From Mike Prisuta, Steelers.com this afternoon:

Catching passes was a Brees for Lance Moore during his first eight NFL seasons in New Orleans. But since signing on with the Steelers, it’s a whole new ballgame now that Ben Roethlisberger is launching footballs in Moore’s direction rather than the Saints’ Drew Brees.

“They’re different style quarterbacks,” Moore observed today during a lull at the Steelers’ practice facility. “I would say Ben’s got a little bit stronger arm, maybe a lot stronger arm. Just from a couple of days throwing with him here, that’s something that kind of jumps out at me. If you’re kind of, I call it lazy with your eyes, that ball will zoom right past you.”

Moore’s latest exposure to Roethlisberger is more of a reintroduction. Their paths crossed when Moore played at Toledo and Roethlisberger was at Miami, Ohio.

“I actually played against Ben in college,” Moore said. “The same kind of stuff that he did in college he’s doing now in the NFL, just being able to create time with his legs a little bit and make some of those crazy throws that a lot of quarterbacks aren’t even thinking about making.”


You can read more here.

And look at ALL this great stuff! Where do I start?

I now understand why parents use leashes for their kids, haha. He wanted to explore every aisle!! — Ben

Meet the new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback!

“I’m willing to do whatever the team asks of me, whether that’s play right away or sit. I want to talk to Tommy and Charlie a little bit about what’s going on. Whatever they’re willing to help me with, I’m going to take it all in.” — Ben, April 26, 2004.

From CBS Sports, April 26, 2004:

“Roethlisberger: Manning, Rivers have nothing on me”

Ben Roethlisberger arrived Monday in Pittsburgh as the No. 3 quarterback in the NFL draft and, for now, no better than No. 3 on the Steelers’ depth chart.

Roethlisberger, only the second quarterback drafted in the first round by Pittsburgh in 33 years, didn’t predict he would beat out incumbent Tommy Maddox or backup Charlie Batch immediately. He didn’t promise to have better rookie-year statistics than Mississippi’s Eli Manning or North Carolina State’s Philip Rivers, the two quarterbacks drafted ahead of him.

“Eli’s been getting a lot of hype leading up to this, but I said coming in it all boils down to this: it’s just football,” Roethlisberger said. “That’s what I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, just get on the field and start playing.”

Roethlisberger didn’t criticize Rivers or Manning, but said, “I think I bring a little more athleticism than both of them, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

“Everyone seems to think they have better systems, better teams they played on in college, were born into a football family,” said Roethlisberger, who played at Miami of Ohio. “Once I get the field, my will to win is much greater than both of them.”

Roethlisberger has already created more buzz in Pittsburgh than any Steelers quarterback draft pick since Terry Bradshaw in 1970. The Steelers haven’t yet started selling Roethlisberger’s No. 7 jersey, but no doubt they will quickly order up a batch to satisfy fan demand.

They might want to order a few in extra-extra large, too; obviously not accustomed to having 6-foot-4½, 240-pound quarterbacks, the Steelers badly underestimated Roethlisberger’s size and gave him a much-too-small uniform for Monday’s photo shoot.


You can read more here.

“If one of those backs would have slid, we were not going to hesitate to grab him. It’s just like the quarterback position. We felt good about […]

April 24, 2004: With the 11th pick in the NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers select…

“I was in New York. I had my mom and dad with me, my sister was there and my agent. My college coach at the time and his wife were there. Everyone kind of had their speculations of ‘what number’ and what team. The teams we thought were going to take me didn’t, but it ended up working out perfectly for me.” — Ben, from the video, “Recalling Draft Day”.

Ben arrives at Madison Square Garden that Saturday morning with plenty of supporters in his corner – his family, his agents Leigh Steinberg and Ryan Tollner, and his college coach, Terry Hoeppner and his wife Jane.

At 11:20 a.m.: Ben and four others – Eli Manning, Roy Williams, Robert Gallery, and Kellen Winslow Jr. – are introduced to the crowd.

Green Room waiting –

• 12:25 p.m.: NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue announces that the San Diego Chargers have selected Eli Manning with the No. 1 pick. Eli emerges from stage right and is greeted by unwelcoming chants by the Chargers fans in attendance.

• 12:58 p.m.: NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue announces that the New York Giants have selected NC State quarterback Philip Rivers with the No. 4 pick. Soon thereafter the trade with the Chargers is announced – Eli Manning is headed to New York, Philip Rivers to San Diego. Both fan bases seem pleased with the outcome….as Ben waits for his turn.

• 1:57 p.m.: Pittsburgh is on the clock. “We see Ben Roethlisberger on the phone,” ESPN announces for the television audience. Sure enough, it’s Steelers coach Bill Cowher calling to tell Ben the Steelers are going to select him with the No. 11 pick.

• 2:00 p.m.: NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue announces that Ben is indeed headed for Pittsburgh. Ben arrives on stage and dons a Steelers ballcap and holds up a Steelers jersey.

• 2:01 p.m.: The Steelers fans in the crowd begin to chant, “Ben, Ben, Ben….”

• 2:02 p.m.: Just off stage, Ben does a press conference for television reporters and then disappears from the public room to do a few interviews with the Pittsburgh media.

• 2:43 p.m.: Ben emerges from the players’ party room where a press conference with print […]

From Bob Labriola, Steelers.com this evening:

“TV loves the Steelers on primetime”

In 2014, the Steelers will play the maximum number of five games on prime-time.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off back-to-back 8-8 seasons and they didn’t qualify for the playoffs either time, which marked the first multi-year absence from the postseason for the first time since a year-season span from 1998-2000.

Those facts are undeniable, and upon the release of the league’s 2014 schedule, so is this: the three television networks that broadcast NFL football in prime-time still love the Steelers.

The maximum number of prime-time games that can be included on a team’s initial schedule is five, and the Steelers are maxed out in that department for 2014. The NFL does reserve the right to flex a team into a sixth prime-time appearance, but as of today the Steelers are as popular with the networks as any other franchise in the league when it comes to drawing eyeballs to the television industry’s most important slot.

The prime-time schedule includes two appearances on Monday night – at home against the Houston Texans on Oct. 20 and on the road against the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 17; two appearances on Sunday night – at Carolina against the Panthers on Sept. 21 and at home against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 2; and then a Thursday night game against the Ravens in Baltimore on Sept. 11.

The Thursday night game in Baltimore will be the first-ever CBS telecast of a package that’s being introduced for the 2014 season.


You can read more here.

You can check out the full 2014 schedule, including the pre-season games, at the bottom of this page!

Hoping everyone had a Happy Easter & a blessed day! — Ben, Ashley, Benjamin Jr. & Baylee