It’s a new season with a lot of new fans out there in Steeler Nation!


That’s Isaiah Young on the left, who can’t wait to grow into that #7 jersey!!

Julia (top right) wanted to give a Shout Out to Benjamin Jr & Baylee!

Bryce (bottom right) is already practicing his touchdown celebration moves!



And from Twitter:

This Lil’ Fan on the left is literally tickled pink with excitement for the season!

That little tough guy (top right) is not only ready to watch Steelers football, he looks like he’s ready to play some Steelers football!

And the cute little gal in the black & gold (bottom right) was happy about that win against the Panthers – her first game!



Don’t leave yet!! We have a lot more Lil’ Fans here, some big fans here, and a few furry fans here!

Scott Brown, ESPN.com AFC North writer, keeps it simple:


What it means – The Steelers looked like the 2012 and 2013 8-8 teams that found ways to lose games to lesser opponents. They did just that with an uneven performance against the previously winless Buccaneers. The Steelers beat themselves by committing 13 penalties for 125 yards and losing an early fumble that gave the visiting Buccaneers, who needed an early confidence boost in the worst way, a 7-0 lead two minutes into the game. They made one late defensive stand against the Buccaneers but couldn’t do it again after Tampa Bay got the ball back with a little more than a minute left in the game. The Steelers (2-2) had several chances to put the Buccaneers away, including early in the fourth quarter, when a sure touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger clanged off the hands of Antonio Brown. Shelve that talk about the Steelers going on a run. This may well be another .500 team.


Game ball – Roethlisberger became just the 12th player in NFL history to throw for at least 35,000 yards with the same team and he helped pull the Steelers out of an early stupor. With the offense doing nothing and the Steelers facing a 10-point deficit and a third-and-10 deep in their own territory, Roethlisberger completed a 32-yard pass to wide receiver Markus Wheaton, taking a serious shot after releasing the ball.


Miller time – Roethlisberger couldn’t have placed an early pass any better than if he had walked up to Heath Miller and put it in his hands. The normally reliable Miller inexplicably dropped the pass at a time when the Steelers were tripping themselves, but the 10th-year veteran more than made up for it. Miller caught the next eight passes that Roethlisberger threw his way, including a 5-yard touchdown that snapped a 17-17 tie. Miller’s nine catches for 80 yards were both season highs, and he moved into eighth place on the Steelers’ list for career yards from scrimmage. Miller now has the fourth-most receiving yards in franchise history.


You can read the rest of Mr. Brown’s column here.

You can listen/watch Ben’s post-game interview here.



Stat Line:

Ben completed 29-of-40 for 314 […]

Did you miss his call-in interview yesterday?


No problem, you can listen in right here:




Some of the highlights:

– Benjamin Jr. likes everyone to play “catch”, so he can throw! “He throws everything,” said Ben. “You ask him, ‘hand me that,’ and he wants to [play] ‘catch’ so he can throw it to you. So we’re working on not throwing so much, which sounds kind of crazy coming from me, but…we’re trying.”

– Ben said he’d let Benjamin, Jr. play football, but he’d wait until the fifth grade: “My only thing is I will not allow full contact until fifth grade. That’s when I played. These kids playing in first and second grade seems crazy to me.”

– Dan asked if Ben could teach his style of play – “I think you could teach certain things. A lot of my play is just on instinct. People made a big deal about my pump fake against Carolina [in Week 3]. That wasn’t a pump fake. I was going to throw it. I get a lot of credit for pump fakes. Sometimes I’m intending on throwing it and at the last minute I catch something that’s not good and I just hold on to the ball. It looks like a heckuva pump fake.”

– Oh, and Ben said he thinks Peyton Manning would probably run the slowest 40 among quarterbacks (yes, this was an actual question asked by Mr. Patrick). Ben also said that he’d beat Tom Brady and to make sure he wasn’t last, he’d trip someone else!

Zeus – Gone, but never forgotten!

From Ben’s post on September 26, 2013:

Zeus was with me for 9 years and was my first dog. He was my man and had been there through Super Bowls, tough losses, injuries, snow storms and the heat. He was the best, and I feel blessed to have had him in my/our lives for so long. I know he’s in heaven waiting to play tag or just cuddle again soon.

Zeus, we will always miss you, never forget you, and always remember the funny, happy loving times you have given us, and yes even some of the bad times like when you were a pup and chewed my night stand, lol. You were even so patient with Benjamin when he pulled a handful of your hair right out and you didn’t even flinch.

Love you buddy! Don’t rest in peace bud, because I know you would rather be chasing chipmunks and squirrels! Gone but never forgotten, ZEUS ROETHLISBERGER!


You can read his entire tribute here.


*And just another “thank you” to the many fans who donated to The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation over the past year in honor of Zeus!

No, no! Not THAT Baby Ben, THIS Baby Ben!! (but we’re pretty sure THAT Baby Ben won’t mind sharing a post on his daddy’s website for THIS one!)

“Hey Steelers fans – does our new little addition remind you of anyone? Say hello to Baby Ben! We know which team he’ll be rooting for on Sundays.” — Vale Wood Farms, in Loretta PA this morning.

Carissa Itle-Westrick, the director of business development for the family-owned food-and-grocery farm, is hoping his daddy won’t mind either.

“Baby Ben is awfully cute,” said Carissa. “Hopefully Big Ben won’t mind sharing his namesake.”

Vale Wood Farms plans to show off their little calf next month when Autumn is in full swing and Halloween is just around the corner for their Pumpkin Patch event.

“Baby Ben will be featured at our Pumpkin Patch, October 1-19, so folks can come out to see our littlest #7”, said Carissa.

If you’d like to know more about the Farm, and their upcoming events, just go to their Facebook page and they’ll be happy to answer all of your questions!


*And don’t forget to say hello to Baby Ben while you’re there (who is probably gonna milk this new-found fame for all it’s worth!).

From Steelers.com: Ben weighs in on this week’s game against the Tampa Bay Bucs.


Re: The return of James Harrison:

I am excited. He’s a guy that I’ve been around for a long time. A fun guy to be around and a great football player. I think he’ll really help us out from a leadership perspective on the field, off the field. (He has) an intensity on the field as we all know about. I know how hard he works so I firmly believe he’s still got stuff in the tank.


Does he share meanness with his teammates?

Yeah, part of the love of James is that the guys that have been around long enough know who he really is and know that he’s a fun, funny, good-hearted person. But yet, when he flips on that switch he becomes one of the nastiest people in the NFL and he’s fun to have on your side.


Does that mentality create a presence that rubs off on others?

Yeah that’s what I was saying that it’s good to have him out here. I said on my show that we have that in Joey (Porter) but Joey is a coach. Now we have it in James who is on the field (and) can bring a level of toughness to a young defense. I’m excited to see what he can do.


Re: Already having chemistry with Antonio Brown and Heath Miller and how the chemistry with Markus Wheaton and Justin Brown is developing?

What it comes down to is it comes down to trust. We have all kind of trust in A.B. and Heath like you said and that comes from working with them for years. That’s starting to really show with Markus and Justin and hoping to really get some of that with Lance (Moore). It comes down to when you can trust a guy and they can trust you, they’re going to be in the spot that they’re supposed to be in and it makes your job a lot easier.


Was the performance of the offensive line due to execution or being more physical?

Probably both. I thought that they played great. I think they rose to the challenge (and) to a tough task. They took a lot of pride and a lot of hurt to the Baltimore game […]