Best way to spend a Saturday night!
Fans emailed and tweeted their photos from the Bills vs Steelers game at Heinz Field to share with us:
Left to Right:
Mardee DeSantis @MardeeDeSantis
@_BigBen7 @steelers My boy is so excited to be at the game with his daddy! #gosteelers #goben #cpcantstophim
Jennifer Schropp @JaiLynnPhoto
@_BigBen7 with the North Allegheny & Bethel Park kids at last nights game! Such an honor to photograph the night.
“My grandson Christian made it to his first Steeler game vs. Bills.” — Tom Melnik, Bulter, PA
You can see the full-size images here.
Dr. Ronald Cypher shared his collection of pre-game shots as well:
That last one could sure use a caption! Any takers?
You can see all of his great photos here!
A special SHOUT OUT to a BIG Ben & Steelers fan…
Long-time followers of Ben’s site are familiar with Richard Culliver! He has graced our pages more than a few times over the last couple of years, and has received so many well wishes and prayers from you!
Well, he and his family could certainly use as many prayers as you can send, Steeler Nation!
“Life is so hard and so unfair. My sweet boy is soon to be completely healed. He as a new tumor lower in his brainstem and it’s taking him very quickly. My sweet wonderful beautiful boy is soon to be an angel watching over Rheagan Devin and I.” — Richard’s mother, Stephanie.
Please take a moment and visit him on Facebook at Richard’s Journey.
“Steelers starters crisp in 19-16 win over Bills”
From Will Graves, Associated Press:
Ben Roethlisberger needed all of two series to reach the end zone twice on Saturday night.
At the rate EJ Manuel and the Buffalo Bills are going it might take a month to reach that total.
Maybe longer if they don’t have dynamic rookie receiver Sammy Watkins.
The latest rebuilding process remains a work in progress in Buffalo. The Pittsburgh Steelers offered a glimpse that theirs might already be done.
Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown for a 76-yard score on Pittsburgh’s second play from scrimmage and found Markus Wheaton for a 16-yard score as the Steelers edged the Bills 19-16 for their first preseason win in nearly two years.
“I think we came out and started fast,” Brown said. “We got some things going in a positive direction.”
Working almost exclusively out of the no-huddle, Roethlisberger finished 8 of 11 for 128 yards and the two scores. Shaun Suisham’s 20-yard field goal as time expired ended Pittsburgh’s five-game losing streak in exhibitions.
“The communication was what I wanted to work on and we didn’t have any mental errors of what I saw so far,” Roethlisberger said.
Bob Labriola @BobLabriola
Ben’s stats: 8-for-11, 128 yards; 2 TDs, 0 INTs, Rating of 150.8
Roethlisberger, working with an offense he insists can be one of the more potent in the league, hit Brown in stride on Pittsburgh’s second play from scrimmage and the Pro Bowl receiver ran away from a pair of defenders on his way to the end zone.
“It was a great read by Ben,” Brown said. “The defensive back got caught up with another guy. Ben hit me in the spot and I was able to get up to speed and turn the corner.”
The Steelers got the ball back moments later when Shazier — who missed the preseason opener with a right knee injury coach Mike Tomlin called a “boo boo” — showcased why Pittsburgh took him with the 15th pick in the first round.
Shazier stepped in front of Manuel’s pass intended for Scott Chandler and returned it 27 yards to the Buffalo 37.
The play highlighted a frantic half of play for Shazier, who finished with 11 total tackles in addition to his pick.
You can read more from from Mr. Graves here.
You can see a few more photos here.
Just in case you missed […]
Benjamin, Jr. checking in with Steeler Nation
Hi everybody! Hope you’re enjoying your summer.
I’ve been kinda busy myself! Dad told me to take care of mommy and Baylee while he was at training camp, and that’s just what I’ve been doing!
I’ve been keeping my toys picked up (mostly), taking my naps without complaint (pretty much), and I’m trying really hard not to run like a crazy man in the house. I’m also giving mommy lots of hugs.
And sometimes I even give my baby sister her morning bottle and a little kiss on the forehead…
Uh, mommy? Do I have to wait til’ she finishes the whole thing?
Dad, I hope you’re coming home soon!! I can’t keep this up anymore! This “man of the house” stuff is a lot of work!!!”
You can see more of our family photos here!
Training Camp: News, Notes & Quotes
“EJ Manuel pays close attention to Ben Roethlisberger”
From Matthew Fairburn at the Syracuse Post-Standard:
The Buffalo Bills have a vision for what they want to be.
They want to be a tough, physical football team that depends on their defense and running game to win. They want to give their young quarterback — who has a big arm, can move his feet and is a handful to bring down — a chance to succeed by surrounding him with talent. Most of all, they want to get back to the playoffs and snap a 14-year drought.
In other words, they want to replicate what the Pittsburgh Steelers did early in Ben Roethlisberger’s career.
Yes, a Super Bowl is a lofty target for the Bills, who have gone 6-10 in each of the last three seasons, but general manager Doug Whaley spent time in the Steelers organization and wants a few things to rub off on his current team.
“Their toughness and their idea that nothing less is expected than a championship,” Whaley said. “That’s what we’re trying to get to.”
Whaley has a particular vision for his second-year quarterback, EJ Manuel. He thinks he can be the Bills’ version of Roethlisberger — a big, strong-armed quarterback with some mobility. So Manuel was paying extra attention to the Steelers’ quarterback on Wednesday to see how he prepares and how he handles himself.
“It’s huge,” Manuel said of practicing with Roethlisberger. “I’ve always been a huge fan of Big Ben. Growing up in Virginia, it’s not too far from Pittsburgh, and obviously early in his career he took those guys to a Super Bowl, so like I said earlier, to get an opportunity to come out and practice with him is awesome.”
You can read more from Mr. Fairburn here.
“Ben Roethlisberger relishes teaching role”
From Scott Brown, ESPN.com:
The most hands-on training camp of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s career ends Friday when the Pittsburgh Steelers break camp after spending the last three weeks at St. Vincent College.
That doesn’t mean that Roethlisberger will stop going over painstaking details with his wide receivers or surrender his duties as a de facto coach when the Steelers start practicing at team headquarters next week.
“It’s been fun it’s something that I need to do and want to […]
#ALSIceBucketChallenge
Arizona Cardinals Coach Bruce Arians challenged Big Ben to the #ALSIceBucketChallenge yesterday…
and not only did Ben accept the challenge today, he did a little a competitive challenging of his own:
BA, I accept your ALS Ice Bucket Challenge! I challenge Merril Hoge, Triple H, and Kevin Hart! — Ben
You can check out video of Ben’s challenge here!
And you can learn more about the #ALSIceBucketChallenge here!
Starkey: Roethlisberger rooting for ‘bud’ Jim Kelly
“I just feel blessed to call him a friend.” — Ben of Jim Kelly.
From Joe Starkey, at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
The Steelers and Buffalo Bills are sharing practice fields this week in Latrobe. But for franchises separated by just 220 miles, they have shared precious little meaningful history.
But the cities’ most meaningful football connection might be one that binds a pair of iconic and similarly rugged quarterbacks: Ben Roethlisberger and Jim Kelly.
Their connection, at least from Roethlisberger’s end, goes back more than 20 years. It has taken on new meaning of late, given the personal transformations of each and Kelly’s harrowing but inspiring bout with cancer.
The relationship began in the form of a young Roethlisberger, 22 years Kelly’s junior, taping a No. 12 Kelly poster to his bedroom wall in Findlay, Ohio.
“I tease him about that all the time,” Roethlisberger says.
Fast forward to Roethlisberger’s first few NFL seasons, when his linebacker-like approach and laser-like precision late in games evoked images of Kelly in the Bills’ famed “K-Gun” 15 years earlier. Have there been any star quarterbacks in the past quarter-century who endured more punishment — invited more punishment — than these two?
They finally connected in person early in Roethlisberger’s career at Kelly’s golf tournament in Buffalo. Roethlisberger traveled early and stayed at Kelly’s house. They bonded immediately. Roethlisberger soon was making annual treks to Kelly’s lodge in Ellicottville, N.Y., where the two would hunt, fish, ride snowmobiles and talk shop.
“For a Hall of Famer to come down to my level, if you will, just meant so much,” Roethlisberger says. “He’s a guy I can call when things aren’t going well. I’ll get notes from him after games, good and bad: ‘Keep your head up.’ ‘Great job.’ To have someone like that I can call a friend? That’s first and foremost. And I think he’d say the same thing: He looks at me as a friend.”
The Kelly family (Jim, wife Jill, daughters Erin, 19, and Camryn, 15, plus a large extended clan) gifted the world by publicizing Jim’s battle. An image of Erin clutching her father’s arm in his hospital bed went viral. It and other photographs, articles and television pieces speak to the suffering, devotion and cruel tests of faith […]