knew that vegetables could taste THIS good:
And who said that eating big people food can’t be fun? — Baylee
*You can see more fun family photos here.
Ben’s foundation: Duxbury, MA Police Department receives grant
Today, Ben announced the first grant of the 2015-16 season from The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund.
The Foundation will be distributing a grant to the Duxbury Police Department just east of Foxborough, MA where the Steelers will play the New England Patriots on Thursday, September 10th.
“On behalf of the Duxbury Police Department, we would like to thank the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation for this generous donation. Like many other departments, we face difficult times with budget cuts, and rely heavily on donations to keep our program running. With this grant, we will be able to purchase a new K-9 to help protect our community and continue the program for years to come.” — Ryan Cavicchi, K-9 Officer for the Duxbury Police Department.
The Duxbury Police Department will apply the grant funds to the purchase and training of a new dog to replace K-9 Zar.. K-9 Zar worked patrol and assisted the SWAT team for nine years.
During the 2015-16 NFL season, The Ben Roethlisberger 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 and will consider a grant to a non-NFL market city in the United States for each playoff game in which the Steelers compete. The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation invited police and fire departments across the country to submit proposals detailing their needs.
This marks the ninth 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. Roethlisberger and the Foundation also support Make-A-Wish.
The Foundation distributed more than $130,000 in grants to K-9 units around the country during the 2014-15 NFL season and has distributed in excess of $1.3 million since 2007.
“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.” — […]
“The Man Behind the Curtain”
“You get caught up when you get so much success so fast, especially in a place like this, where the Steelers are such a big deal. It does go to your head a little bit. I can admit that. You get caught up in the persona — Big Ben. It’s not always a good thing. When you start believing that’s who you are all the time, instead of just on the football field…It’s OK to be that on the football field. I use the analogy, you have to be Clark Kent off the field. You have to be Ben Roethlisberger off the field. I think when that Big Ben starts to get off the field, that’s when you run into issues of losing track of who you really are.” — Ben, from the interview.
From Judy Batista at NFL.com today:
The Pittsburgh Steelers practice had just ended on a temperate August evening, and children were everywhere. It was Family Day for the team, when the wives and kids of players and coaches visit training camp, play a little catch on the expansive green grass and stay for a barbecue. As thousands of fans headed down the hills of the Saint Vincent College campus in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, to the parking lots, one of their heroes sat in a far end zone, his two toddlers bouncing around him.
That bucolic scene didn’t always have Ben Roethlisberger, his son and little girl at its center. And he wasn’t always everyone’s hero, either, even in Steelers-obsessed Pittsburgh. But five years after reaching a personal and professional nadir, Roethlisberger has crafted a successful and peaceful renaissance, formalized in a massive new contract agreed to this March.
As he prepares this season to lead the best offense he’s ever had, maybe the best offense in the NFL, Roethlisberger has also become something more: an unintended and reluctant example of a fruitful second chance, perhaps providing a roadmap even as the NFL and its fans grapple with how many more players deserve one.
“I feel like I let down my family, my teammates, my coaches, the Rooneys, the whole family,” Roethlisberger said one day, a few hours before another training-camp practice. “You feel disappointed, almost ashamed at times. Now that they have rewarded me with the [new […]
Benjamin & Baylee are taking over again!
They wanted to sneak in one more photo post before the Steelers 2015 season started…
And what better photo to start with:
Steeler Nation…
Your 2015 Team Captains:
Big Ben on offense, Cam Heyward & William Gay on defense, and Robert Golden on Special Teams!
Congratulations!!
Also Today:
“Roethlisberger prepares for the challenge ahead”
From Mike Prisuta, at Steelers.com:
Kicking it off on the road against the defending champs in a nationally-televised, much-anticipated, NFL regular-season opener has traditionally been a difficult assignment for the visitors.
What’s taken place in New England and with Tom Brady off the field and in U.S. District Court ever since Super Bowl XLIX might contribute to making Gillette Stadium even more of an emotional powder keg on Thursday night.
“It’ll be hostile,” Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger acknowledged. “It’ll be a great test, a great challenge for our guys. Some young guys, I use that phrase ‘welcome to the NFL,’ it’s going to be a heck of a welcome.
“I think the biggest thing is to go out and control your emotion because there’s going to be a lot of emotion flowing. The nerves will be flying around. Even guys like myself that have done it for a long time will be nervous. It’s how fast can you get rid of the jitters and the nerves and just play football?”
Roethlisberger admitted to having taken more than a peek at the New England defense during the latter stages of the preseason.
“Quite a bit,” he said. “During some off time and then last week especially knowing I’m not going to do much in that last (preseason) game.
“Compared to last year it’s different. Last year you let (cornerback Darrelle) Revis just kind of have that ‘Revis Island’ over there. This year they’ve been doing some different things so we’ve got a lot of film study still to try and prepare and get ready for.”
You can read more here.
Ben: ‘There will be jitters for everybody’
Weighing in on the opener against the New England Patriots
From his interview today posted on Steelers.com:
The long Steelers preseason came to an end on Thursday night and now it’s time for what players and fans alike have waited seven months for.
The 2015 regular season has arrived.
For the Steelers, that means facing the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots on Thursday, Sept. 10 at Gillette Stadium.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who has a 3-4 record against the Patriots, will have a challenge with some of the personnel changes the Patriots have, but as always he looks forward to that challenge.
Here is what Roethlisberger had to say about facing New England, in the NFL’s 2015 Kickoff Game:
On being familiar with what the Patriots bring on defense:
“I am trying to get there. Coach (Bill) Belichick is a ‘mad scientist’ if you will. He throws all kinds of different looks at you, and blitzes and coverages. We will go back and look at things from the last time we played them and last year a little bit. We will try to figure it out, and we have to be ready to make in-game adjustments.”
On dealing with changes in Patriots defensive personnel:
“When you watch film, they had Darrelle Revis last year. They did a lot of things off of him. Now they don’t have him. I am not quite sure what they are going to do.”
On playing in the NFL’s Kickoff Game as the visiting team:
“From what I remember, it is awful crazy. I don’t know if they are going to reveal their banner. I am sure they will do something like that. You are playing the champs. It’s at their place. The fans are excited. The world is watching. There will be jitters for everybody, including myself. I have been doing this for a long time but I still get excited and nervous. But it’s about how fast you can get over those nerves and jitters, and just play ball.”
You can watch video of his interview here.